• DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- An artist is highlighting the work of more than a dozen community leaders in the Sioux City area by creating bronze sculptures of the individuals for a diversity park.
• Mark Avery has spent countless hours in his studio meticulously sculpting busts of people he said have been champions of equality and justice, and have helped individuals marginalized in the community.
• "They're really what we refer to as everyday heroes," he said. "People that really weren't looking for any spotlight. They just did it because it was the right thing to do."
• The Celebrating Community Project will feature 13 busts of people that represent populations including African Americans, Hispanics and Latinos, Jewish Americans and American Indians. They also represent other groups, such as women, the elderly, children, veterans and the homeless. Some of the leaders are alive and others have died.
• "When they came up with this idea, I thought, 'Gosh, these are the areas ... that impact all of us," said Flora Lee, president of Sioux City NAACP, which is helping to promote the park and raise money for it. "To look at some of those people that have been identified as pioneers in our community ... even though they're separate categories, they're interlocked or interlaced with one another."
• Avery, a resident of McCook Lake in nearby South Dakota, has five busts completed so far. Once they're all finished, they will be placed together in a park in the downtown area. A granite base for each bust will have a plaque describing the honoree's work. A steel arc that will be 23 feet tall and 50 feet wide is inspired by a quote from Martin Luther King Jr. All the pieces will be lit by LED lighting.
• Committees of local leaders have helped pick the individuals, though two remain to be selected, Avery said. There will also be up to six honorable mentions for each category. They will be recognized in biographies on an official website and a kiosk inside the Martin Luther King Jr. transportation center near the park.

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