> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.dailydetroit.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Sneak peek: A 180-year-old Detroit cemetery in a new light - URL: https://www.dailydetroit.com/sneak-peek-a-180-year-old-detroit-cemetery-in-a-new-light/ - Published: 2026-10-01T17:04:12.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-01T17:04:12.000Z - Description: What to know before you go to Elmwood Alight, plus a photo walk through the art and history - Author: Jer Staes - Tags: Newsletter, #blog Hey friends, Jer here. Detroit has no shortage of creativity, and is long on history. Last night I got a sneak peek of an event that brings together both: Elmwood Alight. This is the second year of this outing at the historic Elmwood Cemetery on Detroit's near east side, and it runs tonight through Saturday, October 3. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/47/f5/47f528d4-7214-4519-b2b2-26249e48460d/content/images/2026/10/ElmwoodAlight_9-30-2026-6517x.jpg) 📸 Ryan Southen It mixes light installations, projection art, and live music along an illuminated path of about three-quarters of a mile. You can wander at your own pace, there's no set route, and like the organizers say, it's not spooky. But it is fun for the senses. Let's take a look inside, and thanks to [Ryan Southen for the photos.](https://www.ryansouthen.com/?ref=dailydetroit.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/47/f5/47f528d4-7214-4519-b2b2-26249e48460d/content/images/2026/10/ElmwoodAlight_9-30-2026-6574x.jpg) 📸 Ryan Southen ### A slice of the original Detroit Elmwood was founded in 1846, and it's the oldest nondenominational cemetery in Detroit that's still operating. It was laid out as a "rural cemetery," a style meant to feel like a park, back when this part of town was out in the country. Because the city grew up around it later, Elmwood's 86 acres still show what Detroit's land looked like before everything got flattened for development. There are hills and old trees, and I found myself wishing we had kept more of this original topography. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/47/f5/47f528d4-7214-4519-b2b2-26249e48460d/content/images/2026/10/ElmwoodAlight_9-30-2026-6559x.jpg) 📸 Ryan Southen The ties to our natural history run deep. During the recent tornado, [they sadly lost a Bur Oak](https://www.instagram.com/p/DdZi9cZlCzI/?ref=dailydetroit.com) that was estimated at 280 years old, meaning it likely started its life in the 1740s, before America was a thing and quite close to the founding of the city in 1701. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/47/f5/47f528d4-7214-4519-b2b2-26249e48460d/content/images/2026/10/ElmwoodAlight_9-30-2026-6508x.jpg) 📸 Ryan Southen Elmwood is also the only place in Detroit where you can still see Bloody Run Creek above ground. Once it passes the walnut grove, it goes under the street grid and runs to the Detroit River. Of course, it's a working cemetery, too. Stephanie Sloane, one of the directors of the Historic Elmwood Foundation, told me Elmwood still handles about 400 burials a year. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/47/f5/47f528d4-7214-4519-b2b2-26249e48460d/content/images/2026/10/ElmwoodAlight_9-30-2026-6557x.jpg) 📸 Ryan Southen The event grew out of the old Elmwood tree lighting, a long-running gathering for the families and supporters connected to the cemetery. Last year it turned into Elmwood Alight, a way to open the gates to the wider city. "Folks see gates and think, 'I can't come in there,'" Sloane said. But you can. Elmwood also serves as a kind of park, open to walkers, cyclists, dog walkers and birders. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/47/f5/47f528d4-7214-4519-b2b2-26249e48460d/content/images/2026/10/ElmwoodAlight_9-30-2026-6590x.jpg) 📸 Ryan Southen ### Art, art, and more art This year's theme is "Timescapes," a nod to the history of timekeeping in Detroit, which has ties to people buried at Elmwood. Playground Detroit curated eight Metro Detroit artists, who made 13 works in all. A highlight for me was Gabriel Hall's projection mapping. Hall, a Kresge Arts in Detroit artist, made custom shows for the chapel and the public mausoleum. The chapel's story is a good one. It was built in 1856 and destroyed by fire in 1976, then restored with community support. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/47/f5/47f528d4-7214-4519-b2b2-26249e48460d/content/images/2026/10/ElmwoodAlight_9-30-2026-6563x.jpg) 📸 Ryan Southen Hall's projection tells that story on the front of the building. "As a projection mapper, I'm always trying to tell the story of the building I'm projecting on," Hall told me. He wanted realistic effects and shadows, not just visuals. "I want it to feel like the church is burning down." I can't help but think of the city's Latin motto, "Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus," which means, "We hope for better things; it will rise from the ashes." On the back, he got "a little bit more metaphysical," with a look inspired by stained glass. "I'm obsessed with stained glass," he said, joking that he's almost ready to change careers and only do projection-mapped stained glass. Inside the chapel, Midtown Strings will play as a trio next to a piece by Patrick Ethen. Geoff George, creative director of Elmwood Alight and a cinematographer by profession, described it as the quiet spot, a place to sit and reflect. **Other pieces to look for:** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/47/f5/47f528d4-7214-4519-b2b2-26249e48460d/content/images/2026/10/ElmwoodAlight_9-30-2026-6483x.jpg) 📸 Ryan Southen A copper sculpture by Cyrah Dardas inspired by plant seeds, made specially for Alight. