How to Enjoy the Art Scene in Detroit
OK -- the art scene in Detroit. I get that some of you may find that oxymoronic. It shouldn't, though, just as the music scene in Detroit and the architecture scene in Detroit shouldn't sound strange. After all, Detroit has always been a city where hardworking people got together to innovate and stir up the masses. Think electronic music, the General Motors Building, Motown -- all inspired by Detroiters. So if you really want to see art in Detroit, get out your city map and your GPS and get ready for a pleasant surprise.
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Things You'll Need
- Map of Detroit (GPS if possible)
- Camera
- A couple of days to see everything.
- An open mind.
Instructions
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The Detroit Institute of Arts
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We start at a world-class art museum, recently made more so by a $158 million dollar renovation. The museum's collection contains Egyptian mummies as well as works by Joseph Albers, and some representative of just about every school of art in between. Michael Graves was the primary designer of the 57,650 sq. ft. renovation that just recently opened. The gorgeous central Beaux Arts building that originally housed the DIA dates to 1927; it was designed by Paul Cret. Inside the elegant front entrance are spectacular murals of "Detroit Industry" by Diego Rivera. Among the 60,000 works of art is the first Vincent van Gogh to be placed in the U.S. ("Self-Portrait") The museum is at 5200 Woodward Avenue in the Cultural Center. Across the avenue is the Detroit Main Library Building, opened in 1921 and a beautiful architectural complement to its neighbor.
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Art galleries abound in Detroit, filled with some of the most cutting-edge artwork you'll find in any city. The G.R. N'Namdi Gallery at 66 E. Forest, is just south of the DIA and across Woodward Avenue from Wayne State University -- it houses on outstanding collection of contemporary abstract art, featuring noted names from the US and Europe. A few blocks down Woodward is the CPoP Gallery, again housing a wonderful contemporary collection. The Scarab Club, a National Historic Site, sits behind the DIA. It contains artist studios, a heavy-beamed lounge area and gallery space ( among others, Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo signed their names on the beams).
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Away from the Woodward Avenue strip are several important Detroit art spaces. One is the Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit, at 5141 Rosa Parks Blvd. in southwest Detroit. It's a nonprofit gallery that's been around for 29 years, promoting art education and maintaining a superb collection for visitors. In addition, the Zeitgeist Gallery and Performance Venue at 2661 Michigan Avenue (near the deserted train terminal), the "bad boy" of the Detroit art scene, gives visitors an experimental, avant-garde art space, featuring such edgy artists as Rosemarie Kozcy and Robert Hyde. Artists are both local and from around the globe. The Pewabic Pottery, on the East Side at 10125 E. Jefferson and housed in a 1903 Arts and Crafts building, exhibits incredible pottery. It has perfected some of the world's most beautiful pottery glazes, many of which grace Detroit homes.
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On the old East Side, in what was once called the "Black Bottom," the year 1986 saw an artistic revolution take place, initiated by one man, one Detroiter who was tired of seeing his neighborhood sinking into poverty and despair. He began to clean up the street, collecting the items he found, and with them, he decorated a vacant house, completely covering it with old shoes, dolls, mittens, anything he could find. This became the Heidelberg Project, for the street on which the artist lives, and the artist is Tyree Guyton, now internationally recognized for his creations with "found objects." You're not a true Detroiter if you don't have, somewhere in your home, a picture of Guyton's work.
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Most of us Detroiters have a certain fondness for what we call "the Ruins of Detroit." These shuttered, abandoned and crumbling buildings speak of an age when Detroit was the Auto Capital of the World, and money was no object. Included are the remnants of Brush Park mansions, near downtown on Woodward Avenue, and commercial wrecks, like the abandoned train terminal just off Vernor. There are hundreds of these relics. We sigh over them, we take pictures of them, and by golly, sometimes we even renovate them. We know this is a city that is in the process of reinventing itself, and we know that eventually the Ruins will either be razed or rebuilt -- meanwhile, they are post-Apocalyptic works of art for us.
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End things on a brighter note at the base of Woodward Avenue, at Jefferson Avenue, where the "Spirit of Detroit" statue graces the main entrance to the Coleman A. Young Municipal Building. Nicknamed "the Jolly Green Giant" for his green patina, the 26-foot tall statue was designed by Marshall Fredericks in 1958. He has been known to leave green footprints on the sidewalk when he visits the ballerina statue a block away from his allotted space. And when a Detroit team wins a championship, the Giant breaks out the appropriate jersey to wear. As you stand there at the intersection of Woodward and Jefferson, looking across the Detroit River at the Windsor, Ontario skyline, you'll wonder why it took you so long to check out the art scene in Detroit!
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Tips & Warnings
Many wonderful galleries could not be included -- that would take a book (or two).
It will take at least two days to see the suggested highlights (3 if you want a decent tour of the DIA).
Some galleries are located in neighborhoods that require you to be alert, as in any large city.
Resources
- Photo Credit N.A..Hirabayashi
