Copyright © David G. Wilson
Oil on canvas, 9' 2"x 16' 1", 8/28/85; Collection of the artist.
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* Celebration of a "King's" Dream is my most ambitious painting to date. It was executed in honor of the first celebration of Dr. King's birthday in 1986. I began and completed this, my largest painting, which measures 9 feet 2 inches by 16 feet 1 inch on June 26, 1985 and signed it August 28th 1985 to coincide with the anniversary of Dr. King's "I have a Dream" speech.This was my tribute to one of the Greatest men in history.The painting was first exhibited in the lobby of the Queens Borough Hall on January 15 1986, and for the subsequent 3 weeks. That ceremony was the first official function over which the former Borough president, Mrs. Claire Shulman, presided in her initial capacity as Acting Borough President. She was standing in for the embattled Borough President, the late Donald Manes, who was preoccupied with the Parking Violations Bureau scandal.
This painting depicts the essence of Dr. King's most eloquent "I have a Dream" speech. "...that Black men and White men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics shall be able to sing in the old negro spiritual 'Free at last....'"
It also shows the realization of that dream in the actions of the celebrities and common folk who came together to serve the cause of humanity in 1984. Millions of people, in the true spirit of Dr. King, joined "Hands Across America" to raise funds for the starving folks in Ethiopia. To celebrate the human spirit, we observed Stevie Wonder and Paul Mc Cartney put together a right hand and a left hand respectively and delivered a song that eloquently epitomized the essence of Dr. King's words about "Ebony and Ivory".