… walking have in common (besides alliteration)?
You’ll need to read on about my artsy-fartsy scavenger hunt of sorts taken August 26th wherein I spent half a day locating, admiring, then photographing various paintings on Grosse Ile, one of the locales for the 16th annual Detroit Institute of Arts (“DIA”) “Inside/Out” event.
You may recall from previous posts about this event that the DIA installs weatherproof paintings, (the same paintings as those found inside the museum), at various venues around the tri-county area in Southeast Michigan. The paintings are on display from May through October. Sometimes these reproductions are grouped together in one park, like in 2023 at Dingell Park, or scattered around a city, like in 2022 when multiple paintings were installed in my city. Both of these walk-about events were easy-peasy for me, as I just strolled from painting to painting, while clicking away.
This year there were several cities nearby hosting DIA Inside/Out, but I picked Grosse Ile, an island located in the Detroit River. Initially I planned to park the car and walk from painting to painting, that is, until I looked more closely at a map and realized the Township is a little bigger than originally thought, i.e. 9.60 sq mi (24.9 km).
I studied the DIA’s map of the painting locations, made my own map of the order I wanted to visit, along with anything of interest at each spot. So, with map in hand and camera tucked in my fanny pack, off I went.
It was a picture-perfect day.
Grosse Ile’s picturesque shoreline along the Detroit River is problematic in that it is strictly private property along East River Road, so parking anywhere along that winding street is a big no-no.
I knew about the parking conundrum beforehand, having been to Grosse Ile multiple times in the past. I once saw a couple of bucks crossing the main drag and I couldn’t stop, nor could I pull over to get a shot. Visits to the Grosse Ile Open Space Woods or the Grosse Ile Wildlife Sanctuary, both on the other side of the Island, necessitated parking at schools and walking from there, but those were weekend jaunts and there is nothing much to see.
“Art is the window to man’s soul. Without it, he would never be able to see beyond his immediate world; nor could the world see the man within”. ~ Lady Bird Johnson.
Painting #1 – The Grosse Ile History Museum.
The Museum, which faces Stony Island, an uninhabited island in the Detroit River, was once a bustling train depot that functioned as a hubbub of commerce for railroad and shipping.
I visited the Museum back in 2019 in conjunction with a tour of the Grosse Ile Lighthouse. You can read about that lighthouse adventure by clicking here.
Our tour group gathered at the depot, then traveled by bus to the lighthouse. The owner of the lighthouse and pier opens his private property venue once a year and the tour profits benefit the Historical Society.
I pulled into the parking lot despite signs stating parking was only for Museum visitors – hmm. I decided the painting was on the Museum’s property and the Museum was closed anyway, so I dashed out front, got the shot and ran back to the car.
The painting is: “Still Life: A Letter Rack” by Edwart Collyer (1692)
Now to locate and photograph the remaining seven paintings.
As I tootled along East River Drive I saw at least thirty-five seagulls perched on a dock, some still roosting, others gazing at the water, a very blissful scene. The soft morning light on the old wooden pier with a boat tied up alongside it was picture-perfect, but there was nowhere to legally stop – no, I wasn’t about to get a ticket, so I moved along.
The next two stops were churches – query: all churches have parking lots, right?
Painting #2 – St. Anne’s Chapel.
This historic church was on the corner of Church and East River Road, high on a hill.
There was no obvious parking area behind the church that I could see, but then I noticed some people admiring a painting in what I assumed correctly was the church parking lot, so I parked near them. I later learned that the painting location is not just the parking lot, but it is a/k/a Dooley Park. With only parking spaces for a handful of cars, I didn’t think it was wise to walk back and find those seagulls, so once again I let that idea go (albeit reluctantly).
The painting is: “Seascape: Sunset” by Martin Johnson Head (1861).
Painting #3 – St. Thomas Lutheran Church.
I hopped back into the car and drove to St. Thomas Lutheran Church which was at a busy intersection and took up most of a city block.
Parking was in a large lot, so I wandered the grounds, admiring their landscaping, then got my shots of the painting that is the featured image in this post: “Girl and Laurel” by WINSLOW Homer painted in 1879).
