Artist seeks community input on Henry Ford expansion project

MACOMB COUNTY — How does art become accessible? This has been one of the primary questions for which artist Doug Jones has sought an answer.

“I’m consistently inventing and introducing techniques that are all-inclusive and collaborative in scope, and this is because I want to shift the narrative from artwork that is consumptive … to one that requires active participation from the communities that the artwork serves,” Jones said. “In that sense, it allows the community that the artwork serves to develop a sense of ownership over the work itself and also to contribute collaboratively in pretty meaningful ways.”

Jones’ desire for community involvement in his projects has led the Detroit-based artist to tour Macomb County this summer and fall. Commissioned by the Henry Ford Health to make art for the new north tower at its Clinton Township hospital, Jones is visiting numerous community events where members of the public are asked to take part in what he calls the PIXEL Technique.

Like the tiny digital squares of the technique’s namesake, the PIXEL Technique uses small dots to build a whole image. Jones takes a starter image — this project uses images of the Tunnel of Trees, Blake’s Cider Mill and Huron-Clinton Metroparks — and divides it with a grid.

“I essentially take an image, (and) I break it into tens of thousands of dots,” Jones said. “And then people use Q-tips and acrylic or latex paint to paint more vividly on top of the pre-designed, printed (image) — what I call dot sheets.”

Painting occurs at what Jones calls “creation sessions,” which are held at events like the Gratiot Cruise and Sterlingfest, where members of the general public have been able to paint over the dot sheets. Several private creation sessions held for Henry Ford Macomb Hospital staff have also been held.

Once the dots are painted, Jones takes the sheets back to his studio and has the painted sheets transferred to metal for installation. The end result of the PIXEL Technique is hundreds of small abstract paintings that come together as an image when viewed at a distance.

With public involvement being so critical to the PIXEL Technique, Jones said he has refined the creation sessions to be as beginner-friendly as possible.

“The first time that I tried the PIXEL Technique, I used paint brushes — actually really nice paint brushes,” Jones said. “There was something about the paint brushes that were intimidating for people who felt like they had no artistic talent. And so the dots that I use are meant specifically to work well with Q-tips.”

The Sterlingfest creation session was well attended, with participants ranging from 3 years old to 84 years old. Jones said whole families were painting together, and several participating families and individuals were able to reconnect after losing people close to them. One of the last participants at Sterlingfest was a tourist from Peru.

The collaborative nature of Jones’ PIXEL Technique was key to Henry Ford seeking him for the project, which is their most recent collaboration with Jones. The two worked together on a project at its Jackson hospital focusing on cancer patients, as well as a prior project at Henry Ford Macomb focusing on Dr. Jean Watson’s “Caring Science” model.

“It is because of community support that we are in a position to be able to have this project take light,” Barbara Rossmann, CEO of Henry Ford Macomb Hospital, said. “It’s all about the residents of Macomb County and those that we’re so privileged to serve. This is their building. This is their organization, and that art will be their art.”

The north tower will contain space to convert 160 of the hospital’s 361 beds into private rooms, and the top two floors will expand the number of critical care beds from 48 to 60.

“All those patient rooms in the north towner are designed (so) that as critical care demand expands through the next decades, we will be able to convert all of those rooms or any portion of them as necessary to be critical care beds,” Rossmann said.

The PIXEL Technique art will be displayed in the new tower’s lobby and is expected to open in May 2023. Members of the public can contribute to the project at the Anton Art Center’s Art Party 6-9 p.m. on Sept. 22 and 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Sept. 24 at Lake St. Clair Metropark.

Henry Ford Health is hosting a Nashville Nights fundraiser for the north tower expansion at Jimmy John’s Field in Utica on Wednesday, Sept. 21. Tickets cost $250, and event details can be found at HenryFord.com/Show case or by calling (586) 263-2968.