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Gainesville sister city program pursues statue construction after initial rejection
Students from Gainesville and Duhok, Iraq, worked together on an art submission through a virtual exchange program Graphic by Alex Brown
Alachua County called on artists to design art centered around the concept of a megaphone.
The Alachua County Board of County Commissioners received 19 submissions. All were rejected, and a Martin Luther King Jr. statue is now the new artwork concept for the west lawn of the Alachua County Administration Building.
An anonymous citizen offered to match up to $50,000 if the county chooses to have a Martin Luther King Jr. statue created for the west lawn, according to Gina Peebles, Alachua County assistant county manager and chief of staff. The proposed statue concept contrasts a prior requirement that the project could not honor a person, according to the county’s website. Peebles said the current budget with county and donor fund
On the corner of University Avenue and Main Street sits a concrete slab. Nothing lives on that corner except the Alachua County Administration Building and the ghost of Old Joe, the statue of an unnamed Confederate soldier taken down in 2017 after 113 years following a nationwide push to remove the politicized memorials.
The Alachua County Arts Council has been trying to replace him ever since.
It’s been a difficult task. Lack of artist response, budget issues and concerns over the history of the space have slowed the process.
First, the Board of County Commissioners had to decide on a concept for the statue’s replacement.
New Alachua County Sculpture Budget Draws Criticism
By Meghan Porterfield
February 16, 2021
Alachua County residents are expressing mixed responses toward a new sculpture budget announced this month. A new sculpture will be placed in the spot where a Confederate statue once stood. The sculpture design will be chosen from local artists’ submissions to the Alachua County Arts Council.AlachuaAlachua CountybudgetConfederate statuelocal 2021-02-16
Home/Florida Good/2021 MLK Day Celebration In Alachua Focuses On Ending Systemic Racism
Dancers from Expressive Ministries of Song and Dance, ages 5 to 23, perform during the Martin Luther King Day celebration in Alachua City on Monday. (Kalia Richardson/WUFT News)
2021 MLK Day Celebration In Alachua Focuses On Ending Systemic Racism
By Kalia Richardson
January 19, 2021
The U.S. Capitol insurrection was still on the minds of those at the Martin Luther King Day event on Monday at the Cleather Hathcock Sr. Community Center in Alachua.
State Rep. Yvonne Hinson, D-Gainesville, said President Donald Trump’s supporters reflected the ugly notion of white supremacy as they raided the Capitol. While praising activist Stacey Abrams’ movement that led to 800,000 new voters in Georgia, Hinson called on African Americans to fulfill King’s dream of equality for all by emancipating themselves through policy.