The car was in a secure spot which got me thinking about that blissful seagull scenario again, so, because it was such a gorgeous day, I set out to retrace the two or so miles I’d driven, only on foot. Upon my arrival, the pier was empty, not a seagull in sight. Grrr!
Back in the car, A/C blasting from my long walk to/from the pier now in the full sun, I consulted my trusty map – okay, three down, five to go.
Next on the agenda was three paintings located along the main drag in the central business district known as Macomb Street.
The light pole flag said “Explore Macomb Street” …
… so I did.
This time I parked at a Kroger grocery store, so I felt free to take my time, meandering along this busy street in the heart of town.
Painting #4 – Macomb Commons.
This venue was the town square with statues and park benches – very nice.
The art installment was unfortunately near a tree, so it was partly shaded.
The painting is: “The Piazza San Marco” by Canaletto (1739).
Painting #5 – Grosse Ile Nature & Land Conservancy.
I am familiar with the Conservancy as I follow them on Facebook, one day perhaps I’ll attend one of their programs.
There was a small pollinator garden out front, but no bees or butterflies.
I liked the wise words on this bench.
I guess they chose the painting to match the Conservancy’s garden beds.
The painting is: “Rounded Flower Bed” by Claude Monet (1876).
As I ticked off these three paintings on my list, I did take time to enjoy my stroll down Macomb Street. I saw this building which appeared to house two different places, both with vintage bicycle themes, The Bicycle Museum and The Old Spokes Home.
I crossed the street to check it out but it was only open by appointment.
Later, I found a fun video of the inside of the “Old Spokes Home” which you can view here.
I took several shots of the vintage bicycles through the windows – although this post is already groaning with photos, I’m including them in this collage.
Painting #6 – Lyons Park.
My last stop on this street was at Lyons Park, a rather nondescript park, which, if I had driven past, I likely might have missed it. The humungous letters “G” and “I” representing “Grosse Ile” featured a map of the Island and the Lighthouse.
It’s a sure bet the big crowd of people milling about in this painting could not fit into Lyons Park.
The name of the painting is: “A Day in June” by George Wesley Bellows.
The afternoon sun was getting downright hot and I hurried back to the car, happy to cool off again before driving to the last two destinations, on the other side of the Island.
Painting #7 – Grosse Ile Township Hall.
I was familiar with this area of the Island as the Gibraltar Bay Alpaca Farm is just down Groh Road. I would have stopped to see the baby alpacas, but the farm was closed.
The Township offices are located near the Grosse Ile Airport, next to the Grosse Ile Naval Air Station.
The paintings were right on busy Groh Road, so I parked in the Township parking lot and walked back to the main road.
The painting is: “Jockeys on Horseback before Distant Hills” by Edgar Degas (1884).
Painting #8 – Water’s Edge Country Club/Tipsy Fish Restaurant.
My last stop was the Water’s Edge Country Club. I parked behind the club and took a photo of the view from the Tipsy Fish Restaurant.
I was close enough to the Grosse Ile Free Bridge to hear the clanging noise made from the many cars passing over it. I had heard that same noise earlier when I was crossing to the Island. The noise was loud enough to give me cause to pause – this bridge has been closed many times in recent years for structural issues, including in the Spring of this year.
The paintings were on the restaurant’s property, likewise aptly chosen for meal time as a theme, though I hope The Tipsy Fish doesn’t allow parrots to mix and mingle with the diners and their food.
The name of this painting is: “Merrymakers” by Carolus-Duran (1870).
I am joining Terri’s Challenge this week: “Windows”.
All photos are my own, except the featured image which was sourced from Wikipedia Commons (my painting pic was crooked).
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
That’s a wonderful idea to make famous paintings available outdoors where people can see them easily. Lovely post, Linda.
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Thank you Anne – I think it is a wonderful idea as well!
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That blue sky and looking for all those paintings had to be so much fun Linda!
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It was such a beautiful day Diane and because the weather for weeks had either been hot/humid/stormy or we had wildfire smoke, I waited for the perfect day to go – this certainly was it. It was fun and I thought it reminded me of going on a scavenger hunt!
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maybe one day one of your paintings will be showcased as well Linda!
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Wayne, well this was NOT a comment that I would have expected, but I like it and how exciting would that be!!
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I think It’s a great goal to have and with your remarkable progress I can see you having your own show.
