Follow-Up

Photo Follow-up
Just wanted to share an updated picture of 2126 Pierce, the renovated cinder block house from my recent post. I happened to be driving by earlier today, and thought I would snap a quick photo. I admit the shadow from the tree is a little distracting, but there wasn't much I could do about that. At any rate, you get a more recent photo and another look at an interesting home in Detroit.  :)

2126 Pierce Detroit

Artistic House Renovation

Note: DetroitVideoDaily visited this house in the fall of 2015. All information is correct from that time. I'm unsure if the plans are still in progress.

House
Most house renovation projects go unnoticed in Detroit, unless it happens to be a house made from cinder blocks. This particular house just east of Eastern Market off of St. Aubin street is no stranger to long time DVD fans as it showed up a while back in one of the Street Art Rolls. Mrs. DVD happened to be driving by it one day and promptly called me with the message, "ya gotta come see that house."  Coincidentally, we had driven by it the previous weekend, and it always sparks some discussion when we do. So I made my way over and was pleasantly surprised to meet with a man named Jason from 2126 Pierce who is renovating what will surely be an incredible bed and breakfast.

History
Apparently the house was originally built by some Cranbrook art students as a class project. Here is a link an article that has some details. I believe that someone lived there for awhile, but at some point it was unoccupied, and it fell into disrepair. I'm not sure if there were plans to build more of the cinder block houses, or if this was always meant to be just a one and done type of project. I do know that over time many graffiti artists would paint on the outside walls, and this would always catch my attention.

Air BnB
The plans are for the house to be an air bnb, and the renovations are striving to make that happen. The outside of the house now has a fantastic mural that was part of the Eastern Market's Murals in the Market festival. There is more information about the future of the house on the 2126 Pierce Facebook page.

Slideshow

Photos from fall 2015.

What the Heck Happened Here?!

Before...
Not sure what the heck happened here at the site of some pretty cool street art in Detroit. This creative rendition of a lion/tiger (a commenter on my Instagram account said it's a liger) was on a wall near the Honey Bee - La Colmena market in southwest Detroit. Other paintings of this cat can be seen in multiple locations in the city (watch for a future post here on DVD that will show you some of them.)

A cool cat

After...
I was at the Honey Bee the other day, and here is what the wall looks like now.

Street art missing!

Theft? or Trashed?
Could someone have dismantled the street art and moved it to another location a la the Banksy? Or is it a case of the owner of the wall not liking street art and tearing it down? As we know not everyone appreciates street art, if you remember back to this unfortunate incident or this one or even this one.

Well?
So the question remains, what the heck happened here? (Outside of the obvious, the wall was torn down.) I guess my question is really, why did this happen?

Maybe you know the answer. If you do, please share and leave a comment. Otherwise this may remain a mystery! 

Banksy in Detroit

Controversy
The international graffiti artist known as Banksy at some point painted a boy on a wall in the abandoned Packard Plant. In 2010 a few guys from the 555 Gallery removed it and put it in their gallery. This of course caused a commotion in the art world regarding issues of ownership and viewing street art in the context of where it was created. The Metro Times had a story about this and even covered talk that Banksy himself didn't create the artwork. To see a photo of the Banksy in the Packard Plant surroundings click here. The artwork was in the news recently because the 555 Gallery is considering selling the piece to raise needed funds for the gallery.

Photos
Regardless of how you feel about the controversial piece of art, I have a couple of photos I snapped when I visited 555 that I want to share with you. My favorite is the second one. (And, yes that's Gordie Howe on the wall.)

Banksy painting in the 555 Gallery

Different perspective

Should the Banksy have been left in the Packard Plant? What do you think? Leave a comment and let me know.

Photos from the DVD Vault

Martin Luther King Blvd. and Second Avenue

While browsing through the digital art library at Detroit Video Daily headquarters, I came across a set of photos taken in the summer of 2012!

I'm not sure why they never made it onto this blog, but now is the time to correct that. So without further adieu, here's some cool graffiti art located at, you guessed it MLK Blvd. and 2nd Avenue in Detroit. 

