The Wrap

The Embrace Memorial Fence Wrap Art Commission

Embrace Boston’s The Embrace memorial will be anchored here on the Boston Common beginning in 2023, where, in 1965, Dr. King called on the City to live by its highest ideals. Embrace Boston is working closely with the artist Hank Willis Thomas, MASS Design Group, and the City of Boston to create a living memorial honoring the legacy of Coretta Scott King and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and their time and work together in Boston. The Embrace will be positioned on the 1965 Freedom Rally Memorial Plaza that will give voice to 65 other Boston civil rights leaders.

The Common, America’s first public park, has a vibrant and complicated 400-year-old history, and a tradition of civic gatherings. The Embrace is intended to inspire visitors to reflect on the values of racial and economic justice that both Kings espoused.

Embrace Boston envisions an inclusive and equitable Boston. Activating arts and culture is essential to reimagining and recasting cultural representations and practices grounded in equity, joy, and wellbeing. As a part of an ecosystem committed to change, King Boston engages arts, culture, research, and policy to dramatically transform Boston into a city that centers racial equity and justice. The Embrace will spark a new public conversation in Boston today.

The Embrace Memorial Fence Wrap Art Commission was envisioned as an opportunity to endorse and uplift Boston-based BIPOC photographers and digital artists to share their voice – through their art – along the fence while The Embrace memorial is under construction.