By Laura Bailey
A mural honoring the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. will be unveiled this week on Riverside Avenue. The public mural is part of the MLK 39 initiative by the group RiseUp, who are partnering with 39 Connecticut communities to create 39 murals: one for each year of Martin Luther King Jr.’s life.
The MLK mural reveal will be held in the New England Carousel Museum parking lot located at 95 Riverside Avenue from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. The event is hosted by the City of Bristol Arts & Culture Commission, Bristol Parks, Recreation, Youth and Community Services, and Primo Press. Speakers and entertainment will be provided, and food will be available.
Scott Rosado owns Primo Press where the mural is located. The former city councilor has been a strong supporter of the project.
“As a big believer of diversity and inclusion, I dedicate my life to make sure that the impact we have on others is moving in the right direction. I walk by [the mural] four or five times a day and the feeling is so real. I see the change, I see the hope, I see our community becoming whole.”
The late nationally recognized art lecturer and Bristol resident Barbara Ann Hudson is featured in the mural. Hudson graduated from Bristol Eastern High School in 1960 before obtaining a master’s degree from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. She was the executive director of the Amistad Foundation of the Wadsworth Atheneum and was nationally recognized as a curator of African American Art.
“It was unique to include her in the mural,” said Rosado. “Something we forget in our own community is that we have role models such as Barbara Hudson to look to.”
Micaela Levesque was chosen to paint the mural after her completion of the Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Women’s Empowerment Mural on Market Street in Hartford. The Connecticut artist was excited to include author and civil rights activist Maya Angelou in the mural.
“I’m a big fan of female empowerment and I think that she embodies that. My piece incorporates the caged bird, which is the title of one of Maya Angelou’s most famous poems ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.’ She has quite a life story, and she’s a great example of inspiration and hope.”
The MLK Mural is titled “Infinite Hope” in an homage to the famous Martin Luther King, Jr. quote “We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.”
For more information on the MLK39 mural reveal, visit bristolct.myrec.com.
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