The Spirit of Detroit, photo by walker_bc
And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.
-Rainer Maria Rilke
Happy 2017 to everyone. While there’s certainly a lot of alarming winds swirling, I hope that some of Rilke’s things that have never been make us all better, stronger, and safer.
View Walker’s photo of the Spirit of Detroit background bigtacular and see more in his slideshow.
More about the Spirit of Detroit on Michigan in Pictures.
Untitled, photo by otisourcat
These fish heads are located at Newaygo’s Riverside Park. No idea why, but if you want to check them out, Roadside America has the location.
View the photo bigger and see more in otisourcat’s massive Here & Now slideshow.
More fish and more amusing Michigan oddities on Michigan in Pictures.
A Cheat, A Liar, a Cad, But A Damn Fine Fountain by Derek Farr
Sherri Welch has a great feature (with video) in Crain’s Detroit entitled Underneath Belle Isle with the Wizard of Scott Fountain:
Far, far below Belle Isle, in a domed-ceiling building few know exist, Robert Carpenter keeps watch, switching levers, hitting buttons and adjusting valves like a modern-day Wizard of Oz.
But his motions aren’t designed to produce an apparition.
They’re focused on producing a plume of water that jets 20, 30, 40, 50 feet or higher into the air, along with countless other smaller bursts of water.
Carpenter is the unofficial caretaker of Belle Isle’s massive, antique James Scott Memorial Fountain.
It’s not a paying gig for him, but, truly, a labor of love.
Carpenter and his team did, restoring the pearly sheen to its marble basin, sculpted faces, animals and all five tiers.
Being the engineer he is, Carpenter couldn’t stop there.
He began scrutinizing the antique valves, pipes and drains, practically living in the domed structure under the fountain as he prepared it for operation through maintenance that included gingerly flushing its corroded, cast iron pipes and rushing to clean the resulting red water from the fountain’s marble bowl.
Read on for more at Crain’s and definitely check out the video – very cool to see what’s below this beautiful Michigan landmark!
Derek is one of my favorite Detroit photographers, and if you like his photos you can head over to his Flickr page for information about how to get them. In addition to taking great pictures, he often includes a brief story of the subject as is the case with this photo:
A Cheat, A Liar, a Cad, But A Damn Fine Fountain
Not exactly loved by all during his time on this planet, James Scott inherited a fortune from his real-estate-baron Father. He attempted to spend the majority of it during his lifetime, Building a large house ( it wasn’t large enough, he wanted his neighbors house as well. The neighbor declined so James built a huge addition to the front and top of his house, blocking out the sun for 3/4 of the day to get back at him ) , throwing large Gambling Parties oblivious to the amount he may have lost, suing any business partners ( or competitors ) that attempted to move in on what James thought should be his. He was described even by his friends as vindictive.
When he died in 1910 he left his sizeable fortune to the city under the specification that a memorial be created to honor him. It took 10 years for the city to agree to use the money for this purpose, and another 5 to complete this fountain – located on Belle Isle in Detroit. It was designed by Cass Gilbert and completed in 1925.
View Derek’s Scott Fountain photos or settle back for more fountain and more Belle Isle in his Belle Isle slideshow.
There’s more Belle Isle and more sculpture on Michigan in Pictures.
Roar, photo by Matt Gowing
Just sayin’.
Check Matt’s photo out background bigilicious and see more in his Street slideshow.
Deco Dance, photo by MichaelinA2
One of Michigan’s most renowned artists was Marshall Fredericks. He’s well known for the Spirit of Detroit sculpture, but this artist who spent much of his life in Michigan created many public works. Wikipedia’s entry for Marshall Fredericks has this to say about Leaping Gazelle:
This sculpture was the first commissioned work for which Marshall Fredericks was paid. In 1936, the sculpture won first prize in a national competition, and as a result, Fredericks became well known as a public sculptor. Since the gazelle is not native to Michigan, Fredericks made four animals that are, and placed them around the gazelle on Belle Isle. These animals are the otter, grouse, hawk and rabbit. Fredericks sculpted the gazelle in a characteristic movement called wheeling, which is when an animal quickly changes direction while being pursued by a predator.
The Leaping Gazelle is one of the most duplicated of Fredericks’s sculptures.
This particular sculpture is located near the entrance of the Detroit Zoo, one of many Fredericks sculptures on the Detroit Zoo grounds.
Also, I’ve been meaning to post a really cool exhibit that’s currently at the Dennos Museum in Traverse City titled Sketches to Sculptures, Rendered Reality: Sixty Years with Marshall M. Fredericks:
An exhibition of 31 small sculptures and 36 related drawings and sketches that showcases the creative process of Fredericks both as designer and sculptor. From simple pencil sketches to presentation drawings, the creative mind of Fredericks is on display as he transforms two-dimensional ideas on paper into three-dimensional sculptures. While many of the drawings in this exhibition resemble the final sculpture they would become, others only hint at elements of their outcome or point to a different outcome entirely. This exhibition is comprised of four genres that represent most of Fredericks’ work: architectural, commemorative, spiritual and whimsical. The exhibition was organized from the collections of the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum at Saginaw Valley State University.
It includes some very cool maquettes – small, scale models of the finished Fredericks sculptures that are really amazing!
View Michael’s photo on black and see more in his Design, Special Settings, Lifestyle slideshow.
More sculpture on Michigan in Pictures.
