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I Have Been to the Mountaintop

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I Have Been to the Mountaintop, post 1977, Ink and pencil on paper
Richard Hunt, American, b.1935
Purchased by Bernice Cooper with support from Hope Christian Community Foundation
My staff pick commemorates Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The abstract steel sculpture that this drawing is based on was designed in 1977 by artist Richard Hunt as a physical manifestation of a line from Dr. King’s final speech in Memphis the day before his assassination: “I’ve been to the mountaintop…And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land.” King acknowledged in his speech that “The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land. Confusion all around.” That feels as true today as it was over a half a century ago. However, his message was not one of despair, but of hope. And looking at this piece reminds me to have hope: hope for my country, hope for a better year, hope that Dr. King’s vision for this nation comes to fruition. As he said “…I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars.”

–Kristy Griffin, Assistant Director