Sculptor Finalists Named For Civil Rights Park

The Mobile Arts Council recently announced finalists for the Isom Clemon Civil Rights Memorial Park sculpture project, and one includes a two-person team from Baldwin County. The goal of the project is to create dignified statuary honoring Isom Clemon that is accessible and cohesive with the Mobile County Commission’s plan to develop Mobile County Civil Rights and Cultural Heritage Districts, including the redevelopment of Isom Clemon Civil Rights Memorial Park in Downtown Mobile. Three finalists, all with strong ties to Alabama, were selected to submit full proposals. The artists/artist teams consist of Kim Bernadas of Silverhill (Fine Art of Bronze Sculpture) and Corey Swindle of Fairhope (Fairhope Foundry); sculptor Steven Whyte and Mobile Studio, a landscape architecture, public art installation and project management office based in Montgomery; and artist and sculptor Ronald Scott McDowell of Tuskegee. The project’s selection committee is to choose the final proposal this month. The selected sculptor will be responsible for creating a larger-than-life realistic representation of Isom Clemon in bronze, as well as a series of five smaller sculptures representative of his work with the International Longshoremen’s Association and the labor movement.