As the new Gordie Howe International Bridge rises from the ground, local artwork will rise with it.
Indigenous artists have been asked to take part, painting murals on the outside panels of the tower-crane climbing-system that will rise hundreds of feet in the air.
Heather Grondin is vice president of communications with the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Company and tells AM800's The Afternoon News it's a unique community initiative.
"Normally when you think of local involvement, you think about skilled trades or construction workers," she says. "What's unique about this initiative is that it provides an opportunity for artists to contribute and have a roll in the project."
Teresa Altiman is an artist from Walpole Island First Nation who painted two pieces.
She says one is of an eagle looking to an eagle staff, a symbol of strength and wisdom in her culture.
"There's a lot of protocol involved with an eagle staff and a lot of respect," she says. "An eagle staff is what usually comes into a pow wow dance arena and it comes in first, carried by a veteran."
Altiman says the mural depicts a real artifact.
"This eagle staff that I have in my picture is the actual eagle staff that stands in the council chambers here on Walpole Island at our governance building," she added.
Altiman, Paul White, and Daisy White from Walpole Island First Nation were joined by Naomi Peters from Caldwell First Nation, and Roberto Villalobos from Southwest Detroit in contributing paintings.