Artworks Grace Downtown Ferndale Thanks to DIA Inside Out Program
(Crystal A. Proxmire, July 8, 2021)
Ferndale, MI – In the alleyway decorated with a Daniel Cascardo mural, metal planter boxes, and strings of twinkling rainbow lights draping overhead is a painting that hasn’t been there long.  This reproduction of “Love Flight of a Pink Candy Heart” by artist Florine Stettheimer captures the attention of passers by thanks to a temporary exhibit recently installed by the Detroit Institute of Arts and their InsideOut program.

Love Flight of  Pink Candy Heart is one of six pieces in the Downtown Ferndale area around 9 Mile Road and Woodward Avenue.
A full walking tour of the pieces gets spectators about 1,500 steps, or 3/4 mile in. From Ben Shahn’s work “Bookshop: Hebrew Books, Holy Day Books” in the Ferndale Area District Library courtyard, to the stunning black and white imagery of Kwesi Owuso-Ankomah’s “Movement #27,” there are a variety of styles and themes to be explored.

Mounted on the wall of the magically-themed Candle Wick Shoppe, Love Flight of Pink Candy Hearts is “a whimsical depiction of the Artist’s dreams, created in 1930,” said Downtown Ferndale Engagement Manager Sommer Realy, who likes this painting best.  “I get lost in this masterpiece,” she said.  “Placing the exhibit in Downtown Ferndale enhances as well as supports the creative energy found in the Ferndale community.”
Another great work is John Sloan’s Fourteenth Street at Sixth Avenue, which features a bustling scene in New York painted in 1934.  The painting was missing for decades but found in a home in Traverse City before being gifted to the DIA.  The story can be found here.
PJ Jacokes, proprietor of Go Comedy! Improv Theatre and DDA Chairperson, has been out enjoying strolls with his family to see the pieces.  “I love that Inside/Out is in Ferndale. Art is important in every community. It makes life a little bit richer,” he said.  “It’s like stopping and smelling the roses, but for your eyes.”

“Art elevates life,” he added.
The attraction is just one of many artistic features in Downtown Ferndale.  A large planter with seating was recently added in front of Affirmations, a rainbow crosswalk helps show Ferndale Pride, and the city has approved Social Districts for outside drinking.
The images will be up through October.  This program was brought to Ferndale by the volunteer efforts of the Ferndale Arts and Cultural Commission. There’s a list of locations as well as info on each piece at https://downtownferndale.com/insideout/.
The Inside Out Program also came to Ferndale in 2012. Check out the Ferndale 115 News story from that time here.
For more local news check out our Ferndale News Page.

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