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Wow – that would be something to aspire for Wayne – thank you for your confidence in me. I have to do another post with the sketches I’ve done over the Summer. I did a series of Kingfishers back when it was so stinkin’ hot. My mom bought me a hardcover book “Sketching Birds” a long time ago and I’ve written about that before, but I’ll include a picture of the book with the recent sketches. Julia is supposed to be having a landscape sketch/watercolor class this Fall, but has not mentioned it lately in her blog. She does a blog post every few weeks.
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What a fun – and very different – thing to do!
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I did enjoy myself making the rounds to visit this artwork Anne. This was the third or fourth event I have gone to – the others were closer together, but it is a very nice way to see the famous paintings, although we can also attend the Detroit Institute of Arts for free.
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What an adventure and loads of fun Linda
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It was Brian! This adventure took me the better part of the day to get to all the paintings and walking and driving in between – then there was the added self-imposed walk as I really wanted those seagulls on the wooden dock pictures. You know how you get a mindset that you want a photo, well I was determined to get THAT photo. 🙂
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I know exactly what you mean Linda 😅
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I just couldn’t shake the idea of getting that shot. 🙂
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I love the concept as people would prefer to be outdoors during good weather. It sounds like a perfect day!
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It was a lot of fun Kate and I’d much rather visit these eight paintings than to go to the art museum to be honest. It was kind of like going on a scavenger hunt on a picture-perfect day!
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What a fabulous way to put art and nature together. This is cool. Thanks for taking us along on your walk.
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Glad you like the concept Ally! I have only been to the actual art museum once on a field trip in 9th grade and I know I enjoyed this outside round robin adventure much more than going inside to see the paintings inside.
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What a nice collection of paintings with different themes and from different time periods. I laughed when I read the sign with The Piazza San Marco saying that “in the 1700s wealthy tourists brought back paintings to remind them of their trips, like postcards – big expensive postcards.” That’s a beautiful Winslow Homer painting – it’s been years since I’ve used any of his paintings on my blog – will have to look for some more. A lot of his paintings had a marine theme so it was nice to see this one in a garden. Thanks for introducing me to George Wesley Bellows – I never heard of him before. I like paintings of everyday happenings. Sorry you didn’t get a chance to enjoy the gulls!
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It was a fun day Barbara and it really felt like a scavenger hunt of sorts. I was bound and determined to get that gull shot … you know how you get a mindset that you see something and want to take a photo? It would have been a great photo, but there is literally nowhere to park on East River Drive – it is all huge homes that face the Detroit River along that drive. I would have asked someone if I could park in their driveway for a minute to take the picture, but I saw no homeowners to ask. That was my favorite paintings of the bunch – I felt like it could be me taking a walk at the Botanical Gardens. The Claude Monet painting at the Nature Conservancy was nice too, my second favorite. They used that Monet painting at the Dingell Park collection a few years ago.
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I love the idea of art drawing you to locales where you might not normally stop in. Having said that, only three of the paintings you saw captured my interest. “Still Life” and “Merrymakers” made me pause for a second look, especially after reading their descriptions (and thanks for including those). But if there is to be a favorite, I’d nominate “Girl and Laurel”. The image captivate me as it did you. The painting also seems entirely appropriate for your blog.
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Dave, I agree this is a great idea too and this is my third or fourth event I have gone to see. Sometimes they just put up a few paintings at a Metropark and I’ve seen them and taken photos to use as part of my walk. “Girl and Laurel” was my favorite – you are correct, it was so appropriate for my blog and I felt like it could be me at the Botanical Gardens toting those flowers. I did like “Merrymakers” too and I am glad for the description of the painting too as I might have missed that this was a paper bird in one woman’s hand. I had to go back and look at “Still Life” – it was interesting they put that painting at the old train depot/historical museum.
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Good to see lots of windows within various styles of architecture as well as the paintings made available. Too bad you had to drive and mess around with parking at many of them. I wonder if those are reproductions placed outdoors? The hot sun would surely mess with the original art. Thanks for taking us along this week, Linda!
