New print at IU Art Museum honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The IU Art Museum will kick off Black History Month with the dedication of an etching of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. tonight.\nThe ceremony, "Celebrating the Arts: Living the Dream and Continuing the Legacy," has a twofold purpose. It will mark the culmination of a monthlong celebration of the slain civil rights leader with the dedication of an etching by John Wilson. It will also celebrate the beginning of Black History Month with the unveiling of an Web site module.\n"This is a very significant ceremony to bridge the closing of the Martin Luther King Jr. ceremony and the beginning of Black History Month," said Tiffany Combs, the program coordinator for the IU Office of the Vice President of Institutional Development and Student Affairs, who organized the event.\nThe IU Art Museum acquired the print of King with funds donated in honor of former IU Bloomington Chancellor Sharon Brehm.\n"It was appropriate to acquire an image of such an important man by an African-American artist," said Linda Baden, the associate director of editorial services at the IU Art Museum. "She (professor Brehm) was very committed to encouraging diversity."\nBrehm was chancellor in Bloomington from October 2001 to December 2003. She is a professor in the Psychology Department and a senior advisor to the president of IU. \n"I have seen a reproduction of the etching and it's quite clear that this is a great work of art -- and certainly a great inspiration to us all," Brehm said in an e-mail.\nThe print, a 2002 etching by Wilson, will be on display starting with its unveiling tomorrow night in the Gallery of the Art of the Western World on the first floor. Wilson, who studied in Boston, Paris and Mexico, is known for his powerful portraits of black men, according to the IU Art Museum African-American Art Web site. The print relates to a statue that Wilson was commissioned to make of King for the United States Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C., in 1985.\nWilson combines a realistic frame and features with ample shading to communicate King's "intangible energy and strength, as well as his personal struggles," according to the IU Art Museum African-American Art Web site.\nThe African-American Web site module will be accessible through the IU Art Museum Web site's Online Exhibits page. It will give the public access to more than 50 pieces by 15 black artists in the IU Art Museum's collection.\n"It gives people the opportunity to see artwork through the lenses of artists over the course of time facing the different social, political and economic issues that African Americans have experienced," Combs said.\nThe module's goal is to make the images available to the public, encourage research on the pieces, and stimulate future acquisitions, according to the Web site. Visitors can also schedule an appointment in the museum's study room to enjoy the pieces firsthand.