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Model for Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Portland, Maine, 2019 (in progress), by Robert Katz

The poetic language of Martin Luther King Jr. gave form and direction to the civil rights movement, and it has also given shape to many memorials erected in his memory. The national monument to King in Washington, D.C., erected in 2011, appears to be sliced from a granite peak, evoking King’s famous words spoken at the the nearby Lincoln Memorial: “With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.” Recently, the City of Portland, Maine, an­nounced a competition to design its own memorial to King. Among the finalists is the sculptor Robert Katz.