As I got off the People Mover at Renaissance Center, I was lead down a tunnel walkway from the platform and into a colorful tiled space. Home to the General Motors Headquarters, this is the same station you'd be able to use if you lived, worked, and played in the neighborhood. Home to restaurants and shops, the "Ren Cen" is a staple in the Detroit skyline.

"Path Games" by George Woodman features 2,625 ceramic tile modules, silk screened and manufactured in Italy. The vibrant design represents the connectivity of cultures in Detroit, linking together to create multi-colored orientations of continuous pattern. Throughout his 60-year career, Woodman explored color and abstraction in a variety of forms, including landscape, geometric, and patterned, and later pivoting toward figure, sculpture, and architecture. 

Standing strong is "Siberian Ram," a cast-bronze sculpture by Marshall Fredericks with a Pewabic tile backdrop. The green tiles behind Siberian Ram were donated from Stroh's Brewing Company and can also be seen in this unique green color at Cadillac Center.

Fredericks was one of Michigan’s most prolific sculptors, with 29 in total. Known for his sculptures depicting animals and nature, the original Siberian Ram was first completed in 1941 and on display at Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids. Hosting the largest collection of his work, you can also see "The Boy and the Bear" and "Seven Saints and Sinners" at Meijer Gardens.

The green tiles behind Siberian Ram were donated from Stroh's Brewing Company and can also be seen in this unique green color at Cadillac Center.

Overlooking the historic Detroit Club and the former Detroit Free Press building (now Press/321), Fort/Cass is one of the first People Mover stations I became familiar with due to its proximity to Rosa Parks Transit Center, John K. King Books, and the old Salvation Army thrift store (you can still check out Sally's on Fort)

"Untitled" by Farley Tobin is inspired by the Taj Mahal and created from 30,000 tiles to construct two murals. A Cranbook graduate, Tobin created and studied the history of ceramic tiles, architectural tile, and mosaic installations.

Her work can also be found in courthouses, museums, universities, and private homes.

Sandra Jo Osip is another Michigan-born artist who combines nature and her industrial environment. As you enter the Fort/Cass station, there are two six-feet high bronze sculptures to the left. "Progressions II" reminds me of shells with a floral flair, and was added to the station in 1992.

From Sandra's website, "In this time of uncertainty I began to offer hopefulness with bright and uplifting themes. Since flowers represent a new beginning and celebrate beauty, love hope and healing I used their forms, shapes and colors for the start of this new experimental journey."

I hope to meet these talented artists one day!

This past week I visited the Bricktown Station for the first time and picked up a brochure about the art in each of the thirteen Detroit People Mover stations. Each feature their own unique artwork, created by nineteen different artists from Michigan.

I decided to visit each station and share the art and stories behind each piece of work.

Starting with Cadillac Center, I enjoyed the colorful Pewabic Pottery arches greeting me inside the stairs of the platform. Originally fired for Strohs Brewery in 1955, the tiles were left unused.

The unique tiles were later used to create this mural designed by Diana Kulisek to represent the workers of Detroit.

The bronze plaque of Marie-Therese Guyon Cadillac is a loan from the Detroit Institute of Arts and depicts her entering Detroit on a canoe from Quebec. Known as the First Lady of Detroit, Madame Cadillac was a French-Canadian-American Pioneer who married Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac at age 17.

Dated 1903, the plaque was created by Carlos Romanelli. Romanelli was an Italian sculptor who moved to Detroit in the 1920s from Los Angeles. His work also includes La Pieta at the entrance of Mt. Elliott Cemetery in Detroit.

The Cadillac Center art is titled "In Honor of Mary Chase Stratton," the co-founder of Pewabic Pottery.

Stay tuned for a new post each day on each station!

Grand Circus Park is my third stop in Art in the Stations, and the Detroit People Mover I frequent the most. Connected to the David Whitney Building, Grand Circus Park is also home to the D2A2 bus to Ann Arbor, the QLINE, and several DDOT and SMART connections.

