If you find yourself at the corner of Cochrane and MLK in North Corktown, you'll notice an impressive new mural recently finished on the side of a formerly run-down duplex. The painting of this mural of Mary Ellen Riordan, the first woman to lead the Detroit Federation of Teachers and the first woman to lead a major union, couldn't be more timely considering the state of Detroit Public Schools.
Developer and reporter Jon Zemke, whose great aunt is Riordan, commissioned the mural on the side of the home he redeveloped. The mural was painted by artist Nicole Macdonald and stands 20' x36' on the side of the house. On the mural, Riordan says, "Teachers want what children need."
Riordan led the Detroit Federation of Teachers from 1961-80, leading teachers to many big contracts in that time. She was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame in 2001 and passed away in 2010.
The idea for the mural came about last September and was just completed a few days ago. In developing the mural, Zemke says that, "Almost everything in Detroit is named after some old white dude from 100 years ago or Coleman Young. But there have been a lot of great leaders in the city over the past 50 years. She is one of those people. Every baby boomer and above who was here in Detroit knows her name. I wanted to make sure that legacy lived on for a long time."
As the DPS controversy grew this year, the mural became more and more important to Zemke. "The DPS was once a great district run by great people," he says. While the current union is doing a heroic job with the resources they have, leadership in Lansing is an embarrassment. "Now we need that reminder of the great leadership in the past more than ever."
Riordan introduced Zemke and wife Kristin Lukowski to Detroit 12 years ago. Riordan was a pivotal person in their decision to move to the city, he says.
As far as the property goes, Zemke bought it for $600 in the 2012 tax auction. The first floor was burned out and squatters were living in second floor. He says it was a magnet of badness in the neighborhood. He paid the squatters to leave and boarded it up.
The building was constantly being tagged, but he didn't like idea of painting over bricks. If you're going to paint over it, he says, you might as well do it with something that stands out, and that's what this mural is.
Here's an idea of what the property looked like before.
The vast majority of the work on the duplex took place over the last 12 months. Here's what the inside looks like now.
A few years ago, this duplex was at the bottom of Zemke's keep list. He nearly sold it. But he started putting the money into it and it's now become the property he prizes most, for the mural and for the work that's been done. It went from the most impersonal to most personal property he owns, and now he wants to keep it.
- Mary Ellen Riordan, '41 [Marygrove College]
- Nicole MacDonald
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