"A story of Latino civil rights:" New piece of art will soon be installed on Milwaukee's south side

MILWAUKEE -- A gigantic piece of artwork is coming soon to the south side of Milwaukee. It offers a bit of a history lesson on the background of Milwaukee's Latino community.

Inside the UWM Student Union, the mural is coming to life. Its inspiration comes from local Latino leaders.

"Really, it is a story of Latino civil rights," said lead artist Raoul Deal. "Originally, they were organizing the migrant workers, but they also organized the Latino community."

ArtWorks for Milwaukee is behind the project. It is a job training through art internship program for local high school students.

"We all kind of have a piece of who we are on this mural," said Isabel Castro, mural painter.

They partnered with UMOS, a Latino rights organization, for their research -- interviewing members of the Latino community.

"We asked all the people we interviewed what was important to them, and we tried to honor that," said Deal.

This whole mural is about 85 feet long and nine feet tall. Common themes you'll recognize throughout: Agriculture, family, industry, unity and bilingual education.

The project is helping teens learn about their roots and appreciate their culture.

"My grandpa had to cross the river six times and it was to come here to have a better life," said Castro.

"The contributions of Latinos to our society are incredible," said Deal.

The mural should be complete in the fall. It will be a permanent installation on the Butters-Fetting building near 1st and Mitchell. They're a mechanical contractor.