"Catching Up" by J. Seward Johnson, Jr. is one of my favorite sculptures on the city, and perfectly representing the bustling Grand Circus Park station. I smile every time I mistake him for a real-life person; the life-size statue resembles a passenger waiting for the morning train.

The Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News are both featured in this work, carefully detailing each word on the bronze newspaper pages.

Check out the Grand Circus Historic District and my own favorite spots in the neighborhood.

After 12 colorful stops, we have reached the end of the loop!

Our 13th and final Art in the Stations destination is the Greektown People Mover. It's been quite a ride!

Connected to Hollywood Casino with an entrance through Trapper's Alley, a former downtown shopping destination, this DPM station features its art outside- and looks best at night!

The primary colors in "Neon for Greektown Station" by Stephen Antonakos is fitting for the vibrant nightlife scene in Greektown, adding excitement and a sense of celebration as you walk down Monroe Street to Beaubien. Arches and free-form neon tubing decorate the overpass, lighting up the night.

Antonakos is a Greek-American sculpture known for his vibrant neon rooms, lighting installations, and colorful works. Since the 1970s, he has installed over 55 permanent Public Works throughout the world.

Although I caught these photos during the day, be sure to check it out when you're in Greektown next for dinner or a drink.

I first discovered the Art in the Stations brochure at the Bricktown Station on January 24th, which was total happenstance on a rainy morning while I was out sipping my coffee.

Overlooking the Wayne County Building and the Downtown Detroit skyline, the Bricktown station has beautiful views, even on a foggy day.

As you walk down the stairs at the station, look to your left to see "Beaubien Passage" by Glen Michaels. Red and yellow ribbons add a pop of color to celebrate movement, intertwining over white porcelain panels. To create the piece, Michaels started with a sketch, and later hand-painted the red and yellow ribbons.

Glen Michaels attended Cranbook Academy of Art and lived in Birmingham most of his adult life. Inspired by the nature of the Pacific Midwest as well as Japan, he spent a few weeks at a Zen temple in 1960.

The Financial District is home to some of Detroit's most beautiful art-deco skyscrapers, including The Guardian, Buhl, Ford, and Penobscot Buildings. The People Mover Station features Aztec and Byzantine designs, integrating both the neighborhood's architecture and history.

The large hand-painted mural "'D' For Detroit" by Joyce Kozloff includes mythical animals, peacocks, the bull and bear of the Stock Exchange, and an illuminated "D." The mural design is inspired by the Guardian Building, the Fisher Building, and Diego Rivera's Detroit Industry Murals at the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Kozloff created and hand-painted each tile herself in Kohler, Wisconsin at the John Michael Kohler Art Center. She has also worked on several other public art installations around the country, including Harvard Square and the 86th and Central Park Street Subway Station.

The peacocks were inspired by James McNeill Whistler's paintings, who had designed "The Peacock Room" at 49 Prince's Gate in London, owned by British shipping magnate Frederick Richards Leyland. The room was preserved in 1904 by Charles Lang Freer, who installed it in his home at 71 E. Ferry Avenue. The original wall is now on display at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC.

Once known as Joe Louis Arena Station, West Riverfront is making way for a new neighborhood feel. Whimsical, glittery colors in "Voyage" by Gerome Kamrowski embodies both mythology and astrology. The tiles were made in Spillemberg, Italy by Crovatto Mosaics- the same company that created "Calvacade of Cars" in Huntington Place Station!

Kamrowski has been creating beautiful glass mosaics for many years, as shown below in "2002, Cottage Studio, Ann Arbor."

Hop off the Detroit People Mover and head to the riverwalk to check out the beautiful pedestrian path as well as the new Water Square development.

Although there is a lot of work to be done to make it a walkable neighborhood, the 25-story Residences at Water Square is under construction at the former Joe Louise Arena site. Currently pre-leasing for February 2024, the project is coming together nicely!