A movement underway to “inspire people to move comfortably across the bridge” between St. Joseph and Benton Harbor was launched over the weekend as a part of the community’s Juneteenth Celebration. The campaign, fostered by the Benton Harbor-St. Joseph Arts & Culture Social Justice Committee, was publicly launched as the Unified Civic Monuments Project, designed to raise public art in Southwest Michigan in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and as a symbol of the collective desire for unity and prosperity.
The project will result in a pair of monuments to be placed at a Benton Harbor location and another pair at a St. Joseph location. Each pair will honor Dr. King and an additional historic figure specific to that city. The Unified Civic Monuments Project is currently researching artists with the talent and expertise necessary to create the monuments, as well as sites in each city. The community is invited to engage in the grassroots movement, by sharing ideas, joining meetings or contributing resources.
Julia Gourley Donohue, Director of the Krasl Art Center, explains the Committee’s thinking as they chose public art as their first project, asking, “How can we inspire people to move comfortably across the bridge? Can artwork, can sculptures, can objects, can public meeting spaces help inspire people to move from one city to the next to visit the sculptures?”
The Committee kicked off the campaign at the Benton Harbor Juneteenth Celebration and Parade in the Arts District. Their parade entry featured volunteer Erick Fisher as Dr. King in front of a banner that read, “Investing in ourselves through art.” The project was also represented by a booth where volunteers encouraged visitors to share what public art honoring MLK would mean to them, as well as their ideas about where the art should live.
Benton Harbor City Commissioner Edward Isom is co-chair of the Committee, along with St. Joseph City Commissioner Laura Goos. He joined the volunteers at the UCMP’s Juneteenth booth to help introduce the project to the public, saying: “Now’s the time for us to bring this together. Now’s the time we can stop systemic racism. Now is the time for asking hard questions and coming together in unity. Now is the time!”
Sharon and Mack Brown, founders of the AFrican AMErican History & Literature Gallery have been envisioning this project for over 15 years and welcome the recent support and embrace of their idea, saying, “It’s a historical journey. When you’re on that journey and you come into the presence of someone with the like mind or like purpose or like destiny – you are no longer traveling alone. You know then all of a sudden you find yourself in the company of two or three other people of the same purpose, so now you travel as a group.”
The Committee plans to raise $850,000 over the next two years. The BH/SJ Arts and Culture Social Justice Group has partnered with the Berrien Community Foundation to serve as the Unified Civic Monuments Project’s fiduciary and fund manager. Volunteers, suggestions and donations are being solicited from the public on the UCMP’s website, http://unifiedmonuments.org.
The project is led by the founders of the African American History & Literature Gallery, with the support of Krasl Art Center, Lake Michigan College, Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra, the BH/SJ Arts & Culture Social Justice Group, and the cities of Benton Harbor and St. Joseph.
The Benton Harbor – St. Joseph Arts & Culture Social Justice Group stands in solidarity with community-wide efforts supporting, advocating and promoting social justice within the cities of Benton Harbor & St. Joseph. It is their commitment as cultural institutions and individuals to utilize the unique resources to support this work – which may include special programs, space use, materials and expertise.
They interpret social justice to mean that everyone deserves equal economic, political and social justice rights and opportunities.
