Art in the Stations

The art in the Detroit People Mover stations is a world-class collection with a uniquely Detroit sensibility. When the People Mover, Detroit’s elevated transit system, was being planned, the stations were designed simply to serve as basic points of entry and departure, but in 1984 Irene Walt and the Downtown Detroit People Mover Art Commission, a volunteer committee also known as Art in the Stations, undertook the task of incorporating major works by contemporary American artists into the thirteen People Mover stations. As a result Detroit now has one of the most impressive collections of public art in the country.

With lush photographs by Balthazar Korab and accompanying narrative, Art in the Stations examines each of the gorgeous works that grace the People Mover stations. The works of ten Michigan artists reference Detroit whenever possible: the mosaic in the Cobo Hall station depicts seven full-scale automobiles; at the Grand Circus Park stop, a bronze life-sized figure reads the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News; the Financial District station is titled "‘D’ is for Detroit"; and the art in four stations was constructed entirely of Detroit’s world-renowned Pewabic pottery tile. A stunning guide through the city’s People Mover art installations, Art in the Stations documents Detroit’s rich culture and testifies to the perseverance and hard work that made the display of this art possible.