Depictions of Martin Luther King, Jr. in Public Art from 1967 to the Present

This research tracked the representations of Martin Luther King, Jr. in public art from 1967 until the present. The author's theory before beginning research was that depictions of Martin Luther King, Jr. have changed since his death. The author propounded that public opinion of King was negative during his lifetime but transformed into a positive viewpoint after his assassination. The author formulated that public art of King would change from before and after his death and that this artwork would reflect the artists' or patrons' agendas more so than any objective portrayal of King. The goal of the research was to evaluate public art examples, analyze them for their motivation, and either prove or disprove the original theory.