New mural unveiled at Martin Luther King Jr. Dream Center
SOUTH BEND, Ind -- A ceremony for the new mural located in the gymnasium at the Martin Luther King Jr. Dream Center was revealed today at 10 a.m. for everyone to see.
The vibrant colors on the new mural help inspire people to be creative, be strong, forward thinking, and many other positive messages to the community.
Mayor James Mueller, Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians and Four Winds Casinos leadership, council members, and other city leadership were there. The new mural is meant to inspire the community now and the future to do better individually, and as a community.
Executive Director for South Bend's Venues, Parks, and Arts (VPA) Erin Thornton, says she loves the words of inspiration that are part of the mural. Along with the deep meaning that comes behind the design.
"Members of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians talked specifically about what the color representations mean, what the flower representations mean, and I think it's so important as we think about culturally bringing our community together to have visual representations of that. So, it inspires me when I look at it, and I hope it inspires everybody." says Thornton.
As a mom of young kids, Thorton says there's a series of words that go along the side of the mural that she hopes resonates with a lot of families like it did hers.
Thorton says, "Don't get mad, get better." As a mom of young kids, this is something we say in our house, often, and I think that it's so important that it's now represented alongside this mural in a way that is visual, front of your face."
Mary Smith, the President and CEO of Four Winds Casinos is also a citizen of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians a tribe who partnered with South Bend VPA to honor Dr. Kings' legacy while celebrating Indigenous contributions to South Bend's community.
"So with the mural, what's great about the mural is there are a lot of cultural aspects that are important to our tribe, the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi of Michigan and Indiana, and to have that integrated here with what the MLK Dream Center and their vision and what they're doing for the community by having this center and to be integrated with that, with you know this being our ancestral lands, it really means a lot to us, and it feels more of a collective effort together of what their mission here is at the Dream Center." says Smith.