On a summer day in Detroit, culture doesn’t just stay behind museum walls; it rises in sculptural form outside a library, stretches along neighborhood trails, carries from stages throughout Midtown and appears in the laughter of children cooling off beside the Detroit River.
While different, these experiences give people places to gather, explore and see themselves as part of the city’s story.
Through investments in arts, culture and accessible public spaces, Gilbert Family Foundation is helping create more of those opportunities across Detroit. From public art and live music to greenways and waterfront recreation, foundation-supported destinations help offer several free ways to experience the city this summer.
Stories of Us: Civic storytelling through public art
As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, Detroiters have an opportunity to reflect on what democracy, belonging and civic participation mean today -- and what they could mean for generations to come.
Those questions are at the center of the Stories of Us exhibition, a national public art and civic storytelling initiative supported by Gilbert Family Foundation.
Now on display at the Detroit Public Library’s Main Library, Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park and Warren Gateway on the Joe Louis Greenway, the exhibition features 25 large-scale sculptures. The collection includes 10 works originally commissioned by Detroit-based artists in 2024 and 15 new works by artists from Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland and New York City.
Outside the Main Library near Woodward Avenue and Kirby Street, visitors can explore 10 sculptures that examine the nation’s past, present and future through themes of identity, memory, resilience and the unfinished work of democracy. The library installation remains on display through July 26.
Beyond creating a striking public art experience, the project asks whose stories are remembered, whose experiences are represented and who gets to help define the nation’s future. It is grounded in the belief that sharing lived experiences can be a civic act -- one that builds understanding, elevates perspectives historically left out and expands the country’s civic imagination.
A greenway designed to connect more than destinations
Like the Stories of Us exhibits aim to connect the community at large, a broader public-space investment is also taking shape across Detroit.
The Joe Louis Greenway is a planned biking and walking route that connects Detroit neighborhoods with Highland Park, Hamtramck and Dearborn. The 27.5-mile network will incorporate the Dequindre Cut, portions of the Detroit Riverwalk, new pathways and protected bike lanes.
When completed, it will give people of different ages and abilities safer places to walk, bike and run while connecting neighborhoods with parks, schools, historic sites, commercial corridors, jobs and public transportation.
But a greenway can do more than provide recreation -- it can reconnect areas divided by infrastructure, support neighborhood commercial corridors and create places where residents come together.
Music that brings communities together
In Midtown, another summer tradition shows how the arts can connect people across cultures.
Concert of Colors returns July 15-18 for multiple days of free music, performances and community programming across 13 venues centered around the Detroit Institute of Arts and neighboring cultural institutions.
The festival’s global lineup introduces audiences to musical traditions and creative influences from Detroit and around the world. Performances, forums, family activities and cultural programs fill indoor and outdoor spaces, allowing visitors to shape the experience around their interests.
Gilbert Family Foundation also supports the Concert of Colors Neighborhood Series, which helps to bring free cultural experiences directly into Detroit communities. The neighborhood concerts help make arts programming available where residents live, not only within a central cultural district.
At Concert of Colors, music becomes a shared language as audiences discover new sounds and celebrate the traditions that shape Detroit’s cultural identity.
A waterfront destination built for play and reflection
Along the Detroit River, Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park offers a different summer experience.
The 22-acre park, which opened in October, was designed to support recreation, wellness and community connection.
During the hottest months, families can cool off at the Gilbert Family Foundation Water Wonderland. Located within the Delta Dental Play Garden, the seasonal splash area uses jets, sprays and streams to create an interactive, sensory-rich experience designed to welcome a wide range of visitors. It is open daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., weather permitting.
Elsewhere in the park, visitors can explore play areas, follow tree-lined paths, fish, spend quiet time in the 2.5-acre Water Garden or use the William Davidson Sport House, an open-air pavilion with two full-size basketball courts.
Creating a summer of belonging
Individually, these destinations offer art, exercise, entertainment and recreation. Together, they show what can happen when public spaces and cultural programs are treated as essential parts of a thriving city.
Gilbert Family Foundation has identified universal access to safe public spaces and arts and culture as central goals of its work in Detroit. That includes supporting destinations, bringing programs into neighborhoods, elevating artists and creating spaces designed to welcome people of different ages and abilities.
This summer, Detroiters can experience that vision in sculptures that broaden the national story, a greenway connecting neighborhoods, music that crosses cultural boundaries and a waterfront park built for both activity and reflection.
Locals and visitors can explore Stories of Us before the library installation closes July 26, attend Concert of Colors July 15-18, walk or bike at Warren Gateway and spend a summer day along the river at Ralph Wilson Park. Each free destination offers its own reason to visit. Together, they present Detroit as a city shaped by creativity, connection and the people who call it home -- and invite everyone to help shape its next chapter.