Wayne State University will mark the official inauguration and ribbon-cutting for a new historical mural at the School of Medicine on Sept. 18 at 11 a.m.

The collaborative effort between the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts and the School of Medicine was conceived and accomplished in collaboration with Detroit community representatives as a monument to African American progress in the medical field in Detroit and within the global community. It was funded by a grant from Michigan Humanities.

The mural, the product of a public humanities initiative to connect a multidisciplinary team of physicians, artists, students and activists with the broader community to celebrate the history of diversity in medicine and public health at Wayne State University and in the city, was installed on the 375-foot-long public-facing concrete wall along the sidewalk north of Scott Hall, on the south side of Canfield Street, on June 13.

WSU fine arts students designed the mural, based on oral histories of community members with deep roots to the location on which the School of Medicine sits. The area is the former site of the Plymouth Congregational Church in Detroit’s historic Black Bottom and Paradise Valley neighborhoods. The mural is intended as a monument to African American progress in the medical field, in Detroit and within the global community.

The public is invited to join the ceremony at the site of the mural at the School of Medicine on Canfield Avenue. Free city parking is available in the vicinity of Scott Hall.