Detroit Creative Placemaking
Starting in 2025 with Detroit Month of Design, this is a two-year health-focused project to reimagine 14th & Michigan St. in Corktown, Detroit, as a living gallery of survival, resilience, and hope.
Cancer is present in every neighborhood.
Most often, it is experienced quietly—within families, workplaces, and routines that continue even as life changes.
STILL HERE: Rooted in Place, Emerging in Public is a two-year public art and storytelling initiative that brings those lived experiences into public space in a thoughtful, respectful way. Led by Lions & Rabbits Center for the Arts and rooted in Corktown, the project transforms a visible site at Michigan Avenue and 14th Street into permanent cultural infrastructure shaped by real people and real stories.
This project extends cancer awareness beyond a single event and embeds it into the everyday life of a neighborhood.
Lions & Rabbits is partnering with Detroit Month of Design, The American Cancer Society’s VOICES of Black Women Campaign, and many other collaborators to bring thousands together while cultivating a physical environment that inspires and unites the community it serves.
The results:
Corktown gets lasting public art that changes how the neighborhood feels.
The American Cancer Societygets a walk route that embodies its mission.
Detroit gets proof that we can talk about hard things in public spaces.
Everyone who participates helps make difficult truths more visible.
American Cancer Society, Strides Walk 2025, Clay floral making and community engagement
Mock up sample (No final images pictured below)
STILL HERE: unfolds across multiple participatory components that work together as a cohesive environment.
116 locally painted portraits of Detroit-based cancer survivors or a family ambassador
A large-scale Indigenous floral mural by Ivan Montoya & an apprentice
Planter beds with Indigenous florals planted with Brightside Collective
Three Community Paint-by-Numbers Building Wrap Murals
A permanent audio installation with stories of the survivors & creatives
A series of Community Meals and Continued Activations highlight Detroit as a leader in belonging
A digital and physical commemorative book, highlighting participants and the project's history.
13 Creatives from the Dearborn Fine Arts Club staged painting ambassadors where the portraits will be hung.Honoring Detroit Cancer Survivors
To raise awareness for the ACS's Voice of Black Women Campaign, 116 Detroit-based artists will create unique portraits honoring Corktown cancer survivors and their families, inspired by the work of local photographers.
PAINT A PORTRAIT
Transform everyday infrastructure into spaces for healing, storytelling, and pride.
BE PAINTED
Your voice (and face) are essential to fighting for a cure.
Awareness is most meaningful when it stays close to the people it affects.
This project builds community trust through:
Providing fair compensation to all workers.
Building intergenerational creative solutions to the current streetscape design.
Community storytelling and recording to preserve the community's history.
Bridging the gap for creatives and cross-sector community members.
Youth apprentices are provided opportunities to learn from cross-sector leaders.
Revitalizing a vacant space for renewable programming & investment.
Corktown gets lasting public art while collecting community feedback on future envisioning.
ACS gets a walk route that embodies its mission and continues to shine for more than just one day.
Detroit models vulnerability and healing, creating belonging in public space.
Participants help make difficult truths more visible while serving their community with their skill sets.
People have an open space in Corktown to gather, and it’s cleaned up!
Local creatives participate in Detroit Month of Design's After Dark event to promote the project and spread awareness.UPCOMING EVENTS
International Placemaking Conference, June 2026
Interactive Art, Portraits, and Mural Installation, Spring, 2026
Detroit Month of Design, September, 2026
ACS Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk, October 10, 2026
PREVIOUS EVENTS
Detroit Month of Design, September 2025
Eastern Market After Dark, September 18, 2025
ACS Taste of Hope Gala, September 29, 2025
ACS Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk, October 11, 2025
Made Possible Through Collaboration
Join the Movement
Sponsorship Levels
Luminary Leader - $100k
Lead partner recognition on our website, annual report, and key communications
Exclusive Impact Spotlight (feature story in newsletter + social media)
Program association (e.g., named recognition on apprenticeship cohort, mural series, or annual impact report)
Recognition on donor wall/display (digital or physical)
Full-page thank-you recognition inside the project book
** One Left** Thank you, Knight Foundation
Collaborating Creator - $50k
Prominent logo/name placement on our website + annual donor communications
Dedicated social media highlight + sponsor spotlight in newsletter
Annual Impact Packet (PDF with photos, stories, and data points to share internally)
Early access to project announcements
Half-page thank-you recognition inside the project book
** Four Left**
Dream Weaver - $25k
Recognition on our website and in newsletters
Group spotlight in annual donor communication
Included in donor recognition displays
Personalized digital thank-you message from apprentices/artists
Quarter-page thank-you recognition inside the project book
** Four Left** Thank you, DMCU
Future Shaper - $10k
Name/logo in donor roll on website and annual report
Mention in group social media + newsletter acknowledgments
Advance invitations to public project updates
** Unlimited**
Audio Ally - $5k
Recognition on the website donor page
Thank-you mention in one newsletter + social post
** Unlimited** Thank you, CultureSource & Steelcase
À La Carte Options
Artist Materials Sponsor – supplies for mural & public art projects
Portrait Panel Sponsor – sponsor an individual tribute panel
Phone Installation Sponsor – support interactive storytelling stations
Lighting Sponsor – exterior architectural or installation lighting
Clay Floral Sponsor – support creative sculpting activations
Traveling Booth Sponsor – supports multi-site installation & mobility
Want to get your company or organization involved?
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