On a recent day in May, the smell of gasoline and exhaust wafted through the air in East Canfield, Detroit, where artist Jordan Weber was putting the final touches on his public installation, Detroit Remediation Forest (DRF) (2024). Heavy and noxious, the air was the impetus for Weber’s project. Like neighbouring areas, East Canfield is being contaminated by the massive car manufacturing Stellantis-Mack Assembly Plant. Commissioned by the non-profit Sidewalk Detroit, Weber’s installation seeks to clean the polluted environment with air-purifying plants and arm residents with knowledge by monitoring and displaying air quality levels.
“DRF was conceived in response to the environmental racism prevalent in Detroit and it speaks to Sidewalk’s core mission of advancing spatial equity through the lens of community vision and restorative power of public art,” says Ryan Myers-Johnson, director and founder of Sidewalk Detroit.
This year, the American Lung Association named Detroit one of the worst cities in the United States for air pollution. The sprawling Stellantis plant is exacerbating East Canfield’s issues. The complex covers over 178 acres, bringing trucks and thousands of cars for employees through East Canfield each day, leaving its predominantly Black residents with increased health risks. Stellantis has been fined at least eight times for violating air quality standards since the Mack plant opened in 2021.
Jordan Weber’s permanent installation New Forest, Ancient Thrones (2024) crowns the entryway to the Detroit Remediation Forest in East Canfield Art Park, East Canfield Village. Commissioned by Sidewalk Detroit and created in collaboration with Canfield Consortium. Photo by Noah Elliott Morrison.
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In a statement, a spokesperson for Stellantis said the company “finalised a settlement with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy Air Quality Division to resolve ducting and odour issues” at the plant in 2022. Since then, the department “has conducted inspections following a few odour complaints and has not confirmed a nuisance odour. The company continues to monitor for odours daily to confirm the new system is addressing this concern and also has not detected any nuisance odours”. The spokesperson added that in 2019 Stellantis “established a $1.8m home repair grant fund that provided a $15,000 grant per interested homeowner for home repair”, prioritising owner-occupied homes near the plant.
The assembly plant complex itself was built in 1916 by the Michigan Stamping Company, displacing thousands of families who had lived there for generations, and was expanded by new owners over the years, displacing additional residents. Like so many neighbourhoods in Detroit, East Canfield has faced decades of hardships in addition to air pollution, including foreclosures, flooding and population decline, leaving buildings abandoned and lots overgrown.
“Sidewalk Detroit and I talked a lot about legacy and holding space for Black land, landscapes and culture,” Weber says. “DRF is about place-keeping, not place-making. One of the things I want to do is bring funds to help this place-making, and there are a lot of funds in art.”
Weber’s installation expands an existing green space with additional areas for community gathering and air-purifying plants, such as conifer trees that collect particulate matter, as well as a gold, aluminium sculpture in the shape of a double crown. DRF was created with Canfield Consortium, one of the grassroots organisations reviving the community. Founded by East Canfield residents, sisters Kim and Rhonda Theus, the non-profit works to restore the neighbourhood’s decaying and abandoned spaces.
Portrait of Jordan Weber in front of his permanent installation New Forest, Ancient Thrones (2024), which crowns the entryway to the Detroit Remediation Forest in East Canfield Art Park, East Canfield Village. Commissioned by Sidewalk Detroit and created in collaboration with Canfield Consortium. Photo by Jasmine Sumlin.
“Air quality is an issue many of us wanted to ignore,” says Kim. “With the Canadian wildfires last year, it became clear we need to address it. That’s why we were so happy with Jordan’s piece. Art can make challenging issues more palatable. It’s an iron fist in a velvet glove.”
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Weber paid homage to Rhonda and Kim in the sculptural element of DRF with its double-crown design based on Queen Idia of Benin and Queen Ranavalona III of Madagascar, likening the work the sisters have been doing in Detroit with that of the queens resisting foreign powers.
“Queen Ranavalona III resonated with me in particular,” says Kim. “She was exiled for her attempts to fight colonisers, which reminded me of what’s happening in Detroit with the housing crisis and people losing their homes to unjust foreclosures. At a time, we had the highest Black home ownership in the country, but now we’re a city of renters.”
The sculpture, New Forest, Ancient Thrones, holds the air quality sensors that change colour in response to the monitoring system. Also accessible via an application, the information helps educate the public and gives them tools to advocate for their health. “We’re not asking the auto manufacturer to go away, we want them to own up to the issues and have a conversation about what it means to be a good neighbour,” Rhonda says.
For a second phase of DRF, which is expected to be completed in 2025, the team is adding more trees and indigenous plants, and Weber is creating a bridge-like structure that will bring visitors into the tree canopy closer to the natural elements cleaning their air.
“The goal is to create a literal green wall,” says Weber. “This isn’t a beautification project. We’re not sugar-coating the trauma here. This is about utility. If a project is utilitarian and can help a community–especially help a community come together and help itself—then it’s getting somewhere.”
DETROIT — Ahead of next Thursday’s holiday, the Detroit Pistons tipped off their annual “Season of Giving” event, presented by Kroger, on Tuesday at their practice facility in Midtown Detroit.
In partnership with Henry Ford Health and Michigan State University, the Pistons provided food packages to 400 preselected families from the Metro Detroit area in a special event closed to the public.
Helping with the food distribution wasn’t just the players — it was an all-hands-on-deck approach from the entire organization.
“For me, the fact that we have the whole organization here. Not even just players, but we got the G League guys, the front office, everybody’s coming together and just giving back, man. I mean, it is beautiful to see, and I’m loving that we doing this,” Pistons center Jalen Duren told MLive. “I think it starts with ownership, with Tom Gores, him being such an investor into the community and bringing back and building new things and just helping the city grow.
