Downtown Synagogue of Detroit

Posted on by farlane

An Amassment of Colors

An Amassment of Colors, photo by DetroitDerek Photography

The Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue (of Detroit) explains that:

The Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue (IADS) was established in 1921, at a time when there were many synagogues located in Detroit. Its principal mission was to address the unmet needs of the Jewish community ― particularly for those who worked downtown, were unaffiliated with another synagogue, or were visiting the city―by providing a traditional (Conservative) Jewish presence in the heart of Detroit.

…As much of the Jewish community migrated to suburban Detroit, the IADS―like the city itself―has suffered from a shrinking population and a depletion of resources. In recent years, daily services have, of necessity, been eliminated. However, the Downtown Synagogue proudly continues to offer weekly Sabbath services, as well as High-Holiday services, the latter of which attracts hundreds of worshippers.

The Synagogue is currently housed in a historic four-story building, a building that it has occupied and owned since the early 1960s. Located at 1457 Griswold Street, it is well situated, but is in serious need of major repair. Currently, parts of it are unusable. However, the unique triangular design creates an uncomparable, interesting space. The potential for this building is far from being realized.

This Sunday (August 19), they are offering J-Cycle, a bicycle tour of historic Jewish Detroit. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Back Alley Bike Project, at the Hub of Detroit, a non-profit organization providing cycling education and services with a focus on youth development, sustainable practices and community access.

See Derek’s photo on black and in his massive and amazing Detroit slideshow.

Also see a few more pics from the Absolute Michigan pool.

A Map of the Wind

Posted on by farlane

Breakwall Waves

Breakwall Waves, photo by Gary of the North

The Great Lakes Echo’s Jennifer Kalish has a feature on an animated wind map that’s driven by real-time data.

Two digital artists recently released an animated map illustrating the speed and direction of surface winds across the U.S.

Its ever changing patterns are driven by wind data from the National Digital Forecast Database kept by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The database also feeds information to the administration’s Great Lakes current map released last month to help the public better understand lake currents.

Click here to see the Wind Map.

Terry Pepper’s Seeing the Light says that the iron pier light is 55 feet tall, and Gary’s photo from Sunday at the breakwall in Grand Marais shows what wind can do to the waves of Lake Superior! See this photo as big as the big lake or jump into his slideshow for a couple more shots of the wave action!

Read more about the Grand Marais Pier Light on Michigan in Pictures.

Happy Gwen Frostic Day!

Posted on by farlane

Gwen Frostic Studio ~ Benzonia, Michigan

Gwen Frostic Studio ~ Benzonia, Michigan, photo by Trish P. – K1000 Gal

The Elberta Alert tipped me off last year that in 1978, Michigan Governor William Milliken proclamed May 23 Gwen Frostic Day in Michigan, and in 1986 she was inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame. Their page for Sara Gwendolyn Frostic (Gwen Frostic) who was born in 1906 and passed away in 2001 says:

Author, artist, lecturer, and founder and sole proprietor of Presscraft Papers in Benzonia, Michigan, Gwen Frostic is known throughout the nation for her images of nature and for illustrated books which reflect her indomitable philosophy.

Frostic was born in Sandusky, Michigan and lived in St. Charles before moving to Wyandotte for her high school years. Interested in art from an early age, she used a band saw to create life-size posters for school events, and later studied art education at Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan Universities. During World War II, she worked in a Ford Motor Company bomber plant where she learned production, a skill she put to good use running the 15 Heidelberg presses in her northern Michigan printing and sales establishment. These presses make impressions from her hand-carved linoleum blocks onto paper and the resulting prints found their way into distinctive books, pamphlets, stationery, and other products she designed.

After beginning her business in Wyandotte, Frostic moved to Benzie County in 1955, starting with 40 acres and gradually creating a 285-acre wildlife sanctuary 35 miles southwest of Traverse City. Her commitment to nature and design is reflected in her home, studio, and print shop which draw thousands of visitors each summer.

The photo shows the Gwen Frostic Studio on River Road in Benzie County. The studio was also the artist’s home – click through for hours and such. Here’s a video interview with Gwen Frostic from 1998.

Check the photo out bigger and see more from the studio (including the massive Heidelberg presses used to print her iconic designs in Trish’s Gwen Frostic slideshow.

Happy Martin Luther King Day

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

JELLY BEAN HOUSE-MLK

JELLY BEAN HOUSE-MLK, photo by marsha*morningstar.

I have a dream this afternoon that my four little children, that my four little children will not come up in the same young days that I came up within, but they will be judged on the basis of the content of their character, not the color of their skin.

I have a dream this afternoon that one day right here in Detroit, Negroes will be able to buy a house or rent a house anywhere that their money will carry them and they will be able to get a job.

~Martin Luther King, June 23, 1963 Detroit, Michigan

Martin Luther King delivered the above lines first in the massive Great March on Detroit in 1963 – click that link for the full speech and more on MLK.

See this photo bigger and see more in Marsha’s Heidelberg Project Detroit 2009 slideshow.

Waiting For The Traveler

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Waiting For The Traveler

Waiting For The Traveler, photo by J.M.Barclay.

