Today was an exciting day! The official kick-off to Montgomery’s events commemorating the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday and the civil rights marches in Selma began at the corner of Lee and Montgomery Streets with the dedication of this mural painted by Sunny Paulk.
Michael Briddell opened the ceremony. He turned it over to Ashley Ledbetter, chairperson of the Public Arts Commission who introduced Sunny. She was given the opportunity to explain the thought process behind the design. Mayor Todd Strange and Commissioner Elton Dean shared their vision for a better future building on the progress of the past. The owner of the 50-50 club also got to share his pride in having the mural on the outside wall of his club.
Mayor Strange said he wanted to dedicate the mural like one does a ship… with a bottle of champagne. He lamented that Sunny thought the sugar content might damage the paint so proceeded with a ribbon cutting ceremony. He graciously gave the scissors to Sunny. By her side is Corey Spearman, an Alabama State University senior who assisted her many hours in cold, windy weather to complete the project by the March 1 deadline.
Please enjoy this final installation in the blog posts documenting the commission and progress of the mural painting. I could not have been prouder of my daughter today! It was very interesting to sit back and see her treated like a rock star!
If you missed the previous blog posts:
Week 1: http://photographybydiannapaulk.com/2015/02/08/civil-rights-march-mural-montgomery-al/
Week 2: http://photographybydiannapaulk.com/2015/02/16/civil-rights-march-mural-montgomery-al-2/
Week 3: http://photographybydiannapaulk.com/2015/02/26/civil-rights-march-mural-montgomery-al-3/
Week 4: http://photographybydiannapaulk.com/2015/03/02/civil-rights-march-mural-4-montgomery-al/
Beautiful… Thanks for sharing the progress and process! Just beautiful!