“POWER OF FIVE: THE WOMEN WHO SPARKED THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT,” a series of sculptures by Larry Stokes, will open on Saturday, February 17th at Loiter Galleries in Long Beach. Hours for the show’s opening are 6-9 pm. This show is cosponsored by Creative Corps, a new program from the Arts Council of Long Beach.

Sculptor Larry Stokes found his artistic calling for this show by putting his upbringing in the segregated south under a microscope. Inspired by the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott, Stokes was moved by the untold stories of four influential women who, along with Rosa Parks, sparked the movement and set it in an unstoppable forward motion.

In 1985, Mr. Stokes famously sculptured Martin Luther King Jr’s “I have a dream” statue which is located in the Long Beach park bearing Reverend King’s name.