Have you seen The Spirit of Detroit lately? 

The iconic green giant was restored this fall by Detroit artist Robert Zahorsky, who operates an east side studio. Zahorsky undertook a laborious process of carefully stripping layers of chemicals off the bronze statue and reapplying them, all by hand, over roughly seven weeks. 

Zahorsky said the color is a bit lighter than folks may remember. That’s partly because the chemical composition of the original color was never recorded, Zahorsky blended the green hue based on feedback from the creator’s daughter. 

“Everybody brings their own frame of reference to it; I was pleasantly surprised at just how many people came up and talked to us and asked us questions about what we’re doing,” Zahorsky said. “I really enjoyed the amount of engagement people had. Everybody loves him.” 

The Spirit of Detroit is probably the city’s best known outdoor sculpture – not to mention a brand used in city logos and Detroit-themed merchandise. The massive piece was designed by Marshall Fredericks, one of America’s leading 20th century figurative sculptors.

The 26-foot sculpture is the largest cast bronze statue created since the Renaissance. It weighs nine tons, roughly the same as four Ford Broncos. 

It required a large foundry only found in Oslo, Norway and was carried across the Atlantic Ocean on a specialized boat. It was commissioned in 1955, dedicated in 1958 and cost roughly $58,000 at the time – that would be over half a million dollars today. 

In 1958, Fredericks told the Detroit Free Press that transporting the massive sculpture through narrow streets in Norway’s capital was a “tremendous task greater than anyone will ever realize,” but “worth it a thousand times over.”

A German boat carried the statue, along with Mercedes-Benz cars, sardines and olive oil. 

Picture in your mind, a large seated figure, arms outstretched, representing the spirit of humanity. The spirit’s left hand palms a gold-gilded sphere casting rays of light symbolizing divinity, while its right hand holds a similarly golden family that embodies human relationships. 

An inscription on a plaque in front of the sculpture reads: “Through the spirit of man is manifested in the family, the noblest human relationship.”

A 45-foot-tall symbol wall serves as a backdrop. It includes the seals of the city and county, and a biblical passage reading: “Now the Lord is that Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” 

Zahorsky noticed some other “easter eggs” while getting up close and personal with the statue. On its right shin, just above the foot, is a carving that names the foundry in Oslo where it was cast. 

“It still has some mysteries to hide,” Zahorsky said. “It’s still giving.” 

Restoring the spirit 

Time, weather and a man with an axe have also added features to the sculpture. Zahorsky said it was damaged when a man hacked at the spirit, leaving vertical chop marks on its leg and other places. 

Zahorsky also found a fissure in the bronze statue’s chin, which indicated water was pooling inside. Michigan’s harsh winters and warm summers cause any water trapped inside to shrink and expand, pushing the metal apart over time. Zahorsky drilled a “wee hole” in low points of the sculpture to let water drain out. 

The Detroit-Wayne Joint Building Authority is responsible for maintaining the statue along with the City of Detroit. 

The restoration process largely involved adding layers of chemicals to preserve and rejuvenate its appearance. Zahorsky stripped off the previous coating using crushed glass and washed with a mild detergent similar to dish soap.

An anti-corrosion chemical was applied to protect the bare metal. A layer of sulfur was applied to create a consistent rich brown color. The statue has multiple bronze pieces that were welded together, so Zahorsky said it’s important to cover up any inconsistencies in the surface. 

Copper salts were mixed to achieve the signature green color, applied in three coats. Each took two days to apply with sponges. 

Finally, the statue was sealed with a layer of wax mixtures to protect it from water and wind. The surface was lightly buffed to smooth out any rough edges. 

“This piece gets dirty like you wouldn’t believe,” Zahorsky said. “I had a 60-foot telescoping boom lift to get to the top of his head and hands. The wind kicks around, you’ve got dust flying in your eyes and dirt from all over. It needs to be washed frequently to keep clean and keep from corroding.” 

Zahorsky said the scale of the statue became more apparent when he was working with it on scaffolding. The spirit’s head is larger than a person, his shoulders are wide enough to lay across. 

“I’m up there working on his head, and people would be like ‘do you mind if I take a quick picture – and would you move out of the way?’” Zahorsky said, launching. 

It takes a crew of several workers to sew giant sports jerseys on the spirit. It cost around $25,000 to dress the statue for the NFL Draft last spring. 

A creative legacy

Born in Illinois in 1908, Fredericks came to Michigan for a staff job at the Cranbrook Academy of Art. He later enlisted in the Air Force and returned to Birmingham after World War II. He worked from studios in Royal Oak and Bloomfield Hills. 

In 1963, Fredericks called Detroit a “vital and enthusiastic city” with potential to become one of the great art centers of the world. 

Fredericks died in 1998 at the age of 90, but left behind hundreds of other pieces of public art across Michigan, as well as public plazas in Sweden, Norway, Japan and Denmark.

Fredericks reportedly sought to create art that didn’t need to be seen inside a museum or gallery. He referred to his pieces as his children, and The Spirit of Detroit was among his favorites.

Sculptures are featured in downtown spaces, banks, churches, libraries and civic institutions across the state. Another notable work is the 55-foot “Christ on a Cross” near the Mackinac Bridge connecting Michigan’s peninsulas. 

The facade of the UAW Ford Center is closest to The Spirit of Detroit, just across Jefferson Avenue. It includes a 30-foot marble eagle clutching an olive branch emerging from the wall in a stylized V shape. He designed other sculptural reliefs on the Horace H. Rackham Building 

Fredericks was among 15 artists commissioned to design art at stations for the Detroit People Mover. He also designed a memorial fountain on Belle Isle. It features a bucking bronze gazelle on a base surrounded by a rabbit, hawk, otter and grouse in a garden just west of the Conservatory. 

After his death, the contents of his studios were donated to the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum in Saginaw. 

Zahorsky said it was humbling to work on such an iconic piece of the city’s history. He studied at the Center for Creative Studies and has worked on other Fredericks sculptures, but The Spirit of Detroit is what the late-artist is most known for. 

“Now we’re part of that history of the city,” Zahorksy said.