Kalamazoo Valley Students Experience Diego Rivera Murals at Detroit Institute of Arts

Kalamazoo Valley Intermediate Spanish I students visited the Detroit Institute of Arts to see Diego Rivera’s Detroit Industry Murals, painted in 1932-33 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 2014.

The field trip highlighted Hispanic influence on U.S. culture and gave students a chance to experience Rivera’s work firsthand. Instructor Kevin Fuchs said the visit connected classroom learning to real-world experience.

Encouraged by a connection to Kalamazoo Valley’s Sustainable Brewing Program, Whitchurch enrolled and soon learned about Michigan Reconnect, a state program providing tuition support for adults returning to college.

“I encourage students to explore venues where they can apply the language skills and cultural understanding they have acquired,” Fuchs said. “This trip provided students an opportunity to experience firsthand these incredible murals right in their own backyard.”

Students said the visit brought history and art to life. Annabelle Riggs called the experience “awe-inspiring and humbling.”

“It really helps one understand the artist himself; his soul and essence captured endlessly in his work,” she said.

Demond Jackson said the trip deepened his understanding of language, culture and history.

“Seeing the work of a Spanish-speaking artist like Rivera helped me connect the Spanish language with real cultural and historical contexts,” he said. “Rivera’s murals show Detroit through the eyes of a Mexican artist, which deepened my understanding of how language, culture and history all intertwine.”

Christopher Briggs noted the murals’ social commentary.

“Seeing the murals in person widened my own perception and gave me a complete exercise in perspective,” he said.

Rivera painted the murals using a fresco technique, incorporating scenes from Detroit’s industrial life, including the Ford River Rouge plant, during the Great Depression. Funded largely by Edsel Ford, the murals remain a symbol of Detroit’s resilience, creativity and multicultural history.