Focus on this artwork and discuss the Uses as a community symbol.
As one of Detroit's most easily identifiable landmarks, a sketch or depiction of the statue appears as the central element of most of the logos of Detroit's city departments and services.  During the late 20th century, a facsimile of the statue was featured on the Detroit Police Department's insignia and on the sides of its police cars.  An image of the statue appears on the "Spirit of Detroit Award" certificate, which is issued by the Detroit City Council to a person, event, or organization deemed to have performed an outstanding achievement or service to the citizens of Detroit.  The sculpture is the main image on Detroit Community Scrip.The Spirit of Detroit represents local sports teams, such as when it is dressed in sports jerseys to celebrate local professional teams competing in the playoffs.  As the number of sports and non-sports requests for the sculpture to wear jerseys increased, there began to be concerns about damage to the sculpture and starting in 2017, the Detroit-Wayne Joint Building Authority began new rules for having a jersey displayed on the statue, including winning a championship and paying $25,000.  The payment was intended to cover the restoration costs after a jersey is removed, including cleaning, reapplying the patina, and reapplying the wax.  Another example of local sports team representation is the use of an image of the sculpture as part of the crest of the Detroit City Football Club.The sculpture has also been involved with arts events, such as being dressed in a tuxedo in 1999 during a visit by the Three Tenors.  The ceremonial naming of the section of the John C. Lodge Freeway running from Livernois to I-94 in honor of Aretha Franklin was held in front of the sculpture in 2019.   Spirit Plaza was the site of a floral tribute, which included 3,000 roses, that commemorated Big Sean's Detroit 2 album release on September 4, 2020.The Spirit of Detroit represents Detroit in media and video games, such as the 2011 Chrysler 200 Super Bowl commercial, "Born of Fire", which featured rapper Eminem along with Detroit landmarks, and the 2018 video game Detroit: Become Human.In 2020, The Spirit of Detroit wore a blue-green shirt and a white ribbon to commemorate medical and "essential" workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Two people installed the 420 square foot polyester poplin shirt and three foot ribbon.
Detroit Big Sean's John C. Lodge Freeway COVID-19 local professional teams Detroit City Football Club Super Bowl Born of Fire Big Sean Detroit Police Department Aretha Franklin Chrysler 200 Detroit: Become Human Detroit Community Scrip Detroit 2 Eminem Three Tenors