Wayne State Art Walk in Detroit

It is a pleasant stroll through the Art Walk of Wayne State's campus. Easily walkable from the Lodge Freeway to Woodward on the east, then from Hancock on the south to Palmer on the north there are 27 sculptures scattered throughout the compact campus. The art walk represents a wide range of interesting artists and their works. The Dancing Maidens on top are by Oskar Stonorov who immigrated from Germany in 1929. Morris Brose immigrated from Poland in 1931 and created Sentinel II, bottom left. The limestone relief is Student by G Alden Smith who taught at Wayne from 1940-1983.

Hilberry Theatre in Detroit

The unique Hilberry Theatre in Midtown Detroit is located in a former church that is almost 100 years old. Wayne State acquired it in 1961 and transformed it into a stage theatre and named it after Clarence Hilberry, the president of the university. It is the only graduate repertory theatre company in the nation, presenting a quality selection of both modern and classical plays each year from September to May. Currently in its 50th season, the play opening this Friday, April 19th is Marat/Sade, about the French Revolution's assassination of Jean-Paul Marat by the infamous Charlotte Corday.

Bonstelle Theatre in Detroit

The Bonstelle Theatre on Woodward is part of the Wayne State Campus undergraduate drama program.  They put on several plays a year in this 1200 seat historic venue. It was built in 1902 by Albert Kahn in the Beaux Arts style and was originally the Temple Beth-El. We have seen many delightful performances here including Cathy Rigby flying across the stage as Peter Pan.  Coming up in April is The Full Monty.

FOCIS Symposium on The Michigan Economy

FOCIS (Forum on Contemporary Issues in Society) directed by Dr. Irvin D. Reid, president emeritus of Wayne State University, presented a day long symposium this past week exploring issues that hinder growth in Michigan's economy and analyzing factors that could energize our long awaited recovery. Speakers included Dr. Alice Rivlin, senior fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institute as well as many knowledgeable panelists. We learned that many positive things are going on in Michigan to create jobs, security and change.

Old Main: Wayne State University

Old Main is the iconic architectural monolith that signifies Wayne State in Detroit. It was originally built as Detroit Central High School back in 1896, but was incorporated into WSU when the university was created in 1934. It houses the science department now and their cool planetarium in the basement.