At the corner

Walking

Bright and colorful

Interesting lines

At the end of the building

The mural from across the street

Reminder: click on the images to enlarge.

A 10 Second Blast

Color
A short and sweet video. Just a simple blast of color from a mural in SW Detroit. Put this one away and take out when one of those cold, gray days comes to Detroit this winter. Celebrate summer while you can!

Video

MBAD African Bead Museum

Art 

If you've ever driven along I-96 East heading downtown you may have noticed a building off to the
side of the expressway covered in mirrors. It's a curious covered structure to say the least, and it's part of the art you'll find at the MBAD African Bead Museum. There is a fascinating art installation that's on the grounds next to the museum located on Grand River near W. Grand Blvd. 

Dabls

The artist behind the creations is Olayami Dabls. Detroit Video Daily finally stopped by for a visit after passing the exhibit numerous times, and Dabls (as he introduced himself to me) is very personable, and he spoke with me about his gallery of African beads, and the art that he's created. To read more about this great artist and Detroit's jewel of a museum check out www.mbad.org.

Photos

The following Flickr slide show is just a sampling of the art on the grounds. I didn't take any photos of the bead gallery, and I strongly recommend that you visit the gallery because the beads there are simply beautiful. The video focuses on the sculptures, and when you visit the museum you'll want to check out the buildings that are nearby. Trust me they are incredible.

The slide show uses Flash and is not available for IOS devices

Video

Street Art Roll Number 3

More Art

Sifting through the digital archives I realized there were yet more street art photos that needed to be released from the vault, so here it is Street Art Roll 3! In case you missed the previous rolls here's the links to number 1 and number 2. First up is a colorful mural on East Jefferson.

Former Crown Cleaners

Graffiti House

On St. Aubin street

Fort Street

Over on the Southwest side of Detroit on Fort Street there is a unique mural on one of the businesses. Here it is.

Parental Discretion is Advised

Smelly

It's not always pleasant, and sometimes it's stinky. Just in case you didn't know here's a reminder.

eeeewww!

Eastern Market

This photo is actually from just outside of Eastern Market. There is some great artwork over there that I believe went up last summer. This photo was snapped from my car waiting at a light. Dirty snow and all. 

Click to enlarge

Gone to the Dogs

This bulldog is at the end of Iron Street, where one of Detroit Video Daily's early videos was shot. Don't bother searching for it, here's the link.

grrrrrr

Girl Power

This gem is straight to the point with its message.

Not too far from Eastern Market

Next Time

That rounds out Street Art Roll 3. Since art is everywhere in Detroit, you can be sure there'll be another roll in the future. 

The Street Art Roll Returns

Art

With all the interesting street art in the city I thought it was time to put together Detroit Video Daily Street Art Roll #2. Oh, and in case you missed the first art roll, here's the link.  

First Up

It may be Detroit's coolest garage. The garage behind Charlie's Bar in Springwells Village is one that catches your eye for sure.

Sports and pool

Hacienda Mural

This is flat out one of the best murals in Detroit. Located in southwest Detroit on West Vernor near Dragoon the mural is on the side of Hacienda Mexican Foods.

Great Mural!

Around the Corner

Yup, all you need to do is look on the other side of the above building and you'll find this fantastic piece of art. This is the view from the parking lot of E and L Supermercado a great place to buy groceries when you're in southwest Detroit.

Beautiful colors

Heading East

On the side of the Matrix Theatre in Mexicantown is this whimsical (yes, DVD used the word whimsical in a blog post) girl blowing on a flower.

Vibrant color

Heading North

Traveling north into the Corktown neighborhood on Michigan Avenue, not far from where Tiger Stadium used to be, is this artwork of former Tiger manager Sparky Anderson and the best baseball announcer in the history of the game, Ernie Harwell.

Two greats from Tiger baseball

Corktown

And in the Corktown neighborhood there's a nice mural at the Mercury bar that's worth a look.

Nice landscaping too.

Still Going

The DVD Street Art Roll continues with a trip back down to Springwells Village and the following mural on a curve.  

Slow down on this curve

The Southwest Urban Arts Mural Project brings us the next mural also in Springwells Village.

Beautiful message too.

There's More?

