Muhammed Ali had deep connection with the people of Berrien County, MI. where he is affectionately known at ‘The Nicest of All Time’. He and his wife Lonnie bought an 85-acre estate in Berrien Springs in 1975 and became a staple in the communities of Berrien Springs, Niles, Benton Harbor and St. Joseph. Ali would often show up to football games at Vikings Field where his son went to school and shadowbox with little kids. He would sometimes visit the children at Sylvester Elementary School and show them his levitation trick and never turned anyone down for a handshake and autograph at local grocery stores. When he and Lonnie heard someone needed help with fundraising for a worthy project or effort, he would invite them to his home and help with fundraisers, auction items or a donation. He had a reputation for making everyone feel like family.
Although the local community, and the world mourned when he passed in 2016, his legacy of hope, strength and kindness endures. A new seven story mural has been installed on the side of YMCA in downtown Louisville, Kentucky by world famous artist Shepard Fairey and his team.
The cities of Louisville and Benton Harbor worked together, becoming partners in 2015 with the “I Am the Greatest Project.” The project, created in 2011 through a partnership between ARS Gallery, Arts and Culture Center and Detroit artist John Sauvé, installed 16 sculptures of Ali in front of historical buildings and on rooftops throughout the City of Benton Harbor and St Joseph. The sculptures, which can still be spotted around town today, are bright orange representations of the famous Ali Esquire magazine cover photo taken by Carl Fischer in 1968. The project’s mission depicts Ali’s struggle to overcome adversity and seeks to inspire area youth to work through tough times they may be facing. ARS’s Anna Russo-Sieber grew the project into an after-school program helping at-risk you find their own greatness and to expose them to the art industry. In 2015 the Benton Harbor team worked with the Muhammed Ali Center in Louisville to adapt the “I am the Greatest” project as part of their youth programming.
The new mural is based on a photo taken by Howard Bingham, a man who brought his family to visit Ali often in Berrien Springs in the summers. His son Dustin says they always looked forward to the visit and nicknamed the Ali estate ‘Camp Lonnie’ because of the summer camp feeling Ali’s wife provided whenever they came to visit.
During his lifetime Howard Bingham shot over a million images of Muhammed Ali and his son Dustin made those available to Fairey and the project lead, and longtime collaborator with Fairey, Eddie Donaldson, to choose the right image.
Fairey, best known for creating the iconic “Hope” poster for the Barack Obama campaign as well as large-scale murals around the world, worked with Louisville native Donaldson and the nonprofit Artists for Trauma to bring the project to life. The mural sets out to honor a man who Fairey says had an impact on everyone around him and to inspire the people in the Russell neighborhood of Louisville.
“Public art can shift people’s perspectives,” explains Fairey. “Mural art is accessible to everyone and changes the face of a neighborhood. One of the things that is so important about public art is that it is physical evidence that someone thought the endeavor was worth the effort. Public art is not in and of itself revolutionary, but the visceral side of seeing the landscape changing and seeing that something can be done, I think that can motivate people.”
The mural is painted facing the streets that Ali used to play on as a child, facing the roads he ran on to train and is just two blocks from where he attended school at Central High. While it honors Ali as an inspiration for his humanitarian work and ability to overcome hardship, it also comes on the heels of the Muhammad Ali Congressional Gold Medal Act. This posthumously awarded Congressional gold medal was given in recognition of Ali’s humanitarian work and contributions to the Nation.
From raising money for local projects, donating to area charities, and attending events, to doing magic tricks for children and helping foster kids find homes, Ali and his family became an important part of the local community. Seeing his legacy live on with this large-scale project is a testament to the impact he had on the world and everyone he came in contact with.
By Julee Laurent
MOTM Contributor