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Terri, I did some other street photography to include in the post but decided to omit those shots as the post was just too long. Someone had painted a huge mural in dark blue on one side of a store – it represented the entire Island with small pictures in white with titles in white to denote things like the lighthouse, historical museum, alpaca farm, etc. To get that panoramic shot, I had to stand too far back and cars were in the way as well. I also got some fun chalk art that day. The building with the vintage bikes in the window was very cool. I came home with about 85 pictures, if not more. The paintings are all weatherproofed and replicas of what is in the actual art museum. They are displayed from May through October, so they have to be durable. Glad you enjoyed my little tour!
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Thanks for sharing your fantastic art tour, Linda! 🙂 The paintings are beautiful, especially the “Seascape Sunset”. The Tipsy Fish must be a fun place to eat. 😀 Love the message on the bench as well.
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Glad you liked the art tour Debbie! I believe this is my fourth one I’ve done and blogged about, although one might have just been a few paintings in one of the Metroparks. I like “Seascape Sunset” and those rolling waves too. The Tipsy Fish did look like a fun place – I liked their logo of the fish sipping on a straw inside the drink. This was where I saw the palm trees lit up along one side of the restaurant that I mentioned to you in a comment awhile back. The message on the bench was nice – my favorite part of that particular stop.
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P.S. Forgot to mention the Piazza San Marco. It looks very much the same today. 🙂 And artists are still everywhere, selling sketches to tourists. A little smaller than full-size paintings. 😉
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Debbie, I was thinking you might have visited the Piazza San Marco when I was preparing this post, given your travels to Italy. I like that idea that they sketch right there and sell sketches to tourists, so they have a nice memento of their visit there. Smart thinking on their part. 🙂
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What a great way to combine the photo walks you do regularly with the chance to appreciate some art that is new to you. And probably to the rest of us.
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JP, I think this is a great idea by the Detroit Institute of Arts and Ford to bring some culture outside of the art museum. This was my third or fourth time I’ve gone to see the outside art installations, but this one was more spread out than the others. The one in my City I was able to walk to each painting as this City is only five miles square.
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Such a creative way to get people out and about, and enjoying beautiful works of art! Thanks for letting us join you on your walk!
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I think it is a great idea too Janis! This is the third or fourth event I’ve gone to and enjoyed each one. I am glad you enjoyed joining me on my walk!
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My favorite was “Merrymakers”; favorite after the restaurant signage. I love the tipsy fish sipping a martini! Both were hilarious. Fun painting of the woman taunting the parrot with a folded paper bird and all the joy at the table. I imagine that this place might have outdoor seating where the birds just might hop in to snack on a few crumbs or steal a French fry right off your plate like the restaurants on the water here. My type of place to go out to sip and eat on the water for sure.
The way you navigated this “art walk” was quite smart, I must say. I enjoyed seeing all the art and reading this post very much! I hope you had a lot of fun with it all. 🤗
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Thank you TD – I am glad you enjoyed the walk and the post! I had a lot of fun doing it and this was my third or fourth time I’ve done one and blogged about it. The website gave a list of all the communities that were having the art installations and I was happy to see it was here on Grosse Ile. I wanted to go a certain way first, so I wouldn’t get lost – even though it is not that big of an island, I am not the best at directions. 🙂 I did like “Merrymakers” too – I totally missed the paper bird in the woman’s hand if not for the description on the side of the painting. I like how they all were laughing. The Tipsy Fish might have an outside area, like a patio, as I saw some palm trees with lights on them. I think it sounds like a fun venue to be near the country club and golf course and so near the marina as well.
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That was a fun trip, Linda. Nice to see the paintings but my favorite picture is the beautiful old church – St Anne’s Chapel.
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Thanks Ruth – I’m glad you liked it. That was a beautiful old church and I just looked it up as I could not remember how old it was – it was built in 1868 and moved to its present location in 1871. I liked the door as well.
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Enjoyed the art images, Linda. I don’t get to visit museums very often.
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Thank you Eilene – I’m glad you enjoyed the post. I really don’t get to museums much either and I have not been to the Detroit Institute of Arts museum since 9th grade!
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Goodness! Maybe it’s time for a refresher.
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I know! It was a 9th grade field trip!
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Linda, I enjoyed this post so much and the art they chose for this year’s outdoor displays were brilliant. Do they always do such old pieces?
