In 1987, three years after his first ceramic tile public commission for Buffalo Metro Rail, New York, George Woodman realized an installation for the Detroit People Mover’s Renaissance Center station. A firm believer in public art, he sought to create a work that does more than simply impress at first glance but rather brings life to being in the station for commuters using the system daily. The result was Dreamers and Voyagers Come to Detroit, a mural composed of hexagonal tiles whose six sides allowed for hundreds of unique variations in pattern and arrangement. Woodman divided the tiles into six modules with individual intentional color combinations, each representing a different arena in which a different “game” can be played with the color and pattern possibilities of the modules. Manufactured by Franco Pecchioli SRL in Borgo San Lorenzo, Italy, the tiles’ origin also paid homage to the station’s namesake.

Following RenCen station’s demolition and reopening in 2004, Woodman was once again commissioned to create a new work that would replace the original. By that time, high-quality hexagonal tiles were no longer available, and the reconstructed station’s low ceiling and tighter proportions could not have accommodated the dynamism of the hexagonal pattern. In response, Woodman developed a new composition using 8x8 inch tiles, whose coloring and modular pattern evoked the earlier work but stood as a “legitimate descendant” of the original piece. Notably, about one in every ten tiles is a solid block of color—the artist was inspired by the repurposing of leftover tiles in Naples and India, likening these to rests in music.

Woodman remarked: “I like the idea of a work of art you pass through… You go by it and gather something and every time you go by it, you see something different.” His tile murals are designed for motion: grasped in passing, seen from shifting angles, and rewarding even in fragments. Their deliberate redundancy—repeated patterns that fit and don’t fit together—brings a cinematic experience to the viewer, where each momentary glance reveals a different fragment of the whole.