Artworks by Lowell Boileau -- Photography Editions -- Michigan Theater Detroit

Michigan Theater Ruins Detroit

"Michigan Theater"
Lowell Boileau 2001

16 x 14.5 inches -- 41 x 37 cm
Signed, Numbered
& Limited Edition of 27

$160

“Michigan Theater” is a view of the former Michigan Theater whose space was transformed into a parking lot. Remnants of the theater give the scene great irony made more poignant by the fact that this was also the site of Henry Ford’s first workshop. The wealth created by Ford’s genius put America on wheels and caused the city of Detroit to explode in size over night and a skyscraper with a 4000 seat movie theater to supplant Ford’s humble shop. As time passed and suburban theaters with free parking emerged, the Michigan Theater with its lack of parking failed and the commercial viability of the Michigan Building was similarly threatened. The solution was to turn the theater into a parking lot.