Isaiah “Zay” Williams fulfilled a dream by painting a new mural of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., behind the stage at MLK Park, 501 N. Brady St., Davenport.
The Rock Island artist and Friends of MLK took part in a public dedication ceremony celebrating the completion of the mural (prominently featuring a vibrant portrait of Dr. King and his immortal words “I have a dream”) on Tuesday, July 21, 2026.
The new mural honors Dr. King’s only Quad Cities appearance, in 1965, to receive the “Pacem in Terris” Peace and Freedom Award in Davenport.
“Our primary goal and mission is that we encourage the Quad Cities and those who visit this area, this region, to one, learn of the local civil rights stories, but then also begin to practice those,” Ryan Saddler, executive director of Friends of MLK, said Tuesday on the park stage. “So this is a piece of the pie, a piece of the puzzle for us in beginning to shape who Dr. King, that we can explain who Dr. King was and who we ought to be in light of the civil rights, I'll say struggles, that have gone through in this country as we celebrate 250 years of a country.”
“We’re still addressing civil rights issues. And so the inspiration here is the tenet that Dr. King, the tenets that Dr. King lived on,” Saddler said. “That's what we want to encourage and pursue here as the Friends of MLK.” He praised Williams for enduring the extreme heat this month in the two-week process, which began in early July.
The new mural complements a larger one completed in mid-June on the site (at 5th and Brady streets) by nationally recognized St. Louis-based artist Cbabi Bayoc.
That project was a partnership among Friends of MLK, Quad City Arts and the Downtown Davenport Partnership, 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 (of nearly $15,000) through the Iowa Arts Council and Iowa Economic Development Authority.
Bayoc, a mural 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.
That mural is on the south side of the park, on the railroad bridge wall. Of the local figures in the Bayoc mural are Father Marvin Mottet (at right with Martin Luther King. Jr.), who was part of giving Dr. King the “Pacem in Terris” Peace and Freedom Award at Davenport Masonic Temple in 1965, as well as famed Davenport native Bix Beiderbecke and his friend, trumpeter Louis Armstrong.
The last right panel of the Bayoc mural includes King's quote from the 1965 award ceremony: "You can tell we're making some progress when a Catholic Interracial Council gives an award to a Baptist minister named Martin Luther King, Jr., and it takes place in the Masonic Temple."
The Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award was created in 1964 by the Davenport Catholic Interracial Council, and King was its third recipient. An award is presented by the Diocese in collaboration with other organizations to honor a person for their achievements in peace and justice, not only in their country but in the world.
Rocky alum thrilled by project
“This has been a highly anticipated project,” said Williams, a 30-year-old Rock Island High alum, who’s studied art at Black Hawk College, but is mainly self-taught. “I was extremely excited to be able to paint this mural.”
Bayoc painted his longer mural over six days, June 10-15, 2026. Williams said he was influenced by his colorful work.
“I would say I was pretty inspired by most of his style, and I was like, you know what I mean, I definitely want to have a little bit of his style somewhere in the mural,” he said.
This is Williams’ second civil-rights mural, reflecting Dr. King. He did a larger interior painting of civil rights leaders last November at Celebrity’s Beauty Supply at 1600 N. Harrison St., Davenport.
“It means a lot of things. I would say, definitely encouraged, definitely inspired,” Williams said of the MLK Park piece. “It means more that you know, he was here, that he made an impact, he made a difference, and his influence stretches far beyond what we know. So I'm happy to have been a part of this project.”
“It feels pretty good. You know, it's a beautiful thing when people are moving around throughout the day and they see something like this, especially in the going up the hill, just going about their day, and like, ‘Oh wow, that's amazing,’,” he added. “Then seeing it, they might come back and then the question will be, okay, who is— well, obviously they know who it is. If they don't, that's okay, but they'll be able to ask questions and maybe get some more information about the mural and some of the history here in MLK Park.”
This one is Williams’s first exterior mural, and he plans to do a new one in the next week outside at Celebrity’s, he said. You can see more of his art inside the 3000 Center, at 3000 16th St., Moline, and can follow him on Instagram and TikTok at “House of Zay Art.”
He incorporated some downtown Davenport history into the MLK Park mural, including street signs that say Africa Road and Ethiopia Road, which were derogatory names for this section of Davenport.
“My artwork is vibrant, it's colorful, so I want that to be reflected through the mural as well,” Williams said. “The weather was crazy, you know, from the rain, from the heat, the humidity, all these elements I had to brace myself because, you know, the Midwest weather is crazy, as you know. So just overcoming those challenges while painting this mural, it was a lot.
“I was very thankful and appreciative to be able to work on this project and get through those struggles because I'm sure Martin Luther King had his struggles as well. So just thinking about that as I was working just kind of helped me get through it,” he added. “One of the biggest things that encouraged me through this project was the people locally. You know, they would come up to me and ask me questions, keep me encouraged. A lot of people actually brought water and food and just refreshments to help me get through it because the heat was— it was a great challenge.
“So just having people to come through and show their support, show their love, show their appreciation was just another thing to help me get through this,” Williams said.
“There's a lot of history here. There's a lot of history with the mural behind you (the Bayoc) as well. So it's nice to finally to have these two artistic elements here in the MLK Park. I hope that more people come down here because a lot of people don't know that this is here yet. It's been here for a while, but I hope that people will come here and they see the artwork and it makes them wonder and ask questions so they're able to learn more about this historical place.”
Honoring Black history
Saddler noted the 5th and Brady area was a mixed racial landing spot, with African-American businesses and entertainment.
“While we talk about the good and Dr. King and all those pieces that he fought for, we also don't want to leave short the reality of our American history and what this kind of derogatory name was and how we can take those derogatory pieces and make those better for us as a community and our future,” he said, adding Dr. King’s only Quad Cities visit was at today’s Vicki Palmer Hall – the former Masonic Temple -- in April 1965.
“And that visit, he came only because of people like Charles Toney, Bill Hewitt (the John Deere CEO at the time), Father Marvin Mottet,” Saddler said. “They should be credited as well for Dr. King's only visit here to Davenport. And so I thank those individuals for the fight, the work that they did in their time, that we can still let that legacy and those stories live on through us telling those stories, but we have to learn them first.”
You can listen to Dr. King’s “Pacem in Terris” award speech in Davenport HERE.
The timing of the mural opening is perfect, since thousands of runners from around the world will pass by MLK Park this Saturday in the Bix 7 road race, and the park will host a pre-race party on Thursday night after the Brady Sprint. MLK Park will later host its third year of Alternating Currents concerts on Saturday, Aug. 15.
For more information, visit the Friends of MLK website.
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