Friends of MLK has chosen nationally recognized artist and muralist Cbabi Bayoc to create a new public mural next to the Martin Luther King Jr. Interpretive Center, 501 N. Brady St., in downtown Davenport.
Work on the mural began Wednesday, June 10 along the north-facing train bridge wall adjacent to MLK Park and across from the Martin Luther King Jr. Interpretive Center. Weather permitting, the mural is expected to be completed by June 17.
The project is a partnership among Friends of MLK, Quad City Arts and the Downtown Davenport Partnership and is intended to honor the resilience, entrepreneurship, entertainment, labor and community life of Black Davenport during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The $45,000 project is supported in part by an Arts Project Grant through the Iowa Arts Council and Iowa Economic Development Authority.
Bayoc, a St. Louis-based artist whose work can be found in schools, universities, hospitals and public spaces across the country, was selected following a multi-phase review process. More than 40 artists submitted qualifications for consideration.
A review committee representing Friends of MLK, Quad City Arts, and the Downtown Davenport Partnership picked three finalists, who received stipends to develop site-specific concepts informed by historical research and conversations with community leaders. Final concepts were then reviewed by the selection committee and additional project advisors.
The selection committee considered artist qualifications, historical alignment, artistic merit, feasibility and community feedback before making its final recommendation, with a particular emphasis on the project’s educational and storytelling goals.
“When we began this project, we weren’t looking for a mural that simply celebrated history. We were looking for a mural that could help people discover it. This site was once home to Black-owned businesses, restaurants, entertainment venues and gathering spaces that played an important role in the story of Black Davenport,” said Ryan Saddler, executive director of the Friends of MLK.
“What stood out about Cbabi’s design was his ability to weave so many of those stories together into a single piece of artwork. The mural invites people to slow down, ask questions and engage with a chapter of Davenport’s history that is not widely known today.”
The selected mural combines historical imagery and references drawn from the area’s past into a layered visual narrative that encourages exploration and reflection. Committee members noted that the concept stood out for its ability to weave together multiple stories while creating opportunities for future educational programming connected to the site.
Painting the best picture of local history
“His mural really painted the best picture of those that were submitted of being able to tell a comprehensive story,” Saddler said Thursday, June 11. Of the local figures in the mural are Father Marvin Mottet (at right with Martin Luther King. Jr.), who awarded Dr. King the “Pacem in Terris” Peace and Freedom Award at St. Ambrose University in 1965, as well as famed Davenport native Bix Beiderbecke and his friend, trumpeter Louis Armstrong.
Mottet (1930-2016) helped to form the Catholic Interracial Council (CIC) in 1957, and brought his students into contact with the racial problems that existed in Davenport. In 1963, he attended Dr. King’s March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and the CIC created the Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award.
In the mural design, specific to MLK Park is a depiction of Lindsey Pitts, a former slave from Missouri, who enlisted in the Union Army in the 60th US Colored Troops Infantry, serving from 1863 to 1865. After the Civil War, he settled in Davenport, where he became well known in the community, becoming the first Black business owner in Davenport, with a saloon located at the site of what is now MLK Park.
The mural also shows Eudora Nuckels, the first African-American graduate of Davenport High School in 1873, and Alexander Clark of Muscatine, a 19th-century civil rights leader. Clark was denied entry to the University of Iowa’s law school, and fought to get his son, Alexander Jr., admitted. In 1879, Alexander Jr. became the first Black man to graduate from the U of I law school, and Clark himself became the second in 1884.
The three mural finalists submitted a specific design, incorporating some of this local history that Saddler requested. He said Bayoc was best among the three.
“I threw a plethora of stories, of information at each of these three artists, and he captured so much of it,” he said. “Our intent is to be able to have this space for people to learn independently, but also with some brief narrative to kind of understand the images, the stories behind the images. So it gives us an opportunity to tell some of those stories.”
The Friends of MLK may add specific biographical information from the mural online, as opposed to a plaque on site, Saddler said.
“I want people to use their own imagination and thought and look at it and just enjoy the mural,” he said. Friends of MLK Park has also contracted with Rock Island artist Zay Williams to create a mural along the back wall of the stage, Saddler said.
“One of our central goals of the park and the organization was really to help people understand the history. And I think visual art, and it has its unique way of allowing people space to understand some of history,” he said.
“If you can see human beings or things of that nature, as opposed to only reading words, it has a deeper meaning to understanding of our history," Saddler said. "So I think this visual art will allow people just to sit or stand and soak in and be able to think about a time when a young Black girl in beginning of Reconstruction could go through Davenport schools and graduate and be one of the speakers at her graduation.”
The mural also references local civil-rights leader Charles Toney, who successfully sued after being denied service in 1945 at the Colonial Fountain, a small ice cream shop on 12th and Harrison Streets, Davenport.
Positioned just outside the MLK Interpretive Center, the mural will serve as a powerful visual extension of the Center’s mission, bringing stories of Black Davenport into the public realm and creating new opportunities for reflection, conversation and learning, according to a Thursday release.
“Each finalist brought a unique artistic vision to the project and we are grateful for the creativity and thoughtfulness they brought to the process,” said Ben Gougeon, Quad City Arts’ director of community engagement. “The selected design distinguished itself through the breadth of historical references it incorporates and its ability to transform a public space into an opportunity for discovery. This is a mural that will continue revealing new details and stories over time.”
Bayoc has spent more than three decades developing his artistic practice and is known for creating work that explores history, identity, family and community. His public art projects can be found throughout the U.S. and he is also a New York Times bestselling illustrator.
Bayoc, whose birth name is Clifford Miskell, Jr., adopted his name CBABI (Creative-Black-Artist-Battling- Ignorance) during his time at Grambling State University (‘92-‘95). In 1997, a legal name change took place at the time of his marriage. Later, Cbabi would change his last name to BAYOC (Blessed-African-Youth-Of-Creativity) as something that could be shared with his future children.
Dedication and Juneteenth to come
Friends of MLK and project partners plan to host a public dedication ceremony following the completion of the mural. Additional details will be announced at a later date.
Friends of MLK will host the Quad City Juneteenth Festival on Saturday, June 20, 2026, on 2nd Street in Davenport, between Harrison and Brady Streets. The festival will run from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
This festival is complete with food and retail vendors; local and national history information; community and resource booths; and fun-filled games and live entertainment for the whole family.
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