Highpoint Editions artist Rico Gatson’s portrait of Civil Rights Icon Fred L. Shuttlesworth is now on permanent display at the Birmingham Airport. Originally created for the Birmingham Museum of Art’s Wall to Wall series. the mural is nearly 13 feet high and 66 feet wide and features a portrait of Shuttlesworth with surrounded by a sunburst array of colors.
On Thursday May 23, officials with the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport unveiled a new mural honoring The Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth in Concourse B. The airport was renamed in his honor in 2008.
Dozens of area leaders, activists and residents gathered for the unveiling which was attended by members of the Shuttlesworth family, including daughters, Dr. Ruby Shuttlesworth Bester and Patricia Shuttlesworth Massengill.
Ruby Shuttlesworth Bester, daughter of the Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth, addresses crowd after the mural unveiling. (Marika N. Johnson, For The Birmingham Times)
In addition to the Shuttlesworth family, those in attendance included former Mayor Richard Arrington; The Rev. Thomas Wilder, Senior Pastor, Bethel Baptist Church, Shuttlesworth’s former church; Bishop Calvin Woods, former president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; Alabama poet laureate Ashley Jones; Birmingham City Councilor Crystal Smitherman, DeJuana Thompson, CEO, Birmingham Civil Rights Institute; former gov. Don Siegelman; activist Helen Rivas; and many others.
Daughters of The Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth, from left, Ruby Shuttlesworth Bester and Patricia Shuttlesworth Massengill with artist Rico Gaston (Marika N. Johnson, For The Birmingham Times)
Learn more about the mural here!
