Cindy Pasky often spends her Saturdays mornings at Eastern Market buying food, flowers, maybe a little wine, and checking out the shops and art.
On one trip she admired the work of Detroit mural artist Olayami Dabls and reached out to him to create a piece for her company, Strategic Staffing Solutions (S3). He agreed and Pasky commissioned a 25-foot long piece that would tell the story of her company, founded in the city in 1990, and the mission it holds dear.
“Dabls was incredible to work with on this project. He spent time with all of us learning the benchmarks of our company and incorporated them into the piece,” says Pasky, CEO of S3. “At S3 we set the bar high for what a corporation should do – create jobs, offer people an opportunity to succeed and change their station in life, and make community and charity work a core part of the company’s business.”
Dabls dedicated the signature mural this week and it now hangs in the S3 headquarters on the 25th floor of the Penobscot Building. There are lots of traditional signs and symbols in the piece and Dabls made sure to incorporate lots of green, the signature color of S3.
“This magnificent mural is a reflection of how we do business and is prominently installed in our corporate office where Detroiters work every day serving some of the best customers in the country,” Pasky says.
Dabls used lots of small pieces of mirrors so the viewer becomes part of the mural.
“Traditionally, the mirror is used throughout Africa as a tool to communicate with the ancestors,” he says. “I like mirrors because they reflect what is in front of them and they make the size of the space double. People work better with art and mirrors around them.”
Dabls has major installations at the African Bead Museum and the Murals at Eastern Market. His pieces are instantly recognizable for their use of iron, rock, wood and mirrors. You can read a previous feature on Dabls and his museum here.
