Detroit's 'Little Village' project transforms a neighborhood and give local artists a home

Transcript

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Geoff Bennett: Detroit has been in the headlines during this campaign season with former President Donald Trump recently comparing the city to a developing nation.

But Detroit is increasingly known for its creativity. And one couple is using the arts to turn around an entire neighborhood.

Special correspondent Megan Thompson visited Little Village to see its big plans.

It’s part of our arts and culture series, Canvas.

Delores Orr, East Village Association: We have McClellan and Kercheval, famous intersection. There was a bank right here.

Megan Thompson: Dolores Orr has lived for more than 70 years in the East Village neighborhood of Detroit.

Delores Orr: We had the drugstore on the corner, then right here, the bakery, Blue Bird Bakery. They baked all the best bread in the world. I can’t even tell you how much of a change I have seen. I have seen it rise and I have seen it fall.

Megan Thompson: So, Orr, who helps lead the local neighborhood association, was thrilled when she was approached about a big idea, the creation of a new arts district here called Little Village.

It would start with converting an empty church into an art gallery.

Delores Orr: I was excited that it’s going to be up and running again. And it’s something new to me because I haven’t visited a lot of art galleries.

Anthony Curis, Co-Founder, The Shepherd: We wanted to include exhibitions, projects, performance.

Megan Thompson: Anthony Curis, a real estate developer, first became a gallery owner in 2012 when he co-founded The Library Street Collective with his wife, J.J., a downtown Detroit art gallery with a organization of supporting social causes, local artists, and the revival of the city center.

Anthony Curis: Our programming has always had a major focus on creating change, trying to impact the community in different ways.

Megan Thompson: For their next big project, the Curises wanted to impact a neighborhood. After meeting with East Village leaders like Delores Orr, they bought the 113-year-old Good Shepherd Church and three more buildings on the lot and launched the new cultural space earlier this year.

Anthony Curis: It was really important for us to try to keep as much of the church intact as we could.

Megan Thompson: Now called The Shepherd, it’s a meeting place, performance space, and art gallery all in one. There’s an emphasis on local artists and in particular artists of color, reflecting the community that surrounds it.

Anthony Curis: Intention is huge for us. We want this to feel like a place you can come and feel not only welcome, but you feel like you have a connection to the work that’s here.

Asmaa Walton, Black Art Library: So this book is called Art in the Stations: The Detroit People Mover.

Megan Thompson: Visitors will find more than just paintings and sculpture. There’s a small library by the old confessionals curated by arts educator Asmaa Walton, the founder of a traveling collection of books called Black Art Library.

For this collection, Walton chose books on a wide range of topics.

Asmaa Walton: “Artists of Early Michigan,” “Detroit Graffiti.” This book is called “The Ultimate Art Museum.”

So I really wanted the space to feel like you can find something if you’re interested in art, no matter what that actually means.

Megan Thompson: This exploration of art continues outside, where giant sculptures designed by the late Detroit artist Charles McGee are meant to be played on.

And there’s a skate park created by artist McArthur Binion and the renowned skateboarder Tony Hawk.

Anthony Curis: You know you might be skating on the park and not even know that it’s really a sculpture. The idea was to really turn this idea of public sculpture being this very exclusive thing that’s meant to not be touched. They really wanted this to be accessible.

Megan Thompson: When other arts groups saw this transformation, they wanted to be in the neighborhood too. So Curis bought that old Blue Bird Bakery building down the street and opened a new space earlier this year called Lantern.

It’s now home to two nonprofits, one preserving traditional leather press printing, the other for artists with developmental disabilities. Upstairs, there are artists studios.

Paul Verdell, Artist: Most of these are referenced from bouquets.

Megan Thompson: Paul Verdell was living in Toledo, Ohio, when Anthony Curis offered to represent him at his downtown Detroit gallery.

Paul Verdell: He sold me on Detroit. I was trying to figure out a city to be my next move.

Megan Thompson: Since moving here three years ago, Verdell has pivoted from figurative drawings to more abstract work. He says the affordable rent and gallery support gave him the freedom to do it.

Paul Verdell: I can really just think about my creativity.

Megan Thompson: Verdell also lives close by. The Curises has have rehabbed more than 20 residential properties in the area and rent them at below-market rates, several to artists like Verdell, who says he’s seen a big change in the neighborhood since moving in.

Paul Verdell: People. There’s a lot of people.

Megan Thompson: And there will likely be even more. The Shepherd’s old rectory is now an art-filled bed and breakfast. Coming soon nearby, a cocktail bar, pastry shop and more art spaces and galleries.

And the Curises are transforming a large property on the Detroit River into Stanton Yards, a waterfront park, offices and restaurant to open in 2027, in total, more than 16 acres of green space and 17 cultural and commercial buildings across 10 city blocks.

Rochelle Riley, Director of Arts and Culture, City of Detroit: And if you build it, they will come.

Megan Thompson: Rochelle Riley is the director of arts and culture for the city of Detroit. She says Little Village is one of the largest projects of its kind the city has seen in recent years.

Rochelle Riley: We are on a mission to revitalize the city using arts as catalysts. I want people from around the country to come and see, oh, look at what they did in Detroit. We should do something like that here. But more than that, I want people here to say, oh, look what we have got here and enjoy it.

Delores Orr: We have so many people in the building here, 99 percent African Americans.

Megan Thompson: Delores Orr says the Curises have made it clear everyone is welcome to enjoy the new modern art spaces, but she believes some of the longtime lower-income residents are hesitant.

Delores Orr: To me, the art is for, I wouldn’t say the people in the neighborhood, because they don’t think that it’s for them. If it were myself and I didn’t know anything, how would I feel coming over here to see what’s going on? I don’t know if I would because I’m not in the same class, I would say.

Megan Thompson: Orr wants to help change that mind-set because she believes projects like this are making the East Village rise again.

Delores Orr: It’s as if East Village has been forgotten. And then you have Anthony and other developers that came in and said, hey, we haven’t forgot. We’re here to help.

Ay’den Curtis, Detroit: That one right there is my favorite statue.

Megan Thompson: The neighborhood kids have not hesitated to come explore; 9-year-old Ay’den Curtis and his 5-year-old sister, Demia (ph), live in that building next door. Ay’den says he likes to come over here to play and enjoy the art.

Had you ever seen art like this before?

Ay’den Curtis: No, never in my life, but now I do. I say it’s beautiful, beautiful.

Megan Thompson: When Ay’den looks up at these giant sculptures, he imagines butterflies.

Ay’den Curtis: It’s basically like when you have a butterfly and you’re just letting it go like this. That’s one thing I love about nature, butterflies. It just brings me joy. That’s what it does. It brings me joy.

Megan Thompson: For the “PBS News Hour,” I’m Megan Thompson in Detroit.

Geoff Bennett: That’s a great story.