Detroit office building to open roller skating rink — and it's free

Ann Zaniewski | Detroit Free Press

A second skating rink is about to open in downtown Detroit — but this one is for wheels, not blades.

The whimsical Rainbow City Roller Rink will debut Nov. 30 on the ground floor of 1001 Woodward Avenue, not far from the outdoor ice skating rink in Campus Martius Park. Skaters will glide on a striped floor underneath eight colorful, inflated sculptures that dangle from the ceiling.

The largest sculpture? A 30-foot piece with a rotating head set up on the rink floor.

Anthony Curis, a partner with the Library Street Collective, said the project aims to make both skaters and passersby on the street smile.

"The installation creates a surreal landscape intended to provoke an iconic and childlike awareness, and offers an opportunity to connect physically and psychologically with an energetic, ephemeral setting," he said.

The rink was conceptualized and produced by the Library Street Collective, a Detroit-based contemporary art gallery that regularly collaborates with commercial real estate firm Bedrock on various art initiatives. Bedrock and the Quicken Loans Community Fund are financially supporting the rink.

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Artists Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III, who make up the Los Angeles-based fine art collaborative FriendsWithYou, designed it. The duo has previously showed iterations of Rainbow City in Toronto, Miami and New York.

Rainbow City Roller Rink will be open to the public from 2-9 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, from Nov. 30 through Jan. 27.

Admission to the 5,280-square-foot rink is free and on a first-come, first-served basis. There is no cost for borrowing skates, lockers or safety equipment, such as helmets.

For more information, visit rainbowcitydetroit.com.

Contact staff writer Ann Zaniewski at 313-222-6594 or azaniewski@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @AnnZaniewski.