More than 45 years after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his epochal "I Have a Dream" speech at the March on Washington, his words continue to resonate, inform and inspire. They can also be appreciated anew in an art exhibit that pays tribute to his message and vision at the National Civil Rights Museum.

Memphian Kiersten Williams, with "A Dream Redefined" (mixed media on wood), is one of four U.S. artists selected for the international show.

Lluís Barbadillo's "Yo tengo un sueño" ("I have a dream") is the exhibit's poster image.

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Titled "I Have a Dream: An International Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.", the show opens on Monday and is part of a month of activities for the museum that culminates with the Dalai Lama receiving an International Freedom Award on Wednesday.

Around 50 works will hang inside the museum through Nov. 8 for the touring display, which was organized in celebration of the 80th anniversary of King's birth by the city of Sitges, Spain -- home of, among other things, a renowned film festival. Coming as it does from Europe, the exhibit is a timely reminder of just how global King's message has become in the years since his death, says Barbara Andrews, the museum's director of education and interpretation.

"The importance of this exhibition is that we see again the impact that Dr. King's message, his works and his life have on the world," she says. "And to have a generation of artists still painting about and in the spirit of Dr. King attests to the enduring desire that people have to create peace around the world."

The show, which heads to Europe after visiting select cities in the United States, features artists from countries that include Russia, China and Spain. Barcelona-based Lluís Barbadillo, in fact, landed the image for the exhibit poster, "Yo tengo un sueño" (i.e., "I have a dream"), a populist take on cubism that frames King's likeness around stylized birds, as if to suggest his dream taking flight.

Of the four artists selected from the United States, one is from the Bluff City, painter Kiersten Williams, who submitted her work, she says, at the urging of local artist/art mentor Jay Etkin.

"It's wonderful," says Williams, 27, of being the only Memphian in the show. "Coming from this city, I thought that I could offer a personal perspective on it."

Indeed, Williams' mixed- media offering, "A Dream Redefined," is a powerfully reflective piece -- an African-American mother and daughter at a bus stop, one looking back, the other looking forward.

In part, the image is based on her own mother's experiences as a child, situations Williams heard about but never had to encounter-- in itself testament to the kind of progress King dreamed of.

"She would tell me different stories and how they had to cope with racism," says Williams of the inspiration behind her work. "So even though the painting is not me and my mom, it does kind of represent that . . . (the idea that) as people change and grow, the dreams of the parents are being realized through the kids."

'I Have a Dream'

On display Monday-Nov. 8 at the National Civil Rights Museum, 460 Mulberry. Call 521-9699 or go to civilrightsmuseum.org.