Public art helps tell city’s story, Sterling Heights natives are leading contributors to collection

STERLING HEIGHTS — If art, as the saying goes, is in the eye of the beholder, then behold Sterling Heights.

The city has assembled a notable public art collection over its history — ramping up significantly in recent years — and the momentum shows no signs of slowing.

“There’s strong support from the City Council and city management to push for more public art,” said Sterling Heights Community Relations Director Melanie Davis. “Our 2025 master plan actually calls for continued integration of public art into public spaces and to strengthen our community identity. And part of our Visioning 2040 (is) to create vibrant, unique, inclusive spaces.”

The city has backed its commitment by budgeting more than $350,000 for public art the past two fiscal years and officials are on track to approve another $140,000 for 2026-27, though Davis pointed out that all funds are not necessarily spent in the year for which they are budgeted.

The city lists more than 40 examples of public art on its website, ranging from small indoor sculptures to colorful murals and mosaics to towering outdoor installations. Prominent pieces include the “Two Bears” outside the entrance to the Sterling Heights Public Library, “The Halo” on Hall Road, and “Fireman and Child” at Fire Station No. 1 at 17 Mile Road and Van Dyke Avenue.

A majority of public art is in and around the city center campus, which includes the Sterling Heights Public Library, Police Department and City Hall, but other examples can be found in city parks and a handful of private building exteriors.

Upcoming public art projects include a huge outdoor mural commissioned for the city’s new pickleball facility and a pair of sculptural art display signs for traffic medians on Utica Road at Dodge Park Road and Metro Parkway at Dodge Park.

In addition to serving as new pieces of public art, the display signs “will double as a showcase for local artists’ work when not being used from time to time to promote upcoming city events and initiatives,” Davis said in a memorandum that was included in background material when City Council approved a $174,000 contract with Detroit Design Center in early March. Installation of the new displays is expected to be completed by the end of June.

The pieces will be made from stainless steel and colored glass representing the colors in the city logo. The sleekly curved display signs are 11 feet tall and nearly as wide. According to city documents, the installations “will serve specific purposes: the foremost will serve as an artistic focus; the sculptural design elements will encourage calming traffic for passing motorists to engage with the stainless steel and mosaic glass displays; and other functions will serve as a means of advertising city events and showcasing local artists’ creations.”

 

Local connection
Detroit Design Center is the 25-year-old enterprise of Sterling Heights natives Erik and Israel Nordin. The brothers, who have fond memories of growing up in the city, are the leading purveyors of public art in their hometown; the display signs are their fifth commission.

Although Detroit Design Center is well-known for its unique and thoughtful creations and has placed pieces of art across the state, the Nordin brothers are particularly pleased when they are contributing to Sterling Heights.

“It’s very near and dear to our heart because it’s our hometown,” Erik Nordin said. “To have that opportunity to do something really special for your hometown is really cool. It’s special because it brings back a lot of memories from when you were growing up.”

Israel Nordin said the city didn’t have a lot of art to showcase when he was coming of age, so it’s been rewarding to play a role in Sterling Heights’ artistic accumulation.

“To be able to create sculptures for our hometown, we couldn’t be more tickled,” he said. “We really feel like it provides a little bit more access to the younger generation then maybe we had. … The fact that the city is embracing us and allowing us to create art for the next generation, that’s what’s really powerful and what kind of motivates us and gets us excited about making art here.”

Erik, 59, and Israel, 49, are two of six children raised by Ron and Elayne Nordin. The family lived in the Ryan Road and 15 Mile Road area, and the children attended Warren Consolidated Schools. Erik graduated from the now-closed Warren High School while Israel graduated from Cousino. The Nordin kids were encouraged to explore and follow their passions and Erik and Israel credit the community and school district for helping shape their future.

“Those teachers really made a difference in our lives,” Erik said. “It was pretty magical, the real depths of education that we got.”

Israel, in particular, was enamored with the district’s Career Prep Center, which provides hands-on technical skills and knowledge aimed at helping students succeed in the workplace.

“Having access to … all these great classes that train you for the real world. It was almost like college within high school,” he said. “I think that the core things that were accessible to us really made this a wonderful city to grow up in.”

The brothers also recall developing an affinity for the outdoors thanks to Sterling Heights’ many parks and natural spaces and see their childhood roots as an integral part of their adult achievements.

