Wayne State University's department of art and art history and the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) are partnering to host a symposium celebrating the "Detroit Industry" murals of world-renowned artist Diego Rivera.

Titled "Echoes of Rivera: Harmonies and Dissonance," the all-day symposium will be held on Saturday, April 5, 9-5 p.m., at the DIA's Holley Room and Detroit Film Theatre Auditorium.

Rivera, remembered as an artist and activist, believed in capturing current political, social and cultural messages in his murals. These themes resonate in his "Detroit Industry" fresco commissioned in 1931 and realized between1932 and 1933, a mural that Rivera fondly regarded as one of his most successful, and the subject of the symposium.

Graham W.J. Beal, director of the Detroit Institute of Arts, commented about the significance of Rivera's artwork to Detroit and the community. "The Rivera murals are literally embedded in the walls of the DIA and in the heart of this city. Few museums have a true masterpiece that is drawn directly from the actual experience of their community," Beal said.

Mame Jackson, Wayne State professor of art history, in the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts, will launch the program's opening session at 9 a.m., a unique forum for four Wayne State University students who will present their scholarly research papers.

"The symposium is an exciting project on two fronts; the collaboration between Wayne State University, the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the opening session featuring research papers of our students," Jackson said.

Following the presentation of papers, Anthony Lee, professor of art history at Mount Holyoke College and an authority on Rivera's works, will respond to the students' research.

Opening the afternoon session, MaryAnn Wilkinson, curator of modern and contemporary art at the DIA, will introduce presenters including: Prof. Lee; Robin Greeley, associate professor of art history, University of Connecticut-Storrs; Steve Babson, labor program specialist, Wayne State University, College of Urban, Labor and Metropolitan Affairs (CULMA); Michael Daugherty, composer-in-residence, Detroit Symphony Orchestra; and Nancy Locke, associate professor of art history, Wayne State University, College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts.

Daugherty will conclude the afternoon's presentations with a musical illustration of his composition titled "Fire and Blood," inspired by Rivera's "Detroit Industry" murals.

Sponsored by Wayne State University's department of art and art history, W. Hawkins Ferry Endowment, and Friends of Modern Art, an auxiliary of the Detroit Institute of Arts, the event is free and open to the general public. For more information, call (313) 833-4020 or visit The Detroit Institute of Arts Web site.

Wayne State University is a premier institution of higher education offering more than 350 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to more than 31,000 students in metropolitan Detroit.