By: Kathryn Pentiuk | Southfield Sun | Published February 8, 2024
SOUTHFIELD — The City Council unanimously approved an agreement Jan. 29 with Lawrence Technological University for an art installation called The Key.
The sculpture was designed by artists Erik and Israel Nordin, the founders of the Detroit Design Center who created the Detroit Menorah, as well as One World…Under Michigan Stars on Belle Isle.
Terry Croad, Southfield’s director of planning, told the council that the piece is expected to be around 14 to 16 feet tall, with a berm about 6 to 8 feet above the road grade along the multi-use pathway on the west side of the southbound Northwestern Highway service drive, at the corner with West 10 Mile Road, near LTU’s Blue Devils Stadium.
The Southfield City Centre — which is an advisory board for a Special Assessment District to make infrastructure improvements, hire consultants, foster economic development, and provide events to attract and retain residents, employees and visitors to the City Centre District — has pledged $42,000 for the sculpture and installation. The Southfield City Centre was founded in 1994 with the mission to “create and maintain a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly 24/7 mixed-use environment.”
“Lawrence Technological University is very committed to the city’s position on having art throughout the city,” said Linda Height, the vice president for finance and administration at LTU. “We have worked closely with the city to allow them an easement to place art called The Key near our athletic field. We reviewed the art piece and we loved it. It will be very visible at the intersection of 10 Mile Road, Evergreen Road, the Lodge Freeway.”
Erik Nordin stated that The Key is part of the Nordin brothers’ “grid series” and was inspired by a topographical view of a city, “the way we arrange our streets, buildings and roads, we create an aesthetic bonding.” He said that together, “they are the building blocks of a neighborhood. The focal point of The Key symbolizes the Southfield City Centre. Community is the key to prosperity. The Key is an echo of a respected, well-designed city, conveying its energy to all.”
Croad said at the Jan. 29 council meeting that The Key is not the only piece that the city will install by the Nordin brothers.
“Our next piece is the Brothers, which is also stainless, curvy steel and blown glass that was developed by the Detroit Design Center. And I should mention that they approached us quite some time ago when they saw the amount of investment in art in this community. And they’re giving us kind of a two-for-one deal on the art,” Croad said.
He added that the Southfield Public Arts Commission is funding the Brothers piece, which is proposed to go at the southeast corner of Nine Mile Road and Beech Road, on the fire station property, 18400 W. Nine Mile Road.
Erik Nordin said that Brothers draws inspiration from family and siblings, which is fitting as two brothers designed it.
It conveys “how we grow alongside one another on different paths, but from the same place,” he said. “Each member of a family is unique and complements one another — through love and support, they help each other grow and change. This is the essence of family and the beauty of Brothers. The larger section of the sculpture of the base symbolizes the family, and the branches above the siblings.”
Mayor Ken Siver said both pieces by the Nordin brothers will begin installation this spring.
Siver said the Friends of the Southfield Public Arts Commission have been raising funds for Nine Mile art installations through donations and grants.
“At this time, the Friends have raised about $318,000 for this piece by a renowned Mexican artist, Sebastian, who has work all over the world, but nothing in the Midwest,” he said of a sculpture titled Nine Mile Crossing, which will stand 98 feet tall at the corner of Southfield Freeway and Nine Mile Road, thanks to the cooperation and support of Tarik Dinha and Nine Mile Crossing LLC.
“We love red,” Siver joked, because the new piece will be red like the Red Pole Park, which was erected in 2018.
Siver discovered Sebastian’s (Enrique Carbajal’s) work while visiting San Antonio, Texas. He said that he was “overwhelmed by how magnificent” Sebastian’s work is.
With the installation of these new pieces, Southfield is nearing 30 public art installations thanks to the Friends of Southfield Public Arts Commission, a nonprofit dedicated to raising funds to support the efforts of the Southfield Public Arts Commission to “advocate for, promote and participate in the establishment, selection and installation of public artwork in the City, with City Council approval, to serve the public interest, welfare, convenience, and enjoyment through the promotion of the arts in the City of Southfield.”
Siver explained that the Southfield Public Arts Commission joined the efforts of the Nine Mile corridor revitalization initiative, a grant-funded public improvement project supported by Farmington, Farmington Hills, Ferndale, Hazel Park, Oak Park and Southfield, which will create a 10-foot-wide pathway between the communities to encourage connectivity, placemaking and recreation along Nine Mile Road.
Siver said that a piece of the corridor, Evergreen to Prescott, was completed last year, and another section of it will be built this spring, from Prescott to Lahser.
“This will be a continuous pathway all along Nine Mile, from I-75 in Hazel Park to I-275 in Farmington Hills,” he said. “We’re encouraging walking and biking, and these are 10-foot-wide pathways. So the Friends is joining this effort, and we’re raising funds for public art on Nine Mile. We’ve looked at many artists’ work, and I introduced Sebastian to the art commission. They love his work, so we set out on a fundraising campaign.”
The funding of Nine Mile Crossing has raised around $320,000 of a $340,000 goal.
Delores Flagg, the chair for the commission and a former Southfield Public Schools art instructor, expressed her enthusiasm for the new art installations in the city.
“We know that art has an impact, and, like, I have to use my little grandson as an example: You know, he’s saving his money. He saved $5 one week, then $10 the next. And then he’s moving on up, you know; you’re not thrilled at first, but then all of a sudden, you get to $100, and you start feeling great about it. So about the art pieces, one piece, OK. Two pieces, and then all of a sudden, all these pieces are coming together to make a statement,” she said.
For more information on the Southfield Public Arts Commission, visit their Facebook page or contact Delores Flagg at daf4now@aol.com.
To make a donation, checks can be mailed to the Mayor’s Office, 26000 Evergreen Road, or donations can be made online through PayPal to SFLDPublicArts@gmail.com.