The exhibition, Footwork: The Choreography of Collaboration, explored network-based working models and their connection to systems planning and the interconnected movements that strengthen organizations and communities. It celebrated Detroit’s innovators, sparked new cross-genre, cross-generational collaborations, and reimagined the evolving future of work in the city.

The project team connected organizations with artists and designers to develop new projects. The following examples featured in the exhibit demonstrate how Detroit organizations are leveraging design and creativity to develop shared spaces and cooperative resources:

• Thing Thing x Lear Corporation: Detroit-based design collective Thing Thing, known for creating innovative products from industrial materials, partnered with Lear Corporation, a global leader in automotive seating, to reimagine uses for material waste from Lear’s seat-making operations. Together, they applied Thing Thing’s unique fabrication process to explore new possibilities for discarded materials.

• Detroit Sound Conservancy: A nonprofit dedicated to preserving Detroit’s rich musical history, the Detroit Sound Conservancy restored and repurposed the historic Blue Bird Inn stage. This iconic piece of Detroit’s jazz legacy was transformed into a modular, mobile programming and exhibit space, celebrating the city’s culture of collaboration, creativity, and music.

• Assemble Sound & Underground Resistance: Assemble Sound, a collaborative hub for musicians, and Underground Resistance, a globally renowned techno collective, joined forces to work with musicians from Detroit’s Motown era. Together, they created a transcendent composition that bridges Detroit’s musical evolution, blending jazz, Motown, and contemporary sounds to honor the city’s living musical legacy.