JUNE 8 • 2023 | 47
Midtown Detroit Inc. believes Reshef’s
mural will elevate the neighborhood even
further, a welcoming addition amongst the
many areas of growth Midtown has expe-
rienced in recent years, such as a boom
of new restaurants, shops and residential
buildings.
“Midtown Detroit Inc. believes the beauty
of this piece was a great fit for the architec-
ture of this interesting commercial property
and elevates the level of design
in the district,
” explains Susan
T. Mosey, its executive director.
The once-blighted building
sat peeling and fading until
March, when Reshef’s mural
gave it a new facelift. Still, the
benefits go beyond simply
beautifying Detroit’s existing
architecture.
Ongoing research from
Bloomberg Philanthropies
found that cities that incorpo-
rate street art are much safer
for pedestrians, associating
the incorporation of art with
slower vehicle speeds and half the amount
of crashes with pedestrians.
Installing the mural also created work
opportunities. “The banner company
utilized was based in the city of Detroit,
”
Finkel says. “I’m glad that this type of proj-
ect can help bring jobs to the city.
”
While Finkel knows that one artist or one
particular idea won’t transform an entire
city, the goal is to work block-by-block and
steadily create lasting change throughout
Detroit.
CONNECTING THROUGH ART
Finkel, who regularly travels to Israel for
networking and community-building initia-
tives in conjunction with his venture capital
firm Orfin, was compelled by Reshef’s
deeply emotional style of art. “Her work
is often inspired by the story of Genesis
and creation,
” he says. With her artwork
displayed worldwide, he says Reshef’s style
“brings vibrancy to the public spaces where
it’s installed.
”
Reshef’s mural, which is just under 61
feet across and 13 feet tall, is a kaleidoscope
of colors, including blues, reds and yellows.
“My art talks to people in a very emo-
tional way,
” Reshef, 59, explains. “It’s a very
indirect way to connect to people.
”
She says she believes people experience
themselves through art. With her work, in
particular, viewers can reflect on the con-
cept of time. “Time has a very big impact
on my art,
” Reshef says. “It takes a long time
to create, and it takes time to collect the
material I’m using for my art and paint it
layer-by-layer.
”
As an advocate of using waste vegetation,
or branches, petals, ferns and leaves col-
lected in streets and other urban settings in
her art, Reshef imprints these “relics” onto
her canvases and steadily builds upon them
with numerous layers of paint.
Susan T.
Mosey
JAMIE FELDMAN
Adam
Finkel
continued on page 48
LEFT: Rotem Reshef at the Detroit Institute of Arts. ABOVE: You can find Reshef’s mural Open End on West Canfield just across from
The Whitney in Midtown. BELOW: Reshef began work on the mural in March.