“There was just a lot about the city itself that really had a long-term effect on us,” Erik said.

 

Monuments and memorials
Nordin brothers’ sculptures in the city include the Imus Memorial, Nelson Memorial and Sawyers Memorial in their namesake parks. The abstract pieces of metal and glass honor fallen police officers Leroy Imus and Mark Sawyers and firefighter James Nelson.

“One of the most touching moments of our career was when the pieces were presented by the City Council and the families of those public servants that had lost their (loved ones) were there,” Erik said. “It was such a meaningful thing to be able to have the opportunity to create something that would stand and symbolize their memory.”

Symbolism is also prominent in the most visible piece the Nordin brothers have placed in the city — “The Seed” — located within the heavily traveled traffic circle at Utica Road and Dodge Park. The 26-foot-tall sculpture of steel and blown glass is an expression of the city’s vision as a place to seek recreation and enjoy the outdoors. It was installed in 2017.

As is their custom, the Nordin brothers engaged with city leaders and others in the community to understand and conceive what the city wanted to say with its public art. The brothers believe in crafting pieces that have stories behind them.

“When you’re trying to make something for a community, one of the most common questions is, ‘How do we pick something that everybody’s going to like?’” Erik said. “Everybody likes something different. And so, by sitting with the community, as many people as you can, and getting input on that community and what’s important to them, what we do is take little elements and weave that story, if you will, into the design.”

The duo went a step further in Sterling Heights, choosing to kayak along the city’s stretch of the Clinton River for inspiration, which they found in a floating seed pod. The concepts of life and growth and nature and resilience and renewal coalesced into the towering “Seed” — which is also a metaphor for putting down roots in the community and growing a family or a business in Sterling Heights.

“Our pieces aren’t about us,” Erik said. “Honestly, our pieces are a byproduct of the relationship that we’ve built with whoever we’re making it for. … We’re creating things that are specifically designed and built for those communities. We’re trying to make unique, one-of-a kind things for communities.”

The Nordin brothers, who both now live and work in Detroit, are pleased their hometown has embraced artwork and is providing a platform for individuals to showcase their talent.

“Sterling Heights has one of the best public art collections in Michigan,” Erik said. “It’s very defined and a rather large public art collection. It’s refreshing knowing that this is where we grew up.”

 

‘A good investment’
Although public art has its detractors and skeptics who question spending tax dollars on murals and sculptures, supporters see benefits in art’s ability to spark conversations, make connections and create identity.

“We’re big cheerleaders for public art,” Erik said. “By adding some things that are very unique and special, it really helps to set those communities apart.”

His brother agreed. “I think public art is important because it gives accessibility for people to share ideas with one another,” Israel said. “It opens a door. It’s a nice kind of lubricator for meeting people.”

Davis said officials believe public art also makes good business sense.

“I think they see public art as a good investment because it does support economic development,” she said. “It supports it by improving the aesthetics of the area. It improves it by supporting local artists themselves. It supports economic development by kind of a tourism type activity where it draws people in — that placemaking aspect of it. It draws people to locations and if those are in commercial corridors then that supports the economic development of that activity as well and it just adds to the overall vibrancy of an area.”

Wendy Popko, a Sterling Heights resident and member of the city’s Arts Commission, said public art also encourages walkability in a community and can help make a city stand out.

“I like the fact that when I drive through certain communities that have public art, they are landmarks to me,” she said. “So I love public art. I think it brings a lot of awareness to all the cool little details that a community has.”

An accomplished artist herself, Popko has painted two city murals and the “Page Turner” installation outside the library. “I feel very strongly about what public art can bring to a community,” she said.

The artistic ambitions of Sterling Heights haven’t been without bumps, however. The Hall Road “Halo” acquired an unflattering nickname and a controversial ceramic tile at a display outside the city’s police department was removed because the image it contained was said to be linked to white supremacist groups.

Nonetheless, the city is forging ahead by creating a multiyear strategic plan to guide public art projects and eyeing a public art ambassador program.

The Nordin brothers also remain busy. In addition to the art display signs due in Sterling Heights, they’re currently working on pieces for Southfield, Livonia and Oakland Township. Twenty-five years on, Detroit Design Center has become a go-to place for communities and institutions looking for custom sculptures that draw attention and accentuate the landscape.

“It doesn’t feel like work,” Israel said. “We’re always excited about the next project. We’re always eager to find the next story to be told.”