New Sculpture at Stop 26 Beach Celebrates Windsor-Detroit Ties

A new sculpture by Michigan artist John Sauve has been installed at Stop 26 Beach in honour of the longstanding cultural, economic and geographic ties between Windsor and Detroit, and is among the latest improvements to the popular lakefront park.

Donated to the City of Windsor by ARS Gallery of Benton Harbor, Michigan, the sculpture is titled “Faust” and was created using steel beams recovered from Detroit’s Ford Auditorium, the historic riverfront concert hall and former home of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra that was demolished about a decade ago.

Standing 7.6 meters in height, the eye-catching sculpture is set on a cement base just east of Sandpoint Beach. A companion piece has been mounted in Detroit’s Roosevelt Park, located in front of the historic Michigan Central Station. Together, the two sculptures symbolize and celebrate the close relationship between the two motor cities.

The sculpture was installed at Stop 26 Beach in December and features some of Sauve’s signature silhouettes. It is distinctively orange, a colour that appears in many of the artist’s past works as a tribute to his mentor, the renowned abstract sculptor Mark di Suvero who frequently uses orange in his own creations. The sculpture is also decorated with Sauve’s trademark “Man in the City” figure, which first appeared on top of downtown Windsor rooftops in 2013 as part of a bi-national public art exhibition.

The permanent installation of “Faust” at Stop 26 Beach brings the total number of pieces in the City’s public art, monuments, and memorials collection to over one hundred on display across Windsor, and is among the latest improvements to the popular waterfront park at 10630 Riverside Drive East. In 2021, Council invested about $30,000 toward reinforcing the park’s shoreline against erosion. This work followed repairs that were made to the fencing and new signage at Sandpoint Beach, in addition to other regularly scheduled maintenance.

In 2021, Council also approved $227,500 in advance funding to undertake an environmental assessment (EA) to relocate Sandpoint Beach farther east along the park. The EA is expected to open for public consultation later this year before being presented to Council, which has committed about $1.6 million over the next 10 years toward the revitalization of Sandpoint and Stop 26 beaches, should the recommendations of the EA be adopted.

Over the next decade, about $170 million will be invested in City parks, including $26 million worth of improvements in 2022.

Quotes:

“On behalf of the City of Windsor, I would like to thank artist John Sauve and the ARS Gallery for donating this unique sculpture to our city’s rich collection of outdoor public art. We are a city that takes great pride in our parks, public art, and cross-border partnerships, and this new sculpture celebrates the best of these assets while paying tribute to Windsor-Detroit’s shared automotive history, which has helped our cities flourish.” – Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens

“For me, this sculpture project is as much about the art as it is about the history of Windsor and Detroit. With a common international border, a shared river, and an economy and culture rooted in the automotive industry, few cities are endowed with as many special bonds as Windsor and Detroit. I hope this sculpture inspires viewers to contemplate and appreciate the close and valuable ties our two cities are fortunate to share.” – Michigan sculptor John Sauve

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