Client: Fontana Children's Library
Location: Fontana, CA, United States
Completion date: 2008
Artwork budget: $55,000
Project Team
Public Art Agent
Fontana Lewis Library & Technology Center
Fontana Lewis Library & Technology Center
Industry Resource
Monterey Sculpture Center
Monterey Sculpture Center
Artist
Steven Whyte
Overview
Whyte worked to honor the civil rights icon by referencing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s humanity and personal strength. The bust is 1.5 times life-size.
Goals
The first casting, Column of Knowledge, is housed at the Fontana Lewis Library & Technology Center’s Children’s Reading Room. The monument features a heroic bust of King atop a column rendered to represent the key books King had referenced in his own work. Today, librarians use the sculpture to communicate to their young visitors that books build the foundation for the person they will become.
Process
Sculptor Steven Whyte worked with photojournalist Bob Fitch who covered King during his time at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.