Art lovers from around the world travel to Michigan to experience Diego Rivera's 1932-1933 Detroit Industry murals in person. Rivera's monumental frescoes at the Detroit Institute of Arts dominate histories of the genre but Michigan is also home to a vast (and expanding) array of interesting murals, from the 1960s Black Power murals in Detroit to the New Deal-era post office murals that surround the state. This course will explore the histories and ongoing presence of murals across the state of Michigan. Though we will focus on local and regional murals, larger topics will include: the role of public art in American communities, the Mexican Muralism movement, and the use of murals in contemporary struggles for social and environmental justice. Together, we will learn how to read murals and their archives, and to ask what they can tell us about obscured histories.
Students in this course should have the opportunity to visit mural sites in person, and to participate in an upcoming digital humanities project about New Deal post office murals in rural Michigan.
Textbooks/Other Materials: Materials will be posted on Canvas or available on library reserve.
Course Requirements:
Intended Audience: All are welcome, students will benefit from some previous humanities coursework.
Class Format: Two 80-minute seminar meetings, primarily consisting of discussion.
Estimated Cost of Materials: $0-50
HISTART Distribution Requirements: Europe and the US; Modern and Contemporary
Image: "Design for Mural, Paw Paw, Michigan Post Office", Carlos Lopez for the Treasury Department Section of Fine Arts, ca. 1940. Watercolor over pencil on paper, 9 1/2" x 10". National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the Public Buildings Service.
Keywords: Public Art, Murals, Michigan History
