The ''Mahatma Gandhi Memorial'' is a 2002

public sculpture Public art is art in any media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and physically access ...

Gautam Pal Gautama, Gautam or Gotama may refer to: Ancient sages and philosophers * Akṣapāda Gautama, a Hindu sage and founder of the Nyaya school of Hindu philosophy: see Nyāya Sūtras * Indrabhuti Gautama, chief disciple of Mahavira * Gautama Buddha, th ...

located at the

Milwaukee County Courthouse The Milwaukee County Courthouse is a high-rise municipal building located in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Completed in 1931, it is the third county courthouse built in the city and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The two ...

in downtown

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, United States.

Description

The sculpture depicts

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

leader

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

dressed in traditional attire and walking with a long staff. His head is bald, and his chest, shoulders, and legs are bare. He wears glasses and his gaze is directed toward the path he is walking. He wears sandals. The figure is oriented away from the Courthouse, appearing to walk eastward toward downtown and

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

. The Mahatma Gandhi Memorial in Washington, D.C. includes a similar statue by Gautama Pal, also mounted on a red granite plinth. The sculpture stands on a tapered red

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

base on which bronze plaques are mounted on four sides to display texts. Placement between Courthouse doors labeled "TRUTH" and "JUSTICE" reinforces the message of the sculpture.

Historical information

The Wisconsin Coalition of Asian Indian Organizations (WCAIO) raised $12,000 for the sculpture and its installation. WCAIO represents 16 Indian American groups in the Milwaukee area. The

Indian Council for Cultural Relations The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), is an autonomous organisation of the Government of India, involved in India's global cultural relations, through cultural exchange with other countries and their people. It was founded on 9 Apri ...

also provided support. Kumar Dhaliwal, retired dean of the

Marquette University School of Dentistry The Marquette University School of Dentistry is the dental school of Marquette University. It is located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Formerly the Dental Department of the Milwaukee Medical College (MMC), the school opened on September 2 ...

, and his wife Darshan led the campaign to bring the sculpture to Milwaukee and donated $25,000. Dhaliwal told the ''India-West Newspaper'', "Mahatma Gandhi's messages are not only of importance to prevent violence in the world, but also domestic violence and violence in the streets." Milwaukee County accepted the offer to donate the sculpture and initially proposed ten possible sites. The Indian American community selected the site at MacArthur Square because "it's a beautiful, serene setting." The sculpture was unveiled on October 5, 2002, and the dedication event included a peace march, speeches by Wisconsin elected officials and Indian Ambassador

Lalit Mansingh Lalit Mansingh (born 29 April 1941) is a former Indian diplomat. He was the Foreign Secretary of India from 1999 to 2000, and Indian Ambassador to the United States from 2001 to 2004. Prior to this, he was Indian High Commissioner to the United ...

, and singing of ''

bhajan Bhajan refers to any devotional song with a religious theme or spiritual ideas, specifically among Indian religions, in any language. The term bhajanam (Sanskrit: भजनम्) means ''reverence'' and originates from the root word ''bhaj'' ...

s''. According to the ''India-West Newspaper'', 850 people attended the dedication. The sculpture is a gathering place for the local Indian American community and for peace activists holding vigils. The sculpture regularly receives '' g`ajra'' flower garlands. The area surrounding the sculpture was named India-America Friendship Park in 2003.

References

{{MilwaukeePublicArt 2002 establishments in Wisconsin 2002 sculptures Bronze sculptures in Wisconsin Monuments and memorials in Wisconsin Outdoor sculptures in Milwaukee Sculptures of men in Wisconsin Statues in Wisconsin

Indian-American culture

Description

Historical information

See also

References