Cheryl Detwiler Mihalka Denver International Airport Murals

1993-1995

“In Peace and Harmony With Nature.”

“A Child Dreams of Peace”

Commissioned and on permanent display at the Denver International Airport.

Leo Tanguma, rated one of the top six mural artists of the world, was commissioned to create the four large murals, often referred to as “the Peace Murals”. Leo's daughter, Leticia Tanguma, and friend, Cheryl Detwiler, were hired by Leo to work on the three-year project with him. Cheryl had been creating personal murals in private homes, and had painted several murals for businesses. The DIA murals were Cheryl's first Public Art opportunity.

There are two sets of two murals on display at the airport. Originally, there were three sets of two murals created for the commission. However, the walls that two of the murals were created for, were accidentally sold for advertisement. Mr. Tanguma decided to white out the murals. He cut them down into smaller sizes, and donated them to different schools, for them to create their own murals. Cheryl had painted the “Indian Corn” on one of the murals in the set that was destroyed. Leo said he could not paint over the corn, and he took a saw and cut the corn out to give to Cheryl. Cheryl painted out the background around the corn and repainted it, so it would no longer be a part of the actual mural image. This painting is still in Cheryl's possession. When you look at the back of the picture, you can see part of the bracer bar that originally held panels of the original large mural together.