Martin Luther King Jr. Park in Indianapolis will soon have two new public art pieces to honor King and Robert Kennedy thanks to a new crowdfunding campaign. The campaign, sponsored by the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) and offered through the crowdfunding platform developed by Patronicity, is being run by the Kennedy King Memorial Initiative (KKMI).
“Dr. King’s impact on our country was unprecedented,” said Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, chair of IHCDA. “His efforts to promote peace and nonviolence left a lasting impact on our state and nation. We couldn’t be more honored to join KKMI to recognize, on the day of his unfortunate assassination, King and the historic speech delivered by Kennedy here in Indianapolis.”
If the campaign reaches its $50,000 goal by Dec. 23, KKMI will receive a matching grant of $50,000 from IHCDA’s CreatINg Places program.
The funding raised during this campaign will allow KKMI to install a large metal panel bearing a quote from Kennedy’s speech in Indianapolis on April 4, 1968, the night that King was assassinated. A mural will also be installed on the exterior of the new Visitor’s Center going into the first floor of the Kennedy King Park Center.
These art pieces will be an addition to the memorial that is already in Martin Luther King Jr. Park, “Landmark for Peace,” which draws hundreds of visitors every year. KKMI plans to have the new pieces installed by April 2018, the 50th anniversary of King’s assassination and Kennedy’s speech. The group believes these art pieces will strongly support King Park’s role as a destination for education about peace, justice and nonviolence.
“We are doing so much as a community to honor the upcoming 50th commemoration of Robert Kennedy’s historic speech in Dr. King Park on the night of Martin Luther King’s assassination,” said Rep. Gregory Porter, chair of KKMI board of directors. “The park enhancements we’ll be able to make through this grant will help us continue to tell that story and the legacies of peace and equality shared by these two great men.”
Since the CreatINg Places program began in the fall of 2016, 30 projects have raised in excess of $900,000 in public funds and leveraged an additional $1.8 million, making for over $2.7 million in total project investment.
For more information and to donate to the campaign, visit Patronicity.com and search “Kennedy King.”
