Cass Corridor

Last updated
Cass Corridor, Detroit
Neighborhood of Detroit
Cass Corridor
CassferrystudenthousingVictorianbldgs.jpg
Corner of Cass and Ferry, showing the Verona Apartments.
Coordinates: 42°21′48″N83°04′13″W / 42.36333°N 83.07028°W / 42.36333; -83.07028
Country Flag of the United States.svg United States of America
State Flag of Michigan.svg  Michigan
County Flag of Wayne County, Michigan.png Wayne
City Flag of Detroit.svg Detroit
Area
 • Total0.9 km2 (0.36 sq mi)
 • Land0.9 km2 (0.36 sq mi)
 • Water0 km2 (0.0 sq mi)
Population
 (2010)
 • Total1,707
Time zone UTC-5 (Eastern Standard Time (North America))
 • Summer (DST) UTC-4 (Eastern Daylight Time (North America))

The Cass Corridor is the name of the neighborhood on the west end of Midtown Detroit. It includes the Cass Park Historic District, the Cass-Davenport Historic District and Old Chinatown. The corridor's main street, Cass Avenue, runs parallel with M-1 (Woodward Avenue), a main Detroit artery running north toward New Center. Though Cass runs from Congress Street, ending a few miles farther north at West Grand Boulevard, the Cass Corridor generally is defined as between Interstate 75 (I-75) at its southern end and Interstate 94 (I-94) to the north, and stretches from Woodward to the east and to the west: John C. Lodge (M-10 service drive) north of Temple, and Grand River Avenue south of Temple.

Contents

History

Third Man Records opened November 27, 2015, at the corner of Canfield and Cass Thirdmanrecords.jpg
Third Man Records opened November 27, 2015, at the corner of Canfield and Cass

Significant landmarks of the area include the Detroit Masonic Temple (the world's largest building of its kind), [2] Cass Technical High School, and the Metropolitan Center for High Technology are all located along Cass. Little Caesars Arena, the home of the NHL's Detroit Red Wings and the NBA's Detroit Pistons, is on the west side of Woodward Avenue near Interstate 75.

In the 1970s, the Cass Corridor was a poor neighborhood known for drugs, prostitution and sex crimes against children. The area was of significance in the Oakland County Child Killer case. [3] [4]

Creem , which billed itself as "America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine," had its headquarters in the area. The student population contributes to the bohemian atmosphere in Cass Corridor. The artistic community has produced a number of significant artists, including Sixto Rodriguez, Negative Approach and The White Stripes, who played their first show at the Gold Dollar. [5] Cass Corridor is also the location of the annual Dally in the Alley arts festival. [6]

Since the 2000s, Joel Landy, president of the Cass Avenue Development construction company, has renovated and remodeled several buildings in the Cass Corridor. [7] Landy was also featured in the television series American Pickers [8] (season 3 episode "Motor City", September 19, 2011). Since 1997, Avalon International Breads has been located in the Cass Corridor. [9] In 2015, Jack White of the band The White Stripes, opened a retail store for his record label, Third Man Records at the corner of Canfield and Cass. [10]

From 2009, Dr. Alesia Montgomery of Michigan State University conducted a five-year study visualizing a reinvented Detroit as a green city, with a particular emphasis on the Cass Corridor. [11] [12]

Cass Corridor Movement (1960–1980s)

In the 1960s through the 1980s, the Cass Corridor became an area of cultural significance, and is often referred to as the Cass Corridor Movement, or the Cass Corridor Group. [13] [14] Artists began renting cheap studio space in the Cass Corridor, which was near Detroit's Cultural Center Historic District. The Willis Gallery was instrumental in the local artists meeting each other. [13] The curator of contemporary art at the Detroit Institute of Arts from 1968 until 1971, Sam Wagstaff, was influenced the formation of the movement. [13]

In 1980, a keystone exhibition at the Detroit Institute of Arts, Kick Out the Jams: Detroit’s Cass Corridor, 1963–1977, was organized by curators Mary Jane Jacob and Jay Belloli and featured 22 artists. [13]

