Elton Monroy Duran is a Detroit-based visual artist born on December 22, 1978 in Ciudad Sahagun in the State of Hidalgo, Mexico. Duran acquired a BFA from the School of Fine Arts at the University of the State of Querétaro (1998-2003). He describes himself as a humanist artist with scientific and sociological approaches, which he seeks to convey through his work. He started the mural and art company Corpus Art Inc. in Detroit in 2015.

Julianne Lindsey is a professional photographer and visual artist working and living in Detroit. She achieved a Bachelor of Arts degree in photography at the University of Southern California (2004-08), Los Angeles, where she was born and raised. Lindsey documents people of all backgrounds, highlighting how each person is extraordinary through photography, painting and art installations. She joined Corpus Art Inc. in April 2016 with a common vision to create positive effects working with communities through art.

The City of Detroit launched the City Walls program in the Summer of 2017. The goals of the program are to highlight the values and the identity of the communities where art work is being created, empower Detroit artists, and to provide a positive cost benefit to the public via art versus the cost of blight remediation.

Artist Elton Monroy Durán was selected to create two large murals for the City Walls viaduct transformation program. Elton decided to put together a team of local emerging artists to work on this project alongside with him, sharing the benefits of this amazing and memorable opportunity. Other members of the community were also included, people of all ages, skill-sets, and backgrounds were welcomed to help paint the first layers, reinforcing community ownership of the murals.

When I was exploring the location for the mural at the very beginning, I noticed a very sad spot that had two white crosses... I'm sure everyone knows what I am talking about. The spot was really visible and kind of sad. I decided then to include members from the Southwest Detroit community in more than one way. I wanted to honor our loved ones in our community, even those that have passed on. So, this mural is a permanent kind of ofrenda altar around the wood crosses honoring the loved ones missing in our community.