Sculptures for Play: Belle Isle, Marshall Fredericks & Jim Miller-Melberg

Join Docomomo Michigan on Belle Isle for a discussion of two artists and the indelible impressions left by their work.
About this Event

Docomomo US Tour Day 2026 takes "Recreation and Play" as its national theme, and Belle Isle offers Detroit's case study: two twentieth-century sculptors who built play into the island's public landscape. Join Docomomo Michigan for an afternoon exploring the work of Marshall Fredericks and Jim Miller-Melberg, whose abstract and figural sculptures have shaped generations of visitors' experience of the island and enlivened playgrounds and shopping malls nationwide.

Following the conversation we take a recreational walk in the park for a tour of Oudolf Garden Detroit led by one of it's primary caretakers.

PLEASE NOTE - All vehicles entering Belle Isle State Park are required by law to have a Michigan Recreation Passport. Recreation Passports can be purchased online through the or at the entrance booths on Belle Isle.

Admission to The Dossin Great Lakes Museum is included with this event.

Agenda

🕑: 12:45 PM - 01:15 PM
Arrival and registration
🕑: 01:15 PM - 03:00 PM
Presentations - The Dossin Great Lakes Museum - DeRoy Hall
🕑: 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Guided Tour - Oudolf Garden Detroit