BALTIMORE '68 ART TRACK
Monument to City's 1968 Unrest to Be Unveiled Jan. 15
"One Mosaic: Many Voices," an exhibition celebrating a new work of art to commemorate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and the 1968 Baltimore unrest that followed in the wake of his assassination, took place in the University of Baltimore's Langsdale Library and Auditorium, 1420 Maryland Ave., on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009 at 4:30 p.m. The event was free and open to the public, it feature the unveiling of a large mosaic monument whose design was led by UB's community artist in residence, Christina Ralls.
Ralls worked with several witnesses of the 1968 disturbances to design and construct the work over the past year and a half. It consists of a number of intricate ceramic tiles signifying the witnesses' memories of the unrest—glimpses of the Baltimore they knew before, during and after the riots.
The unveiling is the latest in a series of public initiatives by the University to explore, understand and remember the events of 1968, under the rubric " Baltimore '68: Riots and Rebirth ."
In addition to the exhibition opening on Jan. 15, 2009 a dance troupe from ConneXions Leadership Academy performed, followed by a screening of a documentary on the mosaic project and recovered news footage from 1968, as well as a panel discussion and civic dialogue on King's legacy, as facilitated by mosaic participants.
A memory quilt was also on display in the auditorium, where attendees could record their own thoughts on King or experiences from 1968. The quilt was on display through Jan. 22, 2009.
The mosaic was on display in the library until early April then installed at the in the lobby of the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Family Center Y at Stadium Place, 900 East 33rd Street, Baltimore, MD 21218.