Transcending
Sculptors: David Barr and Sergio De Gusti  Photographs: Elliott Shevin

Detroit is identified with American industry and American labor, and Transcending is a tribute to the labor movement. David Barr designed the gleaming arc-like stainless steel sculpture which symbolizes the never-ending cycle of work, and Sergieo De Giusti created the bronze reliefs mounted on cut granite stones which surround it. The floor (below) is composed of tiles, many of which bear quotations from labor leaders (including Walter Reuther and Coleman Young) and the rank-and-file.

Pylon
Sculptor: Isamu Noguchi  Photograph: Chad Stuemke

Installed in 1974, the 120-foot pylon puzzled many until mayor Coleman A. Young declared it a symbol of the city's rebirth.

Horace E. Dodge and Son Memorial Fountain
Sculptor: Isamu Noguchi  Photographs: Elliott Shevin

An impressive sculpture—and a great place to cool off, the Dodge Fountain was unveiled in 1978.

Cadillac
Sculptor: Unknown  Photograph: Elliott Shevin

It's only appropriate that the figure of Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac ring Hart Plaza, since the plaza marks the location where Detroit's founder landed in 1701.

A plaque showing the arrival of Mme. Cadillac appears in the Cadillac Center People Mover station.

Gateway to Freedom
Sculptor: Ed Dwight  Photograph: Elliott Shevin

Detroit was the last stop on the Underground Railroad for many escaped slaves. In this work on the edge of the river, conductor George de Baptiste points across toward Windsor, Ontario—and freedom.

At the river level, beneath this work, is a map of Underground Railroad "stations" in Detroit.

A companion sculpture on the Canadian side has flame of freedom at the top with people lifting their arms to the heavens in gratitude.

George Washington
Sculptor: Donald de Lue  Photograph: Adam Driscoll

Washington is standing in front of Old Mariners' Church, The connection between the statue and the edifice is tenuous at best, but the former's presence gives us an excuse to talk about the latter, which has served Detroit since 1842.

Established to serve mariners, the church holds a Blessing of the Fleet every March for those going to sea, and a Great Lakes Memorial Service for those who have lost their lives at sea every November.

Mariners' is the "Maritime Sailors' Cathedral" of Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." As the song says, the church bell actually was rung 29 times by the rector, Richard W. Ingalls, on November 11, 1975, the day following the famous ship disaster. The practice of tolling the bell 30 times has since been a part of the annual memorial service mentioned above.

The church was a stop on the Underground Railroad prior to the Civil War.