116 Cancer Survivors' Portraits to Fill Detroit Building

An empty building in Detroit's Corktown neighborhood is about to become impossible to ignore.

This spring, 116 windows of the vacant CPA Building at Michigan Avenue and 14th Street will each hold a different face. Every single one belongs to a cancer survivor, hand-painted by local artists and photographed by Corktown creative Lamar Dupree.

The installation, called STILL HERE: Rooted in Place, Emerging in Public, is a collaboration between Lions & Rabbits Center for the Arts, the North Corktown Neighborhood, Knight Foundation, Steelcase, and the American Cancer Society. It's designed to turn public art into both healing and awareness.

"We don't often use the word 'healing' when we talk about cancer," said Hannah Smith, executive director of Lions & Rabbits Center for the Arts. "But what happens when a community shows up publicly for people who've lived through it?"

The idea emerged during Detroit Month of Design, when organizers wondered how art could address experiences that touch nearly every family. Standing outside the CPA Building one day, Smith had a realization: "There are 116 windows in that building. We thought, what if every window held a face?"

The project prioritizes Corktown residents and workers, including restaurant staff and small business employees. Local artists are painting each portrait, ensuring the installation belongs to the neighborhood creating it.

Interactive audio stations will let visitors scan QR codes to hear stories from survivors and caregivers. A large-scale mural by artist Ivan Montoya, created alongside paid youth apprentices, will wrap part of the building featuring native flowers and Indigenous language.

Sati Smith, a local ambassador with the American Cancer Society's Voices of Black Women initiative, sees the project as a reminder that no one fights alone. "Some people don't want to talk about their diagnosis because it was devastating," she said. "This project makes it visible and reminds people they're not alone."

The initiative also encourages screening and treatment, connecting art with health outreach to Black women aged 25 to 55.

Why This Inspires

An abandoned building usually signals decline. But when 116 artists and 116 survivors rally around it, something extraordinary happens. Empty windows become faces, isolation becomes community, and a structure that once represented absence now celebrates presence. This is creative placemaking at its most powerful: taking overlooked spaces and filling them with the stories that matter most.

The installation begins this spring, with initial elements unveiling during International Placemaking Week from June 24 to 26. The portraits will remain on display year-round and be featured during the American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk in October.

Organizers are still seeking 50 more participants for portraits. Survivors, caregivers, and family members can all sign up at lionsandrabbits.com/placemaking/detroit.

A building that once stood empty now stands for something much bigger: a place of belonging.