Saving Detroit creatively

TIME magazine has a great story this week about Detroit trying to reimagine itself as a smaller, greener city with gardens and urban farming where dense neighborhoods used to be before the auto industry started dwindling decades ago.

Those interested in the revitalization of post-industrial cities, especially in the U. S. Rust Belt, should read the part about scores of artists taking over the Russell Industrial Center’s one million square feet of  vacant, decaying space and starting to give the structure new life.  It’s another vivid example of the power artists have to redevelop troubled communities if they’re encouraged to take over abandoned buildings, generate economic activity and fuel community spirit.

For more information and stories about the role of artists and other creative people as urban rescuers, read the executive summary of From Rust Belt to Artist Belt, a white paper issued by Cleveland’s Community Partnership for Arts and Culture following its May 14, 2008 symposium of the same name, which drew experts in arts and community development from around the nation. For the full report, go to www.cpacbiz.org.

Detroit’s Russell Industrial Center