City gives in to artist: Rock on

BY ERIK LORDS
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

When Detroit artist Matthew Loflin Davis awoke Thursday morning, his popular stoneworks on Belle Isle were an endangered species.

A city bureaucrat had decreed that the carefully arranged stones -- which have drawn appreciative crowds since summer -- had to go.

At first, city officials said the mini-Stonehenge was blocking views of the water. They took them down in September. Davis put them back up.

Then the officials cited safety concerns, and planned to remove them again.

On Thursday, after a mini-protest, Detroit's No. 1 art critic stepped in to save the day.

Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick told the Recreation Department to bug off. And the plans to dismantle the structures once again were dropped like . . . well . . . a rock.

"The mayor likes the fact that someone has been creative enough to try to enhance what is already there in the park," Kilpatrick spokesman Howard Hughey said Thursday. "As long as those structures are not posing any risks to any pedestrians they are OK."

That is exactly what about 30 supporters of the rock art wanted to hear.

They had gathered outside the office of Belle Isle Park Manager Alicia Minter's office Thursday afternoon to say leave our stones alone.

One supporter chanted, "Belle Isle is more than rotting docks, we are here to save the rocks!"

Minter's office had planned to remove the structures. City officials said the rocks -- some of which weigh more than 60 pounds -- are balanced on each other without mortar or glue and could easily fall and cause injury.

But organizers said that in the five months the structures have been up, no one has been hurt, and the chance of that happening is minimal.

Supporters also say the stone structures have become wildly popular among artists, passersby and tourists. Many people stop, park their cars and walk toward the riverbank to marvel at the works.

One admirer said they beautify the island.

"The governor is saying make the cities in Michigan cool, well what could be cooler than this?" Roseville resident Arthur Kay said Thursday. "To me the stones look like people, and they remind me of immigrants who came from other countries to the shores of our country. It would be a tragedy if the city took down the stones."

The group met first at Minter's office, but she was not there. They then drove to see the stone formations that stretch about 300 feet along the island's southeast shoreline next to the U.S. Coast Guard station.

Minter did not return calls seeking comment.

Leading the protest was the artist behind the structures, Davis, a 35-year-old Detroit metalwork artisan and carpenter. He said he fell in love with the southeast corner of Belle Isle months ago while walking his dog, Farnsworth, there each morning.

In June, the rock stacking became his daily hobby, Davis said. He used chunks of jagged concrete and stones to create. Exactly what he has created "is up to each person's imagination," Davis said.

About 250 structures line the riverbank, ranging in size from a few inches to five feet high.

On Thursday, Oak Park resident Theresa Rohman said she viewed the stones and sees "serenity." Her daughter, Danielle Phelps, who admired the rocks with her, liked the fact that anyone could walk up, grab a rock and try their hand at creating something.

"They should have contests to see who can make the best art of the rocks," Phelps said.