Yes, there is. But the art will have to stay in the digital warehouse until the next Street Art Roll... 

Reflection

Art

Art on the Wayne State campus

I finished my fall semester class at Wayne State University in Detroit, and as I was leaving the School of Education Building the sound of gurgling water and an odd pumping noise caught my attention. I stopped, and it was the sculpture titled Reflection. The noise was the water pumping through the unique bronze piece of art. 

A Pause

Closer inspection of the name plate revealed that Joseph Pozcinski created the sculpture and that it was a gift to the College of Education. It is aptly titled because "reflect" is exactly what I did for several minutes before deciding to shoot a video using the camera on my phone. I don't know if it was the relief of finishing the class, the quiet of the empty building or a combination of both, but it was nice to simply look at the water bubble up through the artwork.

Torch Lights Up the Night

United Way Torch

The United Way Torch burning brightly

Driving through downtown the fiery torch caught my eye. I didn't have time to stop, but after I finished my business for the evening I stopped by and shot this video. I thought at first that it was part of the downtown Christmas light display, but later when I looked up the torch online I discovered that it was lit this past September for the first time in five years. The torch was lit to draw attention to the current United Way campaign, and will stay lit until the end of the year when the fundraising campaign ends.

The Sculpture

Dario Bonucchi sculpted the abstract piece out of steel and aluminum, and the torch was dedicated in 1969. It sits in the median at Woodward and Jefferson right across from the Spirit of Detroit statue.

Dlectricity - Light Festival

Lights On in the D 

Side of building by MOCAD

A mix of lights, art, and music kept Midtown humming late into the night this past Friday and Saturday nights. The first ever Dlelectricity was the reason, and the event had over 35 art projects. Variety was definitely the key, and there were displays both indoors and out at numerous locations.

Saturday Night

Detroit Video Daily began with an espresso from Great Lakes Coffee shop in order to warm up and fuel the trek up Woodward. Joined by Mrs. DVD, we walked toward the DIA stopping at numerous points along the way.

Highlights

The following video is a collection of some of the outdoor light inspired events we came across. I'm not sure if this was a one time event, or if it will return next year. For those of you that didn't get a chance to go, let's hope there is another because it was a great time in Detroit.

Did you go to Dlectricity? What was your favorite part?

The Virgin of Guadalupe in Southwest Detroit

The Virgin Mary

When traveling through Southwest Detroit, home to a large Latino population, you will inevitably come across paintings of the Virgin Mary. Quite often the representation you'll see is of the Virgin of Guadalupe (Our Lady of Guadalupe). To read her story click on this wikipedia link. She is the patron saint of Mexico, and the image is quite popular in stores and other locations.

Photos

The following is photo tour of some of my favorite images of La Virgen de Guadalupe that I've seen in my travels. The first photo in the series is a closeup and is followed with a longer shot to give some perspective of where the image is.

Faith

Regardless of your faith the images have cultural significance and add beauty to the neighborhoods. One of the photos isn't a painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe, but it's still nice, so don't get technical just enjoy!

Virgin Mary

The sign at the West Vernor Market

Representation of the Virgin of Guadalupe

She is part of a larger mural

Classic bathtub Virgin Mary statue

Front of El Kiosko

At a vacant store

Former dollar store

Close up of religious store

A place where one would expect to see the Virgin of Guadalupe

Virgin of Guadalupe painting between storefronts

The stores are on W. Vernor

La Virgen de Guadalupe with graffiti

Virgin of Guadalupe in Detroit

The last two images are not the first time this painting of the Virgin Mary appeared in Detroit Video Daily. Check out this previous post to read about the photo. Note how the rest of the wall has changed.

What other spots in Southwest Detroit have paintings that I should check out? Leave a comment and let me know!

Eat Local Food

Murals

I don't have much information on this great mural project on East Jefferson other than it's unique. The installation is at the corner of Lakewood and E. Jefferson, and the garden and the murals offer a nice break from the busyness of the street.

If you click on the photos below, you'll get a better view of the art.

Creativity with a message!

Art and flowers = nice

So what do you think? Sure beats a vacant lot in my opinion.