Detroit's skyline has been running blue and green after dark for weeks. The GM Renaissance Center, Michigan Central, Huntington Place, Book Tower, Ally Detroit Center, Ford Field, Little Caesars Arena, Comerica Park, the Fox Theatre. The same two colors, building after building, night after night. It's coordinated. It means something.
May is National Neurofibromatosis Awareness Month. The light show is Detroit's piece of a global campaign called Shine a Light on NF, led nationally by the Children's Tumor Foundation, which illuminates landmarks in blue and green — the official NF awareness colors — throughout the month. WDIV covered the campaign earlier this month.
The reason it lands differently in Detroit is personal. NFX, previously NF Forward, was founded in 2017 by Dan and Jennifer Gilbert because their oldest son, Nick, was born with NF1.
Nick Gilbert became widely known when he represented the Cleveland Cavaliers at the 2011 NBA draft lottery as a 14-year-old, wearing a bow tie and dark-rimmed glasses. Cleveland landed the first overall pick that night and selected Kyrie Irving. Nick became a viral favorite, and his catchphrase, "What's not to like?", stuck alongside the bow tie. It became his symbol and, later, the symbol of the campaign.
Nick Gilbert died in May 2023 from complications of neurofibromatosis. He was 26. A stretch of downtown street now carries his name, Nick Gilbert Way, and on May 17 NFX hosted a free public event there called NF Awareness in Action. The Gilbert Family Foundation has also announced the Nick Gilbert Neurofibromatosis Research Institute — described as the world's first brick-and-mortar facility dedicated exclusively to NF — set to be located in the Henry Ford Health and Michigan State University Health Sciences Research Center, currently under construction in New Center. The Gilbert Family Foundation has committed $190 million over ten years to the institute, which is expected to open in 2027.
NF is a genetic disorder that causes tumors to grow on nerve pathways throughout the body, leading in some cases to blindness, deafness, bone abnormalities, disabling pain, and cancer. NF1, the most common form, affects roughly 1 in 3,000 people worldwide, according to NFX. There is no cure. NFX describes NF as one of the most common disorders people have never heard of, which is partly why the lights matter.
The buildings doing the work this month include Hudson's Detroit, the GM Renaissance Center, Michigan Central Station, Huntington Place, Ford Field, Book Tower, One Campus Martius, Ally Detroit Center, the Penobscot, Comerica Park, Little Caesars Arena, the Fox Theatre, the Federal Reserve Building, the First National Building, the Madison, the Press / 321 Lafayette, and the Z Lot Garage. The illuminated skyline is the visible, public-facing edge of that commitment.
The skyline campaign runs through the end of May. More information, donation options, and ways to get involved are at nfxdetroit.org. The campaign hashtag is #ShowUsYourBowtie. Wear one if you have one.
