Michigan Central looks to weave art into Detroit campus

Aug 02, 2023

Sherri Welch is a senior reporter for Crain’s Detroit Business covering nonprofits, philanthropy, higher education and arts and culture. Before joining Crain’s in 2003, she covered automotive suppliers and tire makers for Crain’s Rubber & Plastics News.

Ford Motor Co.'s Michigan Central Innovation District in Detroit is rolling out a new program to bring technology-infused art, artists and conversations to the historic train station and 30-acre district being developed around it

In development for the past year, the program is still nascent but will seek to provide a place for interdisciplinary artists to create and exhibit works that incorporate technology into large-scale, interactive projects and events that would be difficult to commission and produce elsewhere in Detroit, the district said.

It will include artist residencies and fellowships and partnerships with existing cultural institutions, said Nathaniel Wallace, who joined the Michigan Central Innovation District as head of civic partnerships last fall.

"The ethos of it is we want artists to come in and be able to use the tools we have available on the campus to create new works … works focused on technology in society," he said.

"We're looking at artists as innovators. Because we're talking about new technologies ... there's no better interrogators than artists" who can explore the impact of mobility and other technologies in society.

The mesh of artists, technologists and scientists can create "interesting collisions," both for artists and designers, Wallace said.

Michigan Central has been developing the program for the past year, funded by a $2 million grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

"Part of it is thinking through temporary work alongside commissioned work that would exist inside the buildings and in the green space(s)" outside in the district, he said.

"We'll commission artists to create and exhibit work on campus using our studios, labs and shops."

In developing its vision, district leadership benchmarked the High Line park in New York City, which has a dedicated multimedia contemporary art program, Wallace said.

Also in the plan: talks, panel discussions, curatorial and research fellowships, and convenings of artists, designers and engineers, curators, critics, researchers and others.

Works will be ever-changing, Wallace said, and could include three- and four-dimensional pieces, large-scale installations, interactive media and the use of virtual, augmented and mixed reality. One example already in place is a five-story, neon installation on the south side of the Bagley Mobility Hub garage in southwest Detroit, created by Detroit artist Patrick Ethen.

With a firmer vision for the program in hand, the district is looking locally and nationally for an arts leader to help shape it.

Detroit-based Rootoftwo is assisting on the search. Michigan Central hopes to name someone to the position by September, Wallace said.

"We have a top-line vision of what the arts program is going to be. We want somebody who has a point of view and a history of work in arts and culture to kind of lead the vision and the execution of the work," he said.

"For somebody to come in and put their thumbprint on what this arts and culture program is going to look like going forward is a big thing and a rare opportunity. It's not very often that somebody comes in at the beginning of this type of major work."

The six-figure contract position will rotate every three years to ensure fresh ideas and approaches, Wallace said.

Sherri Welch is a senior reporter for Crain’s Detroit Business covering nonprofits, philanthropy, higher education and arts and culture. Before joining Crain’s in 2003, she covered automotive suppliers and tire makers for Crain’s Rubber & Plastics News.

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