This is where it all started. The first mural, and arguably one of the first things DL! ever did way back in June of 2009. Michael Sack’s father Phil, who owns Seafare Foods (check them out at Eastern Market!) was having difficulties getting the city off his back because his building was constantly getting covered by graffiti. His simple request: put something on this wall that people won’t want to paint over.

Philip, along with Michael Sack and Peter Dalinowski, two of DL!s earliest collaborators started with about 15 gallons of Disney-themed colored paint (colors were titled “Tiggerific”– orange!– or “Tinkerbell”– bright green!), a couple of rollers and an arsenal of tape. The mural was completed at a leisurely pace over the course of two months, deliberately obscuring the final product until practically the bitter end when the message DETROIT LIVES! appeared. Up until that point, the mural was an obscure collection of geometric shapes, then aliens appeared and, well, it was just hard to put together.

It made people smile when they figured it all out. It told a pleasant, fun story of martians discovering Detroit and making a rather hearty declaration.

We still talk about this mural, and still show it to friends and clients when they’re in town.