The secret for success in life is to be ready for opportunity when it comes.
~Benjamin Disraeli

The New Year is an occasion that many of us look to for improvement in our lives or the lives of those around us. Part of making that happen is no doubt the changing of our habits, but equally important is having the perception to see those opportunities for improvement and having the will to seize them when they come.

Here’s hoping that the New Year brings you (and all of us) opportunities for success.

Check this out on black and see more of his best (and order prints if you want) at his website, 810photo.com.

The People of Detroit: G.R. N’namdi

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

The People of Detroit: G.R. N'namdi

The People of Detroit: G.R. N’namdi, photo by Noah Stephens.

We’ve featured The People of Detroit before on Michigan in Pictures. Noah Stephens started the project in April of 2010 after seeing a Dateline NBC special on Detroit that profiled a man who shot, ate, and sold raccoon meat. Never having eaten a raccoon or indeed knowing someone who had, Noah decided to chronicle the intelligent, attractive, industrious, talented people who enliven the city and make it a place he’s happy to call home.

Right now, he’s started a petition asking General Motors to exhibit portraits from The People of Detroit Photodocumentary in the Renaissance Center during the 2012 North American International Auto Show. You can read about it here and sign the petition right here.

Regarding this photo, he begins:

The G.R. N’namdi Gallery in Detroit’s Cultural Center is one of my favorite places to view contemporary art. Light flows into the 16,000 square foot facility through skylights set in a 30-foot high ceiling held aloft by exposed wooden beams. The space is populated by works from artists such as Romare Bearden and Jacob Lawrence. The collection is sophisticated and abstract but not so obtuse as to defy intelligibility.

George N’namdi founded the gallery 30 years ago. He’s pictured here in front of Angelbert Metoyer’s “Icon Execution.”

Read on and check this out on black and in Noah’s The People of Detroit slideshow.

Here comes ArtPrize

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

art prize preview 2011 040

art prize preview 2011 040, photo by jode1115.

“I think it’s terrifying & thrilling.”
~Jerry Saltz, Senior Art Critic at New York magazine on ArtPrize

ArtPrize, the radically open competition held every year in Grand Rapids that gives away the world’s largest cash prize – all decided by public vote – starts today and runs through October 9th. You can keep up with it at absolutemichigan.com/ArtPrize and also through the mLive Artprize section.

Of course there’s an ArtPrize Facebook (and Twitter & Tumblr), and an ArtPrize photo group and a lot of ArtPrize photos in the Absolute Michigan pool. For all you photographers out there, there’s a daily ArtPrize photo contest with a camera or laptop as the top prize!

ArtPrize is in its third year and truly is one of the most amazing events I’ve ever been to. If there’s any way you can make the trip to Grand Rapids, do it. You won’t be disappointed!

Check this photo out background big and in her ArtPrize 2011 slideshow.

Impossible Dream?

Posted on by farlane

"Impossible Dream"

“Impossible Dream”, photo by Hilarywho

Tigers? Lions? We can dream, can’t we?

Hilary writes:

This spray-paint mural was made by Kobie Soloman. It covers the side of a building at the Russell Industrial Center in Detroit and is made up of elements of Detroit’s sports teams, aspects of Detroit industry, and representation of creative activities at the Russell.

Check this photo out bigger and in her Art slideshow.

Summer Solstice and the Annual Ring

Posted on by farlane

Summer Solstice

Summer Solstice, photo by marshallfredericks

The Summer Solstice is the yearly moment when the sun’s apparent position in the sky reaches its northernmost point. You can think about it as throwing a ball up in the air – when the ball reaches its maximum height, that’s the solstice! It’s the longest day of the year and the first day of summer and it all happens today  at 12:16 PM in Michigan! More about the solstice from National Geographic.

The sculpture above is the Annual Ring by artist Nancy Holt and it shows the moment of the solar noon on the solstice at the. The photo was posted by the Marshall Fredericks Sculpture Museum, and they say the annual event includes poets reading, and a drum circle to welcome in summer. It happens today at 1 PM if you’re in the area and you can see more photos of the sculpture in their solstice slideshow!

Speaking of Marshall Fredericks, click his name for some information from Michigan in Pictures about Michigan’s most famous sculptor!

Rodin’s Thinker, Detroit Institute of Art

Posted on by Michigan in Pictures

Rodin's Thinker, Detroit Institute of Art

Rodin’s Thinker, Detroit Institute of Art, photo by Robert Yanal.

The Detroit Institute of Arts has a collection of over 60,000 works of art across a wide range of media. One of the most visible is their cast of sculptor August Rodin’s iconic sculpture, The Thinker. More than twenty monumental size bronze casts of the sculpture are in museums around the world. Rodin made the first small plaster version around 1880, but the first large-scale bronze cast was not completed until 1902.

The DIA’s version sits outside the museum’s main entrance. It was cast in 1904 and donated to the museum by Horace H. Rackham in 1922. The bronze sculpture weighs about 2000 pounds and sits on a 12,000 pound granite base. You can see more views of The Thinker at the DIA.

Check this out bigger and in Robert’s Detroit slideshow.

More sculpture on Michigan in Pictures.