Picture Connecticut: MLK's Giant Presence In The Nutmeg State

MANCHESTER, CT — Manchester has what is arguably the most impressive a mural in honor of the great civil rights leader Martin Luther King. So, on MLK weekend in 2024, we visit it as part of the Picture Connecticut series.

The mural dates back to February 2021, when the town partnered with CT Murals to fashion a mural of Dr. King. It now takes up an entire exterior wall of the Mahoney Recreation Center. CT Murals is a project started by the non-profit The RiseUP Group in 2015 to create public art that is "inclusive and accessible for all."

The artist is Ben Keller, a young professional painter/mural artist who launched his own business in 2018. He started painting at the age of 12.

Keller's vision for "Birthing of a Legacy" depicts MLK, "as a man bringing light to darkness and represents a symbol for more equal and positive times ahead."

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Picture Connecticut is a weekly series that features images of the state, past and present.
Here are past images:

2024

• The Mount Southington Summit

2023

• All Faiths Gather At Town Park, Vernon
• Riverside Igloos, Milford
• The TPC Pro Shop, Cromwell
• The Santa House, North Pole, er, Northern Connecticut
• Mile 4 Funnel, Manchester Road Race, Manchester
• UConn Lacrosse Giving Back, Connecticut River Valley
• The Capitol Grounds Tour, Part 3, Hartford
• The Capitol Grounds Tour, Part 2, Hartford
• The Capitol Grounds Tour, Part 1, Hartford
• The Doughboy, East Hartford
• The Walt Whitman Stone, West Hartford
• The indoor bush plane, Hartford County
• The Big Pink Chair, Ellington
• The Notch, Granby
• The CT 9/11 Monument, Westport
• Vintage Gas Pump, Somers
• Tobacco Harvest, East Windsor
• Late Afternoon, Lakeside, Coventry
• Fogarea, New Haven County
• Judy Black Memorial Park and Gardens, Washington Depot
• Connecticut River Police Boat, Rocky Hill
• The first dentist, Windsor
• The Frog Bridge, Willimantic
• The World War Bridge Rapids, Putnam
• The Peeking Cow, Tolland County
• The Ivy Lacrosse Tournament, New Canaan
• The Bradley International Airport runway, Windsor Locks
• The Underground Railroad, Unionville
• The cow carousel, Ellington
• Charles Island, Milford
• State Veterans Cemetery, Middletown
• Glastonbury-Rocky Hill Ferry, Glastonbury/Rocky Hill
• The Old County Jailhouse, Tolland
• Agent Orange Monument, Andover
• The Sunken Garden, Farmington
• Lafayette Tour Monument, Vernon
• The Pinchot Sycamore, Simsbury
• Bob's Discount Furniture Studios, Manchester