''The Dream'', also known as the ''Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Sculpture'', is an outdoor

bronze sculpture Bronze is the most popular metal for Casting (metalworking), cast metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply "a bronze". It can be used for statues, singly or in groups, reliefs, and small statuettes and figurines, as w ...

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

by Michael Florin Dente, located outside the

Oregon Convention Center The Oregon Convention Center is a convention center in Portland, Oregon. Completed in 1989 and opened in 1990, it is located on the east side of the Willamette River in the Lloyd District neighborhood. It is best known for the twin spire towers, ...

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

. The memorial statue was dedicated on August 28, 1998, the 35th anniversary of King's " I Have a Dream" speech. It depicts King plus three

allegorical sculpture Allegorical sculpture are sculptures of personifications of abstract ideas as in allegory. Common in the western world, for example, are statues of Lady Justice representing justice, traditionally holding scales and a sword, and the statues of Pru ...

s: a man who symbolizes the American worker, a woman who represents immigration, and a young girl shown releasing King's coattail, who represents, according to Dente, the "letting go" that occurs when people sacrifice their time and energy to engage in a struggle. The sculpture is part of the City of Portland and Multnomah County Public Art Collection, courtesy of the

Regional Arts & Culture Council The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) is an organization that administers arts grants in Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas Counties that also do advocacy in the Portland metropolitan area in Oregon, United States. It evolved from the city� ...

. Lee P. Brown and

Vera Katz Vera Katz (née Pistrak; August 3, 1933 – December 11, 2017) was an American Democratic politician in the state of Oregon. She was the first woman to serve as Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives and was the 49th mayor of Portland, ...

, mayors of

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

and Portland, respectively, were present at the dedication ceremony. The memorial has been used as a reference point for gatherings. It has also appeared in public art guides and walking tours. Seventy-five bronze replicas of the work exist, and Dente planned to send pieces of the original mold to each of the replicas' owners once all were sold.

Description

''The Dream'' is an bronze statue depicting

It is located at the intersection of Northeast Holladay Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, outside the northeast corner of the

in the

Rose Quarter The Rose Quarter is a sports and entertainment district located in Portland's Lloyd District on the east bank of the Willamette River, just east of downtown. The Rose Quarter is bounded on the west by NE Interstate Avenue, on the north by NE Broa ...

of Portland's

Lloyd District The Lloyd District is a primarily commercial neighborhood in the North and Northeast sections of Portland, Oregon. It is named after Ralph Lloyd (1875–1953), a California rancher, oilman, and real estate developer who moved to and started ...

. King is shown "stepping forward with conviction to deliver his powerful message". He is surrounded by three

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory t ...

figures: behind and to King's right is a young white man with his sleeves rolled up who symbolizes the working American; Note: Image 9 of 17. directly behind King is a woman wading ashore who represents the country's immigration history; and behind and to the left of King is a young girl, shown releasing King's coattail, who represents "intergenerational respect". According to Dente, the working-class man "has come to the realization and made the decision to step forward to announce his support for the universal message of equality, freedom and justice". Dente described the girl's release of King's coattail as "a 'letting go' process when one or more members of a family is called away to contribute their energy and time to a concept and struggle of greatest importance to all people of the world." The artist dedicated the monument to King's sacrifices, to those who believe in King's message, and to the "ongoing march for truth and justice". Business and organizations that contributed $10,000 or more to the project are recognized at the statue. Funders included ARCO, Chevron Corporation, Fred Meyer, The Greenbrier Companies/Gunderson, Inc., International Art Group,

Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente (; KP), commonly known simply as Kaiser, is an American integrated managed care consortium, based in Oakland, California, United States, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield. Kaiser ...

Legacy Emanuel Medical Center Legacy Emanuel Medical Center is a hospital located in the Eliot neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1912, it is one of only two Level I trauma centers in the state of Oregon, and home to the only burn center between Seat ...

Meier & Frank Meier & Frank was a prominent chain of department stores founded in Portland, Oregon, and later bought by The May Department Stores Company. Meier & Frank operated in the Pacific Northwest from 1857 to 2006. History Summary Meier & Frank was f ...

Oregon Health & Science University Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) is a public research university focusing primarily on health sciences with a main campus, including two hospitals, in Portland, Oregon. The institution was founded in 1887 as the University of Oregon Med ...

, Oregon Labor Unions

AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...

, Oregon Lottery,

Portland Development Commission Prosper Portland, formerly the Portland Development Commission (PDC), is the community development corporation A community development corporation (CDC) is a not-for-profit organization incorporated to provide programs, offer services and engage ...

