![\"IMG_2426\"](\"http:\/\/challengedetroit.org\/alexandrazisser\/files\/2014\/04\/IMG_2426.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe \u201cDetroit Industry\u201d murals were painted by Mexican artist Diego Rivera, one of the most important artists of the early 1900\u2019s, and are an incredible asset to Detroit\u2019s cultural fabric. Rivera himself considered the murals to be his most successful work of art, and are one of only a few of his works in the United States.<\/p>\n
Painted between 1932 and 1933, the murals were inspired by time Rivera spent observing Ford\u2019s Rouge automotive plant, and capture Detroit\u2019s industrial prosperity of the time. Like many good works of art, the murals were very controversial when they were first unveiled; images of racial equality and inter-class cooperation led to accusations of communist propaganda (Rivera is remembered as a known Marxist, so this was not an unfounded criticism).<\/p>\n
There\u2019s so much to be admired in the \u201cDetroit Industry\u201d murals, from their technical execution to their historic significance. What I love most about them though, is how their meaning has grown and changed with the city it depicts and still reflects a hopeful vision of a Detroit we can help achieve. In the murals, men of every color and occupation bend to their task in unison, all working to build something new and create prosperity for themselves, collectively. This scene takes on more of a metaphorical meaning when viewed from 2014, but the idea is still there: Detroiters new and old, of all occupations, colors, and neighborhoods working together to bring to life something unprecedented in the city of Detroit.<\/p>\n
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