TRAVERSE CITY, Mich., Sept. 15, 2022 – Built on the foundation of the Concours of America, the Detroit Concours d’Elegance is a celebration of the motoring spirit that has driven the tastemaking city of Detroit for more than a century. Formerly held in the nearby suburbs of Rochester Hills and later, Plymouth, Michigan, automotive lifestyle brand Hagerty recognized the opportunity to showcase automotive beauty at the Detroit Institute of Arts, a place that “connects people to art with programs, resources, and an intentionally diverse collection—among the top six in the nation with over 65,000 works.”* From there the vision grew to utilize Comerica Park and the College for Creative Studies campus– locations and institutions vital to the energy, culture and connective tissue of one of America’s great cities.

College for Creative Studies – 2022 Poster Contest
Located in midtown Detroit, the College for Creative Studies (CCS) strives to provide students with the tools needed for successful careers in the dynamic and growing creative industries. CCS plays a key role in Detroit’s cultural and educational communities, enrolling more than 1,400 students, pursuing bachelor’s and masters’ degrees in transportation design and much more. CCS offers free art education for more than 4,000 Detroit youth annually through its Community Arts Partnership, which the 2022 Detroit Concours is proud to financially support.

In 2022, the Detroit Concours worked with the College for Creative Studies to create a poster art competition for students. Transportation design student Chris (Keeyoung) Ban, class of 2023, took first prize with a stunning design featuring a fresh take on Detroit’s cultural icons. His art is prominently featured on the 2022 Detroit Concours event poster and program.

Chris (Keeyoung) Ban became excited about anything involving hands-on creation at an early age. His passion drove him to dismantle and assemble various objects around his house. Fascinated by architecture and engineering during his early school years, Ban realized that cars are just “beautifully sculpted architecture on wheels.” He fell in love with ‘60s American “land yachts”, ‘50s post-war French cars, dynamic wedges by Bertone and inspiring concept cars created by his heroes in the industry.

Additional poster contest winners and entrants’ artwork will be featured on the signage surrounding the Detroit Institute of Arts on Sunday.

Midtown Detroit Inc.
The Detroit Concours is proud to provide funding for Midtown Detroit’s mission to support and enhance community and economic development in the Midtown & New Center areas by donating to their small business support program which provides help to a wide variety of small Detroit based businesses, committed to provide at least 50% of their support to those that are women, minority and LGBTQ+ owned.

DRIVE One Detroit
DRIVE One Detroit provides Metro-Detroit area youth with vocational training in automotive technology, machining, welding, woodworking and transportation design. The nonprofit provides a career building technical education and training vocational skill sets to students grades 7-12 who are seeking pragmatic education- based options, a technology-centric school, or whose interest in technology is keen but underserved or unavailable.

DRIVE One Detroit will display the first 1974 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 with body, tag number 00001, at Saturday’s Cars & Community at Comerica Park from 9 AM to 1 PM. Nicknamed “The Executive” this former GM executive-owned car represents the time and efforts of students from five of the programs graduating classes.

Hagerty Kids Zone and Youth Judging
The Detroit Concours is committed to saving car culture for future generations, which means investing in our future drivers. Saturday’s Kids Zone at Comerica Park features hands-on family activities including designing personalized key chains and license plates, Caricatures, diecast car tracks and more. On Sunday, a group of 15 youth between the ages of 8 and 14 are guided through the concours showfield to pre-selected entrant cars. The experience allows the judges to learn details, history and fun facts about each historically significant vehicle. The winners are announced, with help from the youth judges, at the awards ceremony.

A Weekend of Car Culture in Detroit
The Detroit Concours d’Elegance is a fun-filled weekend celebration of car culture that kicks off with Cars and Community outside Comerica Park from 9 AM to 1 PM on Saturday, September 17, followed by the Motor City Party that evening at the College for Creative Studies – Taubman Center, where former General Motors Vice President of Global Design, Ed Welburn, will be the guest of honor.

On Sunday, September 18, the Detroit Concours d’Elegance will feature 15 classes of historically significant vehicles displayed on the lawns and roadways surrounding the Detroit Institute of Arts from 10 AM to 4 PM. Detroit-inspired featured classes include the Cars of Harley Earl, Detroit Autorama and the Cars of Woodward Ave.

For additional information and tickets, visit DetroitConcours.com.