This work by sculptor Sergio Castillo commemorates Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), the preacher who became the great civil rights leader in the 1960s. King completed a doctorate at Boston University in 1955 and is one of the school’s most distinguished graduates. This sculpture, twenty feet high, consists of a mass of wing-flapping birds cut from cor-ten steel. Close-up, one sees individual birds, each striving to be airborne, but from afar one sees a flock of birds, formed into the shape of a single bird headed for the sky. The sculpture was dedicated in 1975. Since then, it has served as a focal point on the BU campus.  Upon visiting the sculpture, you may find it surrounded by flowers or candles: members of the BU community often gather at this site to mark a joyful event, such as Barack Obama’s presidential inauguration, or to commemorate the passing of a friend or colleague.

Follow this link to read and listen to Dr. King’s “I have a dream" speech.