When “The Embrace,” Boston’s monument to Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife Coretta Scott King finally makes its debut, it will mark the culmination of years of planning, design, permitting and construction work similar to what’s involved in bringing a sizable development project to life.

The 20-ft-tall bronze monument, which represents the Kings’ intertwined arms and hands, is slated to open next January on MLK Day.

纪念碑又将站在一个瓷砖广场的中心，又被“和平步行”响起，所有旨在邀请安静的沉思和反思。

However, while the public gaze is focused on Hank Willis Thomas’ planned monumental bronze sculpture, an array of contractors, design firms and a foundry on the other side of the country are busy working on a range of jobs needed to make the artist’s vision a reality.

实际上，该项目参与了许多房地产和建筑公司。project management firmMGAC, which has a public art unit, is working with Thomas on everything from city permitting to contracting out the forging of the monument’s bronze pieces.

Local construction firm WES Construction is constructing footings, benches, pavers, lighting in the plaza that will surround the monument, while MASS Design did the design work.

同时，波士顿国王正在与Skanska合作。

In a significant step forward, civic and political leaders and other dignitaries held a public groundbreaking for the project on April 27, Coretta Scott King’s 95th birthday. Hank Willis Thomas based the sculpture’s design on a photo of the couple embracing after Martin Luther King Jr. won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

“我真的看到了建筑方面与艺术之间的这种联系，” Songha＆Company的公共艺术经理Sam Giarratani，该公司通过该公司汉克·威利斯·托马斯（Hank Willis Thomas）进行了业务。“我真的需要一个可以说我在施工方面无法说的语言的人。”

吉拉塔尼（Giarratani）发现，自2006年以来，MGAC与MGAC通往建筑世界的桥梁一直在使用20种不同的公共艺术设施。

MGAC, in turn, has helped guide the public art project through the Boston permitting system, with additional layers of review needed given the location on Boston Common, which has not had a new monument added in three decades.

That meant shepherding Thomas’ sculpture through the Boston Arts Commission and the plaza design through the Boston Parks and Recreation Dept., while also making sure Friends of the Public Garden were on board as well.

That took 17 months, with the project team not getting the final go-ahead until last fall.

MGAC文化实践小组董事总经理克里斯·柯林斯（Kris Collins）说：“获得公众认可的过程比预期的要长得多。”柯林斯补充说：“ [艺术家]并不总是为了获得所有认可，这并不总是很复杂。”柯林斯补充说，他的公司的行为是“艺术家的工作方式与开发人员和客户的运作方式之间的桥梁”。

MGAC还负责寻找可以处理66,000磅青铜雕塑的铸造厂，该雕塑的身高22英尺，宽25英尺。单独的手指的长度从3英尺到4英尺。

MGAC评估了三到四个潜在的候选人，然后最终定居在华盛顿州的Walla Walla Foundry，以制造和安装雕塑。

同时，当铸造厂正在工作时，将构成雕塑的青铜碎片，Wes的建筑和大众设计忙于建造广场。

In this case, Wes Construction will be working directly for the city under a contract with the Boston Parks and Recreation Dept. The contractor will build out 90% of the plaza, leaving the final 10%, where the sculpture will be installed, untouched.

MGAC的Collins说，这部分工作将由Walla Walla处理，大约需要12天，并在两辆大型起重机的帮助下。

The sculpture is so large that three tractor trailers will be needed to make the cross-country delivery from the foundry in Washington to Boston. Sections, in turn, are left open where the individual pieces connect to each other. The pieces are then attached through bolted connections, with small bronze panels welded over the openings and then finished and “patinated so that the pieces blend together,” Collins said in an email.

WES Construction项目经理尼尔·施瓦茨（Neil Schwartz）表示，布置和建造广场将具有挑战性，需要绝对的精确度。如果一块或瓷砖熄灭，它可能会抛弃一切。

他说：“线上任何地方都没有错误的余地。”