Artists associated with or influenced by the Cass Corridor artist movement include Nancy Mitchnick, [13] Al Loving, [13] Robert Sestok, [13] Brenda Goodman, [13] Greggi Murphy, [13] Gary Grimshaw, Tyree Guyton, Charles McGee, Ann Mikolowski, Jim Pallas, Ellen Phelan, Gilda Snowden, Robert Wilbert, Kathy Clifford, and Theo Wujcik. [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodbridge, Detroit</span> United States historic place

Woodbridge is a historic neighborhood of primarily Victorian homes located in Detroit, Michigan. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, with later boundary increases in 1997 and 2008. In addition to its historic value, Woodbridge is also notable for being an intact neighborhood of turn-of-the-century homes within walking or biking distance of Detroit's Downtown, Midtown, New Center, and Corktown neighborhoods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midtown Detroit</span> Cultural center and neighborhood in Wayne, Michigan, United States

Midtown Detroit is a commercial and residential district located along the east and west side of Woodward Avenue, north of Downtown Detroit, and south of the New Center area. The area includes several historic districts. In addition, it contains a residential area of some 14,550 people and covers 2.09 sq mi. The community area of neighborhoods is bounded by the Chrysler Freeway (I-75) on the east, the Lodge Freeway (M-10) on the west, the Edsel Ford Freeway (I-94) on the north, and the Fisher Freeway (I-75) on the south.

The culture of Detroit, Michigan, has influenced American and global culture through its commercial enterprises and various forms of popular music throughout the 20th and 21st century. Its automotive heritage plays an important role in the city's culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Detroit Masonic Temple</span> Masonic building in Detroit, Michigan

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dally in the Alley</span> Detroit’s largest annual community festival

Dally in the Alley is Detroit's largest annual community festival, located in the Cass Corridor district in Detroit. The event is completely organized and executed by a team of community volunteers. According to organizers, The Dally in the Alley gives an offering of live music, visual arts, performance, food and beer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonstelle Theatre</span> United States historic place in Detroit, Michigan

The Bonstelle Theatre is a theater and former synagogue owned by Wayne State University, located at 3424 Woodward Avenue in the Midtown Woodward Historic District of Detroit, Michigan. It was built in 1902 as the Temple Beth-El, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. As of 2023, the Bonstelle is planned to be renovated and integrated into a newly-constructed hotel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Main (Wayne State University)</span> United States historic place

Old Main is an academic building on the campus of Wayne State University. It is located at 4841 Cass Avenue in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, on Wayne's main campus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in Detroit</span>

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Detroit, Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cass Park Historic District</span> Historic district in Michigan, United States

The Cass Park Historic District is a historic district in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, consisting of 25 buildings along the streets of Temple, Ledyard, and 2nd, surrounding Cass Park. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005 and designated a city of Detroit historic district in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University–Cultural Center Multiple Resource Area</span> United States historic place

The University–Cultural Center MRA is a pair of multiple property submissions to the National Register of Historic Places which were approved on April 29 and May 1, 1986. The structures included are all located in Midtown, near Woodward Avenue and Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. The two submissions are designated the University–Cultural Center MRA Phase I, containing five properties, and the University–Cultural Center MRA Phase II, containing three properties.

The contemporary realism movement is a worldwide style of painting which came into existence c. 1960s and early 1970s. Featuring a straightforward approach to representation practiced by artists such as Philip Pearlstein, Alex Katz, Jack Beal and Neil Welliver. The movement refers to figurative art works created in a natural yet highly objective style. Today the term Contemporary Realism encompasses all post-1970 sculptors and painters whose discipline is representational art, where the object is to portray the "real" and not the "ideal".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinatown, Detroit</span> Neighborhood of Detroit in Wayne, Michigan

Detroit has had at least two locations that were once called "Chinatown", with the first being in a downtown location at Third Avenue, Porter St and Bagley St, now the permanent site of the MGM Grand Casino and Interstate 75's Fisher Freeway. In the 1960s urban renewal efforts facilitated its move to Cass Avenue and Peterboro, which was also an opportunity for the Chinese business community to finally purchase property.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in Downtown and Midtown Detroit</span>

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Downtown and Midtown Detroit, Michigan. It is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Downtown and Midtown neighborhoods in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Latitude and longitude coordinates are provided for many National Register properties and districts; these locations may be seen together in online maps.

