The Martin Luther King Jr. statue is a public monument of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. in Atlanta, Georgia. The statue, designed by Martin Dawe, was unveiled in 2017 and stands on the grounds of the Georgia State Capitol, overlooking Liberty Plaza. History Background In February 2014, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed an act to create a statue of Martin Luther King Jr. that would reside on the grounds of the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta. In January the following year, Deal appointed State Representatives Calvin Smyre and Joe Wilkinson to serve as liaisons with the King family for the creation of the statue. Later that year, sculptor Andy Davis of McDonough, Georgia was selected to design the statue, with an estimated timeline of six to seven months and a budget of $350,000. Under a Georgia law passed the previous year, no public funds would be allocated for the statue, with the monument's cost being covered through private funding. Davis planned to have the statue completed by Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January 2016. However, the project was put on hold following Davis's unexpected death in a motorcycle crash in July 2015. Prior to his death, Davis had completed several sketches for the statue which were well received. In June 2016, Atlanta artist Martin Dawe was selected to create the statue. Dawe based his design of King off of a picture of King walking with Bayard Rustin during the Montgomery bus boycott. Dawe stated that he was concerned with making King look too stern, and instead opted to show him "stepping off", suggesting "a beginning and a hopefulness." Completed in 2017, Smyre stated that the final cost for the project was $300,000. The cost was covered by funding from the Georgia Building Authority, The Coca-Cola Company, the Atlanta Apartment Association, and the Department of Community Affairs’ Martin Luther King Jr. Advisory Council. Name controversy Leading up to the statue's unveiling, State Representative Tommy Benton elicited controversy related to the statue. As a member of the Capitol Arts Standards Commission, Benton's name would have appeared on a plaque near the statue along with all other members of the commission, but shortly before the plaque's creation, he asked that his name be removed entirely from the plaque. In 2014, Benton had been one of three Republicans in the Georgia House of Representatives to vote against the creation of the