Entries for the Martin Luther King statue contest were pre-judged last week by an eight member committee.

Thrity-four of the 36 entries will now go before a juror committee which will choose the top three to five sculptors, said Jodi English, committee member.

The contestants, none of which were NIU students, sent in slides of their previous work, and according to the contest rules, they had to have made at least five large sculptures in the past.

All of the entries were acceptable except for two, English said. Two were not acceptable because slides were not submitted with their entry, she said.

The juror committee, which is made up of faculty, students and artists will choose the a combination of realistic and abstract sculptures, English said. They will have four months to work one a one-foot model of their sculpture.

The models will be put on display in February, and NIU students will make the final decision as to who the MLK sculptor will be.

“We’re pretty much on schedule,” English said.

The finalist will have six months to complete the final version. It is estimated to be about seven feet tall if it is a realistic sculpture and around seven feet tall and five feet in diameter if it is an abstract sculpture, English said.

The contest, which was open to everyone, brought entries in from all over the U.S.

Entries came in from as far as the west coast, but no current NIU students entered, English said. However, there were a couple of entries from NIU alumni, she said.

The winner of the contest will receive $75,000 for the piece, but supplies must also be bought with the money.

The sculpture should be installed by August or September, 1991, depending on the time it takes NIU groundskeepers to mount it in King Memorial Commons.