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“So I feel like it starts from the top and then it pours down, and it is just a testament to the character and the group of guys that we have and the type of organization that we have. We really care about each other and care about the city.”
This year’s event introduced a change in how food distribution was handled. Previously, cars would line up outside the practice facility, stopping at a checkpoint where Pistons personnel would place food packages in their trunks or hatches.
This year, the event was held inside the practice facility on the actual practice court. Families were provided carts to load their items and were assisted to their vehicles.
“I was just saying this year they made it so much easier for us. Everything’s flowing,” Pistons center Isaiah Stewart shared. “I feel (the organization) has done a very great job with this. We enjoy doing this. We appreciate (the fans) because they help us out. They come out for us, and this is us showing up for them and just being there for ‘em.”
While veterans like Duren and Stewart have witnessed the event grow over the years, this year carried unique significance for three of the Pistons’ offseason acquisitions: Tobias Harris, Malik Beasley, and Tim Hardaway Jr.
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Harris, in his second stint with the Pistons, has a deep connection to Detroit. The city is where he met his wife and formed lasting relationships. Reflecting on the event, Harris emphasized the importance of athletes engaging in community initiatives.
“It’s extremely important. It’s kind of our duty,” Harris said. “I think when you look at the odds of players making it to the NBA and just seeing, it’s a dream for a lot of people in different walks of life. So for me personally, I always look at it as something that being able to give back and show your face, allow people to kind of get to see you, interact with you, it’s just inspiring.”
For Beasley, the event was particularly personal. His mother, Deena, is a proud Detroit native from the Six Mile and Evergreen area, making the opportunity to serve the community feel like a “full circle moment.”
“I’ve always wanted to (contribute) to Detroit,” Beasley said. “I never had a chance to, but now I’m here, and it is good to give back. My family’s in town, (and) it is always good to be around family.”
Hardaway Jr., no stranger to philanthropic efforts in Michigan, has participated in similar events during his time at the University of Michigan under coach John Beilein. Like his teammates, he underscored the value of serving the community, but he also shared a Thanksgiving tradition he’s eager to see fulfilled next Thursday.
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“Watch the Detroit Lions get a W,” Hardaway said as he walked off.
Detroit Pistons (7-9, seventh in the Eastern Conference) vs. Charlotte Hornets (5-9, 11th in the Eastern Conference)
Charlotte, North Carolina; Thursday, 7 p.m. EST
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BOTTOM LINE: Charlotte hosts Detroit looking to continue its three-game home winning streak.
The Hornets are 4-8 against Eastern Conference opponents. Charlotte has a 2-5 record against opponents over .500.
The Pistons have gone 6-8 against Eastern Conference opponents. Detroit is sixth in the Eastern Conference with 16.3 fast break points per game led by Jaden Ivey averaging 3.1.
The Hornets score 109.1 points per game, 1.8 fewer points than the 110.9 the Pistons give up. The Pistons average 12.5 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.6 fewer makes per game than the Hornets give up.
TOP PERFORMERS: LaMelo Ball is averaging 28.4 points and 6.6 assists for the Hornets.
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Cade Cunningham is averaging 23.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists for the Pistons.
LAST 10 GAMES: Hornets: 3-7, averaging 105.4 points, 45.2 rebounds, 23.6 assists, 7.8 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 42.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 112.0 points per game.
Pistons: 6-4, averaging 112.7 points, 49.5 rebounds, 26.8 assists, 6.0 steals and 5.5 blocks per game while shooting 46.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 109.4 points.
INJURIES: Hornets: Nick Richards: out (ribs), Mark Williams: day to day (foot), DaQuan Jeffries: out (hand).
Pistons: Bobi Klintman: out (calf), Ausar Thompson: day to day (illness).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
(CBS DETROIT) – A pair of bills in the Michigan House, introduced by Democrats, aim to make it more difficult to implement book bans in our state.
The bills would set requirements before books could be removed from shelves at community and district libraries but not school libraries.
“Depending on what they’re banning, I mean, if they’re banning pornography, I’m all for it, but if they’re banning our history, I’m against it,” said Doug Freeman, who was at the East Lansing Public Library on Tuesday with his granddaughter.
The bills, also called The Freedom to Read Act, would limit who can challenge library materials to community residents, require challenges to certify they have read or watched the material they want removed, require library directors to decide what is on the shelves and only allow libraries to approve removals if the material has been determined to be obscene by the United States or Michigan Constitution.
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“In a way, it’s better to view it as more of a conversation between patron and library because we want to hear their voices, and a lot of times folks are just wanting to be heard and this is sometimes the way they feel most able to be heard,” said Chrissie Evaskis who works as a collection development librarian at the East Lansing Public Library.
Evaskis-Garrett says that while libraries like hers already use some of the requirements outlined in the bill package, she feels it’s a good idea to make them law.
“There’s this idea that we’re just willy-nilly out here purchasing whatever books strike our fancy, and we’re really not so kind of having those things codified, I think not necessarily protects us but the freedom of information in general,” said Evaskis-Garrett.
Freeman doesn’t want to see one person make decisions about which books go on the shelves. He says it’s important to think of his granddaughter.
“I want her to know the true history of our country,” he said.
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Elle Meyers
Elle Meyers joined the CBS News Detroit team in April of 2023 after spending two years covering Michigan’s capitol. Elle is an Oregon native and a graduate of the University of Oregon (go Ducks!), where she double majored in journalism and political science, both of which have served her well in her journey to Detroit.
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