MorningSide Mural Project
With a lot of creativity, sweat equity, and a few modest grants, artists and residents of MorningSide are transforming boarded up homes in their community into works of art this summer.
The MorningSide Mural Project is one aspect of the Detroit Vacant Property Campaign, a project sponsored by Community Legal Resources, which focuses on the growing problem of blight in a community burdened by record numbers of foreclosures. Other funders of the Mural Project include the Colin Hubbell Memorial Fund and CEM Business Association.
Volunteers design and paint murals on plywood which are then attached to the doors and windows of houses that have already been boarded up. Artists are asked to consider what they would want to see inside if those homes were still occupied, and the answers so far have been colorful, varied, and sometimes whimsical, including children playing, dogs, cats, birds, and plants.
"This whole experience has been great fun so far," says Susan Newell, a long-time MorningSide resident and an organizer of the Mural Project. "We think it probably helps to protect the houses from vandalism too. We have some wonderful local artists in our own neighborhood, but we can always use more. It's a great opportunity to create some beauty and hope in a community facing hard times."
For more information on how you can get involved in the MorningSide Mural Project, call 313-587-5484.