My favorite was “Seascape: Sunset” by Martin Johnson Head (1861) – but I did rather like them all and feel they were cleverly paired with their locations.
I am glad you included the bikes, it flowed right into your sharing and I wonder what years connected to different bike styles.
The note about the church not having much parking, I realized this was the case in the niagara falls area – parking is so limited with churches and stores and eateries.
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Thank you Yvette – I’m glad you enjoyed the post. It was fun to do this walk and to put together the post .. I thought I’d never finish it. 🙂 I liked the way they paired the paintings with the actual settings, which was very clever of them. This is the third Inside/Out I’ve attended and, in the past, there were a few venues that just had one or two paintings and I wrote about them as part of my regular walk. Yes, they are usually old paintings, all replicas of what is found at the DIA art museum in Detroit. I liked “Seascape: Sunset” too and that they had it right along East River Road which runs parallel to the Detroit River was perfect. The waves rolling in and water splashing on the rocks was actually more picturesque than the actual location, especially since it was a very calm day. I originally intended to make a Wordless Wednesday out of the vintage bicycles and use it for Terri’s “Windows” theme this week as this post was so long, but I thought it was better to explain why the bikes were in the window. The video was very interesting – they have a lot of vintage bikes all around the store and I loved the name “Old Spokes Home” where the old bicycles are found.
The parking on the Island is not good for the most-picturesque places and you really have to park at a school or in the main business district. I’d much rather have walked, like I did for the other DIA art installations, but 10 miles was a little too much. I can imagine Niagara Falls being a tourist town would be bad as to parking. I was there once at about seven years old, so I don’t recall much except the photo I have that was taken of my mom and me in front of the Falls.
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Thanks for sharing and I do like how you are cognizant about post lengths and seem to know that long is okay, but too long can just be too long – ha – if that makese sense.
And maybe what helped here was the way you put the bike/window images in a nice gallery – it helped the flow.
and my recent “flower of the day” post (with a nod to Cee) was almost going to be a wordless wednesday post – but I am glad that I just let it unfold with some words. Because sometimes wordless posts are perfect (and I love your weekly wed ones) but other times it is fun to read some extras – like here – it was funny how the parking topic was so relatable!
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Yvette, I know I push the envelope sometimes on the length, but I figure if it is a post about walking and I see lots of things, it is okay, but yes, it may be tiresome if there is too much. That was the first time I used a collage instead of a slideshow – I thought it was better since you could see the info about each bike side-by-side. I have to look at your Cee post – you must have posted after I left WP last night as I was caught up in Reader. Yes, the parking is so relatable – along the River they should have at least one small parking space for picturesque settings.
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xxxx
😊
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Yvette, I stand corrected as to the very old paintings. All the Inside/Out events I have attended all had old paintings. However, my friend Ann Marie commented about the art walk and I told her there was one in another nearby city and when I went to see which one, the paintings are really different from the paintings I’ve seen in the past. Here is the River Rouge line-up, one very old paintings, a mishmash of new and old (1989 is not old at all).
https://dia.org/insideout#river-rouge
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I will check it out and yes, 1989 does not seem old at all – well not in the context of art!
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I agree; that will teach me not to assume, no matter if the prior events were old paintings.
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😊
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Miss Linda…………………………………..I just had an adventure into Art Appreciation………………..thank you I never knew about the outside paintings on Grosse Isle……………………………..yes I learned the hard way……………………………….no fishing allowed because no parking allowed almost anywhere on the island of Grosse Isle!
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You’re welcome Ann Marie – I’m glad to give you the Art Appreciation lesson. The DIA Inside/Out event is held every May through October. They had one in River Rouge this year as well, also with eight paintings. Parking is bad on Grosse Ile – there is nowhere to park at all on East River Road, unless you want to count the tiny parking lot across the street from St. Anne’s church (Church Street and East River Road). Nowhere for you to fish, I’m sure, unless you are in a boat and you arrive as a visitor, but I’m sure you can’t dock there.
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What a wonderful idea Linda! Loved the art! My favorite was the Monet, but they were all nice!
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I think so too Joni. It was fun visiting all of them. I liked the Monet too – it was a perfect pairing for the Conservancy’s small perennial garden. I’m glad you liked the rest of them as well.
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