"Walk A Mile In My Shoes" (2014) by Kim Ables

DESCRIPTION: public art installation of a cultural monument to the civil rights movement, consisting of the following components:

  • cast bronze sculpture of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s shoes (replicating the pair on display at the King Center in Atlanta, Georgia), mounted on a an approx. 8-foot diameter concrete display structure inset with embossed and decorated concrete panels with text;
  • photographic images of shoes belonging to participants of civil rights marches and to colleagues of Dr. King, Jr., from the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame collection of Xernona Clayton, paired with plaques containing descriptive text, and mounted on free-standing concrete display structures;
  • winding concrete pathway with etched text and embedded with pavement tiles embossed with photographic images of shoes belonging to local Los Angeles leaders;
  • concrete benches embedded with 12-inch tiles containing etched artwork and inspirational quotations and messages

This large cultural monument was dedicated on June 26, 2014 where poet and playwright Beverly Lafontaine read from her 6-part work composed for the public artwork and the event.
LOCATION: traffic median, Jefferson Boulevard and Rodeo Road, Baldwin Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA