I try hard not to prejudge
cities or countries before traveling there. I have been to
Detroit many times but not since it's spectacular collapse
and I couldn't help wondering what I'd find, especially
since the media are pretty harsh with most reports.
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Anne
Jenkins sketch Boarding Frontier Airlines flight to
Detroit |
At that time I was there a
conference, aptly titled Works in Progress, by the National
Main Street program was held there. The Main Street program
focuses on downtown revitalization around the country and
the conference highlighted the efforts to rebuild by the
city. Detroit
easily is a poster child for this. It struggles with bad
press and high optimism, youthful energy and cautious
efforts, blight and resurgence, renewal and fear of
gentrification, gain and loss. It's a prime example for what
a place can endure.
Detroit hit rock bottom
recently as the biggest bankrupt city in the USA.. Once an
economic power house, a rich productive city of automobile
builders par excellence and a city that collected art, it
fell very hard causing much pain to it's solid citizens.
Only bad news of crime and poverty with startling images of
a housing blight equal to a war zone oozed out to the rest
of the world.
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The
Eastern Market area with old market stall building |
Yet young artists are flocking
to the city, buying up housing at very low rates to fix them
up as homes and studios. They are contributing to the city's
resurgence with a vibrant creative edge.
The area around the Eastern
Market is fascinating in part for the marvelous old
buildings and in part for the empty spaces patiently waiting
to rebound. Some businesses have operated there for over 35
years, others are brand new and some buildings await
revival. The potential is obvious for some buildings, others
just aren't going to make it. Without a doubt it is a work
is progress.
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Anne
Jenkins sketch of a row of Easter Market top floors |
The melting pot of cultures is
very evident in the cuisines offered. A rich diverse legacy
of European, Asian and African traditions in food abound and
the Eastern Market hosts a good many establishments to get
good food whether restaurants or speciality shops. If you
like mussels, be sure to have a meal at Vivio's. I
personally thought the jerk mussels with coconut has a sauce
divine and regulars at the bar couldn't say enough good
things about all their other wonderful recipes for mussels.
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Vivio's Restaurant's bar in the Eastern Market is a
good place to eat mussels |
The heart of downtown is flush
with upscale hotels, restaurants and a river walk lined with
trees. Nearby in Midtown, one of the resurgent neighborhoods
is the Cass Corridor. A hip bohemian enclave round the
university.
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Relaxing outside a local store in the Cass Corridor
signals a resurgent neighborhood |
It is a hive of activity with
lots of people riding around on bikes. There is an energy to
the place with a lively restaurant scene. Thai cuisine rubs
shoulders with the young entrepreneurs at La Feria, a small
but excellent Spanish tapas restaurant, just a block or so
from an independent book store.
Detroit wants to get the word
out...it went down hard, yes, but it's edging back up the
economic ladder and rebuilding as it goes. The optimistic
buzz is noticeable to the visitor.
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One of the hall ceilings in the Detroit Institute of
Art
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And more good news just came
in. It looks as though the magnificent collection at the
Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) will not be sold. If all
goes well, it will be preserved and stay right where it is
at home...in Detroit.
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Detail of one of the Deigo Rivera massive and
intricate murals
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About the only thing I ever
heard about the DIA was the Diego Rivera murals, his huge,
intricate and intriguing ode to the working man commissioned
by Edsel Ford, son of Henry Ford. What I didn't realize was
the wealth and depth of it's entire collection and it's
proud history as the first American museum to purchase a Van
Gogh. It's bursting at the seams with Degas, Matisse, Monet,
Warhol, Rembrandt, Picasso, ancient Greek and Roman works
and artifacts of Asian statues or Egyptian mummies and some
breathtaking modern American pieces like Romare Beardon's
mosiac, Quilting Time, done a couple of years before his
death.
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Quilting Time by Romare Bearden American 1914-88
fabric & Mixed media in Detroit Institute
of Art, it is very big and impressive.
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Oh! and those two Rivera
murals? Absolutely astounding in size, scale and imagery and
more impressive than I'd ever thought possible. The only
problem I had with the DIA was not the DIA... it was time, I
didn't have enough time there.
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Another close up of the Diego Rivera mural in
Detroit Institute of Art featuring Henry Ford
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Just around the corner from
the DIA is the Charles Wright Museum of African American
History. The main exhibit,
And Still We Rise, is a powerful and emotional walk
through the history of African Americans with the emphasis
on slavery. There are life size diorama through about 20
galleries. Every school child should visit this exhibit. It
is hard to experience but it must be done. It is so
difficult to walk on board a slave ship or watch people
branding another human being. The exhibit is horrifying,
educational and uplifting as at it's end shows President
Obama's election, a testament to how far we have come but is a
reminder we still have a ways to go. No photography is
allowed inside, you need to see the exhibit in person.
Before I went I had low
expectations of the place but Detroit surprised and
delighted. There is much to enjoy and explore. It is well
worth the visit and I hope next time I visit it will be even
further down it's long road to recovery with as much
optimism as it has now.
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Anne Jenkins sketch of cold seafood platter in Tom's
Seafood in downtown Detroit
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And I need to go, the alluring
grand dame, the Detroit Institute of Art, has loads more for
me to explore, enjoy and discover. It beckons me back.
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Van
Gogh boating painting in Detroit Institute of Art
detail - just look at the texture |
BUSINESS INFO:
http://www.dia.org
http://thewright.org