Art In The Stations — The Detroit People Mover

Built in the early 1980s, Detroit's People Mover is an elevated 2.9-mile automated mass transit system that loops around the downtown area of the city making stops at thirteen stations. When the city government first announced the project it sparked considerable controversy. The People Mover was viewed in some quarters as "a train going nowhere" - an expensive trip the city could ill afford. But where some people saw problems, others saw opportunity.
In the original plan, the stations of the People Mover were to be utilitarian, containing little more than a few benches and turnstiles. Irene Walt had another vision. A long-time advocate of art in public places, she saw the stations as venues in which shoppers, business people, and visitors to Detroit would have the opportunity to experience public art on a grand scale. Together with other Detroiters who shared her vision, Walt formed a commission known as Art in the Stations. The commission's task was ambitious. It not only had to select, commission, and oversee the works of art from conception through installation; it also had to raise more than $2 million to finance the project.
The going was not always easy, but the result is world-class public art. Out of the more than 200 proposals that were submitted, the commission selected the works of twenty artists. As the People Mover loops around the downtown area, passengers are treated to a panorama of murals, bronze sculptures, Venetian glass mosaics, and neon installations reflecting the spirit and history of Detroit. The thirteen stations of the People Mover have become a vibrant part of the Detroit landscape; the art that they contain delights and inspires. They are models of what public art should be.
The story of how all this came about is chronicled in this book, enriched with photographs by the noted Balthazar Korab. In celebrating the art in the People Mover stations, the book also celebrates the determination, perseverance, and hard work of a group of private individuals who took it upon themselves to do something for their city and their fellow citizens.

The Book Collaborative was formed in 2000 by Irene Walt to oversee the preparation of material for this book. Ms. Walt served as chair of the group; other members included Dorothy Brodie, Grace Serra, Patrice Merritt, Balthazar Korab, and Monica Korab.

Irene Walt is well known for her dedication to placing art in public places. She has volunteered her time and energy to many organizations dedicated to improving the public spaces of Detroit, including the Detroit Receiving Hospital where she worked as art advisor for many years. Ms. Walt has received numerous honors for her work, including an Honorary Doctorate of Human Letters from Wayne State University.

Balthazar Korab has been an independent photographer of architecture since 1958. Trained as an architect in his native city of Budapest, Hungary, he is known throughout the world for his work. He is the author of several books on architecture, and his photographs are in many prestigious public and private collections.