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.  

Please join Docomomo Michigan at the Dossin Great Lakes Museum's De Roy Hall on Belle Isle for an afternoon of exploring the work of Marshall M. Fredericks and Jim Miller-Melberg whose abstract and figural sculptures have shaped generations of visitors' experience on the island and enlivened playgrounds and shopping malls nationwide.

12:45-1:15 PM The afternoon's program will begin with arrival and registration 

1:15-3:00 PM   Four experts will highlight the works of Jim Miller-Melberg and Marshall M. Fredericks.  

Docomomo MI Board President, Deborah Lubera-Kawsky will begin the discussion with opening remarks and introduce Tour Day 2026.  Meagan Elliot, Belle Isle Conservatory president will offer an introduction to Belle Isle.  Megan McAdow, Docomomo MI Board member and past director of the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum, will speak on the playful side of Marshall Fredericks' sculptures marked by his interest in animals, children, and interactive subjects.  Detroit-based artist Scott Hocking will discuss the play sculptures of Jim Miller-Melberg on Belle Isle and the role of his work across the nation within the larger context of sculptures for play at mid-century.   

3:00-4:00 Following the presentation participants are free to take a self-guided tour of the grounds with the option to visit the Piet Oudolf Garden.    

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 Department of Natural Resources or at the entrance booths on Belle Isle.

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📩 Contact us: docomomo.mi@gmail.com