Detroit Research Volume 1

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empowerment), soon attracted attention and support from local residents. Kids
started coming by to help paint and plant, and the daily proceedings became a
source of conversation for adults.
In 2009, Cope and Reichert formed Power House Productions, a nonprofit , a nonprofit organization
to extend their work into the nearby neighborhood in a more comprehensive
and coordinated way. Founded in the wake of the 2008 financial meltdown, the
organization started as a defensive mechanism against the increase in crime and
vandalism that plagued the already blighted neighborhood. Power House Productions
facilitated the acquisition of eight more houses and three empty lots in the
neighborhood. Five of those properties are currently undergoing rehabilitation for
use as primary residences. There are community gardens, neighborhood cleanups,
and neighborhood watch programs in effect. The San Francisco-based magazine
Juxtapoz also partnered with Power House Productions on a multiple-location
art-installation project. Future plans call for a neighborhood bike shop (Detroit has
become a major bike city) and a series of artists’ residencies and workshops.
Related projects have now followed. The University of Michigan School of Architecture
sponsored five graduate fellowships in 2009-2010 to conduct design
research, purchasing houses in the neighborhood to allow them to work at full
scale. Chicago-based artists Sarah Wagner and Jon Brumit moved in and formed
the project DFLUX Research Studio to explore the possibilities of emergent
creative cottage industries, famously purchasing a house for $100 in which to
conduct their activities. The artist Graem Whyte (himself co-director of another
nearby artists’ enterprise Popps Packing) is working on the Squash House project
(2012-present), a site-specific interaction space focusing on play and gardening
as the primary mechanisms for community building. Like the Power House,
it will be energy self-sufficient and use recycled materials wherever possible.
Power House Productions recently received a $250,000 grant from ArtPlace
to convert three vacant houses in the neighborhood into sites for art and community
engagement. The piece of the overall project that seems to have the
most immediate effect is Skate House, which is part of the Ride It Sculpture
Park (2012-present). When completed, Skate House will feature an indoor
skateboarding track and residence for visiting skateboarders and artists.
Ride It Sculpture Park is situated on four adjacent vacant commercial lots at
the terminus of the Davison Freeway, the nation’s first below-grade limited access
urban highway, opened in 1942 to service nearby defense manufacturers
during WWII when Detroit was known as the “Arsenal of Democracy.” The project
is a collaboration of skateboard enthusiasts and artists in the area as well
as nationally. Design 99 and artist Brumit are the principal park design team
and video artists. Other collaborators include skateboard accessories providers
Emerica and Independent Truck Company, media outlets Thrasher, Slap, and