OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — The Oklahoma City Council approved final plans for the $17.2 million Clara Luper Civil Rights Center on Tuesday, a new interpretive center and community gathering space funded through MAPS 4.
Named in honor of Clara Luper, an educator and pioneering civil rights leader, the center will celebrate Luper’s legacy in leading her students in non-violent demonstrations that desegregated hundreds of establishments across Oklahoma during the 1950s and 60s. She also served as a longtime advisor for Oklahoma City’s NAACP Youth Council.
“In 2019, with the passage of MAPS 4, we resolved as a community to share our city’s civil rights story with future generations through the creation of the Clara Luper Civil Rights Center,” Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt said. “The ensuing years have brought important planning to ensure this facility will be a success. Upon its opening, the Clara Luper Civil Rights Center will preserve our civil rights history that changed our city forever, it will inspire us to continue building a better city, and it will make a new investment in the heart of Northeast OKC.”
New sculpture downtown honors Clara Luper led Civil Rights sit-in
The new 17,694-square-foot facility will feature exhibitions that highlight Oklahoma’s civil rights history, along with classrooms, an event hall for youth activities, public programs, and community gatherings.
Visitors to the center will experience a blend of indoor and outdoor storytelling elements, such as projections on the building’s exterior and public artwork that is funded by the City’s 1% for Art ordinance. The City is currently accepting proposals from artists interested in contributing to the project…