Art has the power to honor, to remember, and to galvanize action. That’s why I’ve spent the past few months working with Clear the Air, Sierra Club Michigan, Urban Neighborhood Initiatives, and the University of Michigan Dearborn Public Health Society to create an altar and tree of life art installation. It debuted this past weekend as part of the Detroit Institute of Arts’ annual Día de Muertos exhibition.

Advocates and artists build the Ofrenda together before installing it.

Activists paint the tree of life and its leaves for the Ofrenda.

Detroit ranks No. 1 among major U.S. cities for asthma-related health impacts. Behind that statistic are real people like Curley Hugh Anderson, Darnell “DJ” Jalien Paton, and Sylvia Silva, three beloved Wayne County residents whose lives were cut short by industrial air pollution. Our altar, surrounded by marigolds and personal mementos, tells their stories and exposes the deadly cost of coal-based steelmaking and other polluters that continue to harm Michiganders every day.

Exhibit contributors smile with the completed ofrenda.

At the center stands a tree of life, symbolizing hope for industry reborn cleaner and accountable. Symbolic objects — like muted papel picado, black heart, lung, and hourglass — reflect the human toll of pollution, while the tree offers a new vision of clean air from a revitalized and decarbonized industry.

Panelists speak at the Detroit Institute of Arts about the ofrenda project and the impacts of industrial pollution on Detroiters.

For me, this altar is a call to action. Sharing Curley, DJ, and Sylvia’s stories alongside the data is our way to honor the dead and fight for the living. The exhibition runs now through November 2 on the third floor of the Detroit Institute of the Arts. I hope you’ll visit, add your own story to the virtual community altar, and join us in demanding clean air so no one has to lose a loved one to preventable pollution and no worker has to sacrifice their health for a paycheck.

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