The American Riad
North End Woodward Community Organization is re-building a corner through art & culture, in a multi-year project of skill-shares and public art, to create a Moroccan-style Riad (a central, shared courtyard, filled with art and gardens). So far, in addition to Detroit, this has involved related activities in New York, Texas, Massachusetts, Marrakesh (Morocco), and…
Read MoreThe Alley Project
The Alley Project (TAP) is a network of places and programs along the alley developed to facilitate creative processes, positive youth-adult partnerships, and community building. TAP includes a transformed vacant corner lot into a community-designed park for informal gatherings, recreation and formal programming.  More about this project >
Read MorePenrose Market Garden
A place for individual and community activity and recreation, the design of the Garden includes a welcoming entrance, outdoor classroom space, walks and connections to the surrounding areas, a lawn/gathering/event area lined with flower beds for the market garden’s cut flowers, shade structures and seating. The form and function of the garden space connects it…
Read MoreOutdoor Theatre
Carrie Morris Arts Production (CMAP) creates and supports performance art and artistic exploration in a way that is inclusive, intimate, and community-centered. Since 2012, they’ve provided opportunities for artists who are typically underrepresented in the arts community and support artists who may not have access to other modes of funding. They strive to include residents…
Read MoreNeighborhood Exercise Loop
Central Detroit Christian created fitness-focused neighborhood pocket parks with excercise equipment and connected them with a walking path to foster healthy, active living in the Middle Woodward Corridor. The faith-based organization provides housing, workforce training, neighborhood-beautification, and youth-development services designed to bolster Central Detroit neighborhoods and empower residents.  More about this project >
Read MoreManistique Treehouse
The Community Treehouse Center will be an environmentally-friendly community education center and event space and will host year-round therapeutic and educational programming to improve the physical and mental well-being of community members, particularly the elderly and those with disabilities who are socially isolated.  More about this project >
Read MoreIntersections Park
This pocket park at the corner of Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks Boulevards was transformed through the team effort of North Corktown community members and students at Burton International School. All of the pieces in the park were chosen to honor the contribution of King and Parks to the civil rights movement and build…
Read MoreHamilton Rainscape Learning Lab
The Hamilton Rainscape emerged from community plans to address blight and stormwater issues. The location and elements of the design were selected through a community engagement process that brought together residents and the designers throughout the development of the project. Residents, ECN staff, and InSite Design Studio came together to create a beautiful open space…
Read MoreField Temple Forest Patch
Field Temple is working in their community to create a meditation space that cultivates beauty, refuge, and tranquility and is accessible to all who walk in the neighborhood. They practice Buddhist philosophy and currently hold meditations, community gatherings, and storytelling at the lot. Field Temple plans to use their grant to install the Forest Patcher…
Read MoreEzekiel Gillespie
Mayor Tom Barrett’s HOME GR/OWN Initiative, Walnut Way and the Walnut Way Housing Committee chose this site to build a new sustainable park. The site formerly consisted of 2 vacant lots and a vacant home, torn down prior to construction. The park was designed & constructed by HOME GR/OWN, UWM’s Community Design Solutions, Simon Landscaping,…
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