New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center Unveils Statue of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Louisiana Civil Rights Museum

NEW ORLEANS –The New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center (NOENMCC) and the Louisiana Civil Rights Museum are unveiling a 6-foot cement statue of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The life-size sculpture by Louisiana artist, the late Reverend Ivory Dyson, is on display with the Louisiana Civil Rights Museum – The Inaugural Experience inside the Convention Center, at the Julia Street entrance. The Louisiana State Museum acquired the statue in 2005 in anticipation of housing it one day in a Civil Rights Museum. Eighteen years later, and on the eve of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, the statue now has a home.

“It is fitting to celebrate this important holiday weekend by further enhancing the experience of the Louisiana Civil Rights Museum – The Inaugural Experience, with a statue of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” said Michael J. Sawaya, Convention Center President and CEO. “The New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center is proud to be the home of the Louisiana Civil Rights Museum exhibit and share it with our thousands of annual visitors and the citizens of Louisiana. This museum exhibit is a tribute to the many leaders from our state who played pivotal roles in the civil rights movement and were inspired by Dr. King, making the museum exhibit a fitting home for this wonderful statue.”

Sculptor Rev. Dyson, from Tickfaw, is reported to have created the statue to honor Dr. King’s ties to the civil rights movement in New Orleans. Rev. Dyson is known to have channeled his talent as an artist and his passion for civil rights to challenge racism in the South, beginning in the 1950s. He started out producing art in cement – first creating headstones to mark his parents’ gravesite using kitchen utensils, tools he continued to use throughout his career. Rev. Dyson’s daughter, Lindory Parker, said her father motivated and inspired those around him, living out his mantra, “You only fail when you fail to try.”

The NOENMCC has dedicated 5,000 square feet of space to house the Louisiana Civil Rights Museum – The Inaugural Experience, which opened October 8, 2023. Exhibit visitors are immersed in the ongoing civil rights journey, with pathways to explore advocacy, racial history and narrated profiles of equity and activism unique to Louisiana and its civil rights founders. In the three months since it opened, the museum has become a popular destination for school groups, locals and visitors to New Orleans.

In addition to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. statue that will be displayed at the Louisiana Civil Rights Museum, additional artwork created by Rev. Dyson can be seen at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Heritage Museum in Hammond and Sweet Home Community Museum in Kentwood. Rev. Dyson passed away in 2021.

Located inside the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center at 900 Convention Center Blvd., the Louisiana Civil Rights Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with ticket sales ending at 3:30 p.m. each day. Tickets are $7 for adults and $6 for senior citizens, active military members and students. Children under 6 are admitted for free. For more information, please visitLouisianaCivilRightsMuseum.org.