This is one of the first public art commissions of the now famous Afro-American artist, the late Romare Bearden. The Civic Arts Commission of the City of Berkeley commissioned this mural to hang in the City Council Chambers as an active and accessible part of the city and its civic life. In accordance with this placement of the mural in an open and well-used civic area, the logo of the City of Berkeley contains a multicultural design derived from a segment of this mural’s imagery.
The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. is preparing a retrospective of Romare Bearden’s life work and has requested that the City loan this art to them for this purpose. The National Gallery of Art is planning on traveling this exhibition after it opens in Washington in September of 2003. The exhibition will travel to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in February of 2004, then on to the Dallas Museum of Art in June of 2004 and conclude at the Whitney Museum of American Art in October of 2004.
The above mural will be of great importance to this exhibition due to its size, the fact that the artist worked on this artwork directly and due to the fact that the City of Berkeley has incorporated this mural into the fabric of its civic life.