As of 2002, ethnic Chinese and Chinese American people comprise the second-largest Asian-origin ethnic group in the Wayne–Macomb–Oakland tri-county area in Metro Detroit. As of that year there were 16,829 ethnic Chinese, concentrated mainly in Troy, Rochester Hills, and Canton Township. As of 2012, Madison Heights also hosts a significant Chinese community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Detroit's Marwil Bookstore</span>

Detroit's Marwil Bookstore was a local book store, independently owned in Detroit, Michigan. It was founded in 1948 by Milton and Lenore Marwil. Marwil existed on the Wayne State University campus as a cultural attraction for the students and faculty of Wayne State University and from members of the surrounding communities who were interested in scholarly work. Marwil Bookstore closed its doors permanently in December 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George D. Mason</span> American architect

George DeWitt Mason was an American architect who practiced in Detroit, Michigan, in the latter part of the 19th and early decades of the 20th centuries.

Gilda Snowden was an African-American artist, educator and mentor from Detroit, Michigan.

Brenda Goodman is an artist and painter currently living and working in Pine Hill, New York. Her artistic practice includes paintings, works on paper, and sculptures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ann Mikolowski</span> American 20th-century contemporary artist

Ann Margaret (Stroman) Mikolowski was a twentieth-century American contemporary artist. She was a painter of portrait miniatures and waterscapes, as well as a printmaker and illustrator of printed matter. Mikolowski was part of Detroit's Cass Corridor artist movement and co-founder of The Alternative Press.

References

  1. ↑ Third Man Records - Detroit Storefront
  2. ↑ "Masonic Temple Of Detroit- History". Archived from the original on 2008-05-14. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
  3. ↑ "On the Trail of the Oakland County Child Killer". August 20, 2018. Retrieved 2019-05-26.
  4. ↑ "Oakland county child killer -- case-background". Archived from the original on 2019-06-02. Retrieved 2019-06-01.
  5. ↑ Sullivan, Denise (March 1, 2004). The White Stripes: Sweethearts of the Blues. Backbeat Books. p. 13. ISBN   978-0-87930-805-6.
  6. ↑ "Dally in the Alley Website" . Retrieved 2008-12-26.
  7. ↑ This old house savior, Adam Stanfel, Metro Times , June 5, 2002 (retrieved February 12, 2012)
  8. ↑ Cass Ave.'s Joel Landy picked for "American Pickers", Nancy Kaffer, Crain's Detroit Business , April 5, 2011 (retrieved February 12, 2012)
  9. ↑ Collins, Lisa M. (September 4, 2002). "On a roll". Metro Times . Retrieved February 27, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Detroit Storefront". Third Man Records. Archived from the original on 2016-11-21. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
  11. ↑ http://clas.wayne.edu/Multimedia/Anthropology/files/WGposter.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  12. ↑ "Alesia Montgomery".
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Sharp, Sarah Rose (2022-01-25). "The Cass Corridor Movement's Salvation Through Salvage". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 2023-07-13.
  14. ↑ Sharp, Sarah Rose (April 21, 2017). "Detroit's famed Cass Corridor art movement spotlighted at Simone DeSousa". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 2023-07-13.
  15. ↑ Mikolowski, Ken (2009). Gonzalez, Lisa Baylis; Schemske, Sandra (eds.). "Time and Place: of Detroit's Cass Corridor from the Wayne State University Collection. Exhibition Catalogue, Elaine L. Jacob Gallery, April 24–June 26, 2009" (PDF). Detroit, MI: College of Fine, Performing, and Communication Arts. Wayne State University. One of the advantages of living in post-riot Detroit was the wide availability of big, cheap space. Artists quickly found buildings for studios all along the Cass Corridor. Visiting those studios in the Vernor's building or Common Ground or a bit later, the Forsythe building, you would come across the artists making their art with found objects from the streets of Detroit.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.