Now that the King Memorial Commons beautification project is complete, the only thing left to do is top it off with a statue of the man it honors.

A selection committee formed of art professionals, NIU faculty/staff members, students and NIU alumni chose the four finalists in the artwork contest Nov. 1.

The committee was originally going to choose five finalists but Patricia Perkins, assistant vice president for finance and planning, said, “there were four (finalists) that the committee thought met (our) expectations and rose to the surface.”

None of the finalists are NIU students. The finalists are James Avati, Salt Lake City; Peter Fagan, Urbana; Dann Nardi, Bloomington, and Jim O’Hara, Flagstaff, Ariz. Fagan has previously done bronze and cast stone works of Martin Luther King.

Admasu Zike, director of the Center for Black Studies said the contest was only open to artists who had previously completed at least five pieces of art. Zike was on the selection committee before it was cut down for finalist selection.

Perkins said no students from NIU submitted artwork proposals. She added there were only about 40 applications but they “represented a real good cross section of artists.”

The finalists will visit the commons and then must submit models of their art works by Feb. 1. The models will then go on display in the campus art museum and at NIU’s Chicago gallery.

The winner will receive $75,000 and must have a completed artwork installed in the Commons by next September.