
Crow's Nest on Woodward & 9 Mile - Ferndale, MI
N 42° 27.632 W 083° 08.075
17T E 324495 N 4703117
Replica of early traffic signal.
Waymark Code: WM22C2
Location: Michigan, United States
Date Posted: 08/23/2007
Views: 122
THE CROW’S NEST
Established in 1920
A Ferndale landmark, The Crow’s Nest served as an early traffic signal at the intersection of Nine Mile and Woodward Avenue. The structure was created to hold policemen high above heavy traffic to direct traffic in a safe environment. The Crow’s Nest was removed in 1928 during the widening of Woodward Avenue and the advent of the electric traffic signal. Ferndale honors that history, as well as showcases Ferndale's artistic community through the installation of an artist’s metal sculptural interpretation of the Crow’s Nest.
THE ARTIST
Shan Sutherland
In 2005, the Ferndale DDA launched a search for an artist to create a sculpture of the Crow’s Nest to incorporate it into its new Woodward & Nine Mile Median Improvement Project. Shan Sutherland from the Cranbrook Academy of Art was selected for the art project. Shan Sutherland received his M.F.A. in Metalsmithing from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2006. Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, his father is a furniture maker and his mother a sculptor. He received a B.A. in Art History from Swarthmore College in Philadelphia and studied Sculpture and Metalsmithing at the University of Georgia. His mother, Anne Sutherland, has also contributed to the art project with a bust of a police officer to be placed in the Crow’s Nest.