The Broken Obelisk Rededication Ceremony
Sunday, February 26, 2006 at 3:00 pm at
The Rothko Chapel reflecting pool

Marking the conclusion of Black History Month, The Rothko Chapel will re-dedicate the Barnett Newman sculpture “Broken Obelisk” to the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Jason Oby, associate professor of music at Texas Southern University, and Reverend William A. Lawson, founding pastor of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church will participate in the ceremony co-hosted by The Rothko Chapel and The Menil Collection.  Mayor Bill White will also have a proclamation delivered. It will be followed by a panel discussion inside the Rothko Chapel.

          Leading the panel discussion will be Dr. Amilcar Shabazz, associate professor and director of American Studies at Oklahoma State University and author of “Advancing Democracy: African Americans and the Struggle for Access and Equity in Higher Education in Texas.” Participants include Gertrude Barnstone, artist and activist who served on the HISD board from 1964 to 1969; Teandra Bailey Gordon, whose grandparents filed a landmark desegregation suit against HISD in 1966; Deloyd Parker, Jr, founder and director of S.H.A.P.E. (Self-Help for African People through Education); and Eleanor Tinsley, who continued Barnstone’s civil-rights advocacy on the HISD board and who has served on the Houston City Council and as president of the Texas Council of Child Welfare Boards.

        Reinstalled in its original site a few days before this year’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, “Broken Obelisk” rises anew from a its reflecting pool (also renovated), as a landmark work of art and as a memorial to Dr. King.

For more information on the history and renovation of the Broken Obelisk, please click here. 

RSVP HERE

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