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/47/f5/47f528d4-7214-4519-b2b2-26249e48460d/content/images/2026/10/ElmwoodAlight_9-30-2026-6581x.jpg) 📸 Ryan Southen Hanging screen-printed fabrics with mirrors by Tryst Red, lit from below in the walnut grove. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/47/f5/47f528d4-7214-4519-b2b2-26249e48460d/content/images/2026/10/ElmwoodAlight_9-30-2026-6496x.jpg) 📸 Ryan Southen Sean Hages' inflatable sculptures, inspired by the strange, prehistoric-looking plants of Socotra, an island that belongs to Yemen. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/47/f5/47f528d4-7214-4519-b2b2-26249e48460d/content/images/2026/10/ElmwoodAlight_9-30-2026-6579x.jpg) Family mausoleums lit up in ways that show off textures you'd walk right past during the day. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/47/f5/47f528d4-7214-4519-b2b2-26249e48460d/content/images/2026/10/ElmwoodAlight_9-30-2026-6531x.jpg) 📸 Ryan Southen Keep an eye out for works by Pat Bird, Gerald Collins, and Dylan Curtis, too. "You see something that you walk past a hundred times and never notice," Sloane said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/47/f5/47f528d4-7214-4519-b2b2-26249e48460d/content/images/2026/10/ElmwoodAlight_9-30-2026-6492x.jpg) 📸 Ryan Southen ### The walnut grove The walnut grove is one of the few places at Elmwood with no burials. The trees were planted as a future lumber crop. "We decided it was too beautiful to cut down," Sloane said. During Alight, "Technically, Yeah" will bring ambient musicians to play there each night. Something new is coming, too. The day after Alight ends, construction starts on an amphitheater in the grove, and almost all of the trees will stay. Personally, I think it'll be one of the most special corners of the city when it's done. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/47/f5/47f528d4-7214-4519-b2b2-26249e48460d/content/images/2026/10/ElmwoodAlight_9-30-2026-6519x.jpg) 📸 Ryan Southen ### If you're going Elmwood is at 1200 Elmwood Street, near Lafayette and McDougall. Gates open at 7:30 p.m. tonight and 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Last entry is 9:30 p.m. each night, and the gates close at 10. General admission is $25, and kids 10 and under get in free. Tickets aren't timed, so come when you want and stay as long as you like. New this year are guided tours on Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. For $10 more, you can take the Curator's Tour with Paulina Petkoski of Playground Detroit and creative director Geoff George. Or take the Timescapes History Tour with foundation director Amy Elliott Bragg. A golf cart shuttle runs on a loop for anyone who needs help getting around. Byrdie Bar is handling drinks, including beer, wine, cocktails and mocktails, and there's water on site. DeutschTroit brings a German-style food truck. Of course, bring your ID if you're drinking. There are upgrade packages with drink tickets and stickers too. [Check out all the options on Eventbrite](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/elmwood-alight-2026-tickets-1993926204954?ref=dailydetroit.com) and for more information, [here's the event page.](https://elmwoodhistoriccemetery.org/events-tours/elmwood-alight?ref=dailydetroit.com) This event appeals to my very specific kind of nerdery: History, art, nature, and hanging out with friends. And if any of that is you, I think you'll have a good time with this one. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/47/f5/47f528d4-7214-4519-b2b2-26249e48460d/content/images/2026/10/phezzy-line-break-daily-detroit-email.png) 🎧 We've had some pretty big episodes of the Daily Detroit podcast this week if you haven't checked them out, including an in-depth conversation on the ins and outs of the RenCen project. Go over to [Apple Podcasts,](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-detroit/id1220563942?ref=dailydetroit.com) [Spotify,](https://open.spotify.com/show/1Yhv8nSylVWxlZilRhi4X9?si=5c228e60efa24837&ref=dailydetroit.com) or wherever you listen to shows to catch up. 📬 If this is your first time here, [consider signing up for future email newsletters to be in the loop on what to know and where to go in Metro Detroit.](https://www.dailydetroit.com/newsletter/) 💪 Daily Detroit is independent media supported by our members on Patreon. Join us at [patreon.com/dailydetroit](http://patreon.com/dailydetroit?ref=dailydetroit.com). Thanks for reading and sharing your inbox with us. Remember that you are somebody — and I'll see you around Detroit. \-Jer