Healing Wall Panel 5

Healing Wall Panel 5 dedicated on April 26, 2023, in Briggs Building

Healing Wall is an interactive project conceptualized by Detroit artist and retired educator, ,
to remember individuals killed or harmed by racial violence. The University community submitted ribbons
with the names of those to be remembered.

To Name Is to Heal

It is important to acknowledge that victims of racial violence were loved by families, friends, and members of their communities. Each panel of Healing Wall is made up of 1,200 to 1,500 collected ribbons, and each ribbon represents an individual prayer. Healing Wall Panel 5 celebrates their lives, not their deaths, and is dedicated to the impact they had across the nation. 

The creation of Panel 5 began at Detroit Mercy's Celebrate Spirit in 2020, where the campus-wide collaborative project called the community to join in solidarity by naming those killed in unjust systems. The community contributed ribbons of remembrance that will endure as a reminder of the need to work together in advocacy, action and healing.

Healing Wall Panel 5’s new home in Briggs Building acknowledges the College of Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences' commitment to being a place of education, belonging and healing and affirms that diversity is our strength.

Media Coverage

  • Campus Connection

  • Detour Detroit
  • The Varsity News
Panel 5 Healing wall and artist carole morisseau

 Project Information

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Main Points

  • Healing Wall Panel 5 draws attention to systemic violence against marginalized communities worldwide
  • The project was inspired by the people of Salvador, Brazil, who would tie a ribbon to the fence outside of Igreja Nosso Senhor do Bonfim and make three wishes
  • It aims to shine a light on fatal victims of systems of violence and oppression

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About the Artist

  • Carole Morisseau is a local Detroit artist and retired educator at Cass Technical High School
  • Inspired by her travels in Brazil through the Fulbright Hays Group Project Abroad to Brazil in 2018, Morisseau created Healing Wall as a way of honoring the fallen
  • Morisseau's commission for the University is the fifth panel of Healing Wall Panel 5 since the project's inception