Martin Luther King Jr. used words to highlight racial injustice and ignite profound change in a stubborn nation. Beginning Saturday, The Georgia Museum of Art will feature an exhibit that employs a different medium to offer social commentary on the struggles of blacks in the past and present – art.

“I am in the garden” includes some of the most influential black artists of the 20th century such as Romare Bearden and Jacob Lawrence as well as contemporary works by Kara Walker and Lorna Simpson that address issues of race, sex and identity.

The exhibit initiates a discussion on racism and the importance of equality through poignant and provocative pieces infused with racially-charged themes and images.

Many of the artists use their personal experience as inspiration for their work, capturing the controversial Jim Crow era with oil and water color.

“For example, Bearden built from his memory and personal experience,” said Paul Manoguerra, the museum’s curator of American art. “He built off ideas of history, race and politics which built off his personal experiences that were similar.”

He added that the name of the exhibit, “I am in the garden,” comes from an unpublished Bearden poem that describes a memory from his childhood in the South.

“Many of the themes featured in this exhibit highlight the Southern black experience,” Manoguerra said.

Artists such as Bearden and Lawrence spent most of their adult life in the North, migrating to New York to take part in the Harlem Renaissance. However, they continued to create art that explored Southern racial themes based on their childhood experiences.

Manoguerra’s personal favorite is Jacob Lawrence’s 1947 piece “Children at Play,” because of its use of color and its ability to maintain simplicity in its abstraction. He added that this piece, and many of the works from this exhibit, can relate to visitors on various different levels.

“Anyone, ages 3 to 99, can relate to this work,” he said. “Visitors also will enjoy this exhibit for its ability to mix very well known African-American artists and their works with lesser known, more contemporary artists.”

This exhibition also will include self-taught artists from the South such as Willie Jinks, Purvis Young and Jimmy Lee Sudduth, who works with mud, paint and sometimes mixes sugar and Coca-Cola to capture subjects such as cotton-picking, self-portraits and his dog, Toto.

“‘I am in the garden’ features art created by African Americans that runs the gamut of the 20th century,” Manoguerra said.

This exhibit is unique because it integrates pieces from the museum’s permanent collection, featuring artwork by Bearden and Lawrence, with the work of acclaimed contemporary artists such as Beverly Buchanan and Sam Gilliam.

“I am in the garden” presents a variety of works, ranging from the paintings of Bearden to the laser-cut silhouettes of Kara Walker. Yet, each explores an original perspective of the black experience in America and Manoguerra assures that visitors will be provoked by different takes on racism and racial themes, the memory and history of this period in America.

In honor of Black History Month, the “I am in the garden” exhibit opens Saturday and will remain on display until March 16.