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

, RH Parker/United Foundation,

US West US West, Inc. (stylized as US WEST) was one of seven Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs, also referred to as "Baby Bells"), created in 1983 under the Modification of Final Judgement (''United States v. Western Electric Co., Inc.'' 552 ...

, and the William G. Gilmore Fund of the

Oregon Community Foundation Oregon Community Foundation (OCF) is a non-profit organisation with the mission of improving lives for all Oregonians through the power of philanthropy. It is the fifth largest community foundation in the United States as ranked by asset size i ...

. The work is part of the City of Portland and Multnomah County Public Art Collection, courtesy of the

. Seventy-five bronze replicas exist; once the replicas were purchased, Dente planned to send pieces of the mold to each of the replicas' owners.

History

Paul Knauls, a local resident and entrepreneur who was described as the "unofficial mayor" of Northeast Portland, was "instrumental" in securing funding for the sculpture's design. Cheryl Perrin and Betsy Brumm coordinated fundraising, with assistance from Charles Lewis; before Lewis invited U.S. Senator Mark Hatfield, for whom he had worked as an intern, to speak at a breakfast fundraiser, fundraising efforts had stalled for eight years. Oregon's Congressional delegation wrote appeals to large companies, requesting their support at the breakfast. Within six months of the campaign's re-launch, $300,000 was raised, enough to create the sculpture. ''The Dream'' was dedicated by the Martin Luther King, Jr. Statue Foundation on August 28, 1998, the 35th anniversary of King's " I Have a Dream" speech. It was also dedicated by

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...

and much of the Congressional delegation. John Jenkins, chairman of the foundation, said in a statement announcing the statue and its dedication:

Our dream began in the hearts of the students at Martin Luther King Jr., Elementary School nearly ten years ago. The dream was nurtured by the late state Senator
Bill McCoy William McCoy or MacCoy may refer to: *W. F. McCoy (1886–1976), Speaker of the Northern Ireland House of Commons *William McCoy (bootlegger) (1877–1948), American rum-runner during Prohibition *William McCoy (congressman) (died 1864), American ...
, and through the donations of Oregonians and some of our state's most respected businesses; we will have an original work of art honoring the memory and ideals of one of America's greatest leaders.

Jeff Blosser, general manager of the Oregon Convention Center, said, "It is an honor for the Oregon Convention Center as well as our city, to have this significant sculpture placed here. It will be a very visible symbol for Oregonians, as well as the thousands of visitors who come to our state each year." Dedication ceremony attendees included local educator Laverne Davis, who served as "Mistress of Ceremonies"; Lee P. Brown and

, mayors of

and

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, respectively; Mike Burton of the regional government

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urb ...

; Charles Jordan, director of Portland Parks & Recreation; Bishop A. A. Wells; and Dente. Music was provided by the Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School Choir, Ada Tillis, and the Accelerated Music Group. In 2014, Knauls shared with

Oregon Public Broadcasting Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) is the primary television and radio public broadcasting network for most of the U.S. state of Oregon as well as southern Washington. OPB consists of five full-power television stations, dozens of VHF or UHF tra ...

that he considers the project one of his proudest accomplishments. He said the project was a major undertaking and said that "it's still surprising how many people don't even know the statue is there". The memorial has been used as a place for gatherings. Charles Lewis announced his candidacy for Portland City Commissioner near the memorial in 2007. In 2008, a march honoring King began at the statue. In 2014, the sculpture served as the first stop on a "Housing History Tour" of Portland, sponsored by the Fair Housing Council of Oregon, the Portland Human Rights Commission, and Race Talks. It has also been included in public art guides and walking tours.Walking tours: * *

References

External links

African American history
at Travel Portland

at Art by Dente

(November 10, 2012), ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 18 ...

''
''The Dream'' – Portland, OR – Civil Rights Memorials
at Waymarking
''The Dream'' – Portland, Oregon – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
at Waymarking
''The Dream''
at Emporis {{DEFAULTSORT:Dream, The 1998 establishments in Oregon 1998 sculptures African-American history in Portland, Oregon Allegorical sculptures in Oregon Bronze sculptures in Oregon Lloyd District, Portland, Oregon Memorials to Martin Luther King Jr. Monuments and memorials in Portland, Oregon Northeast Portland, Oregon Outdoor sculptures in Portland, Oregon Sculptures of children in Oregon Sculptures of Martin Luther King Jr. Sculptures of men in Oregon Sculptures of women in Oregon Statues in Portland, Oregon

Description

History

See also

References

External links