Nearly 30 international and local artists are using “The Z,” a retail and parking development under construction in downtown Detroit, as a canvas to create the largest art installation in the city. The project is a collaboration between Detroit-based Bedrock Real Estate Services and the Library Street Collective, a Detroit-based gallery.
The Z, Bedrock’s first Detroit ground–up development, zigzags from the corner of Broadway and East Grand River to the corner of Library and Gratiot. The Z will include 10-stories of parking with street-level retail offerings — totaling 34,000 square feet of retail space and 1,300 parking spaces.
“We are trying to deliver an experience you can’t get anywhere else,” says Dan Mullen, Bedrock’s vice president of development. “The art community in Detroit was really interested in creating that experience and making it interesting.”
Several artists are completing the murals in installments, including Hownsom from Spain, Hense from Atlanta, b from Athens, and SMASH137 from Switzerland. Detroit-based REVOK also will take part in the project.
“It’s neat to bring people from all over the world in one space and one project,” says Anthony Curis, partner with his wife, J.J. Curis, and Matt Eaton of The Library Street Collective. “Our goal is to continue to beautify our community and push boundaries of what is perceived as normal.”
Bedrock Real Estate Services and Library Street Collective are filming a documentary about the art project, which will be shown in the lobby spaces of The Z. The deck is expected to open by the end of the year.
