Brightening Blight In The Motor City

Interlochen Public Radio | By Linda Stephan

Published July 21, 2011 at 12:00 AM EDT

<a href="guerraj@umich.edu ">By Emily Fox, Michigan Radio</a> See a slideshow <a href="http://www.michiganradio.org/post/revitalizing-detroit-public-art-slideshow-0" target="_blank">here</a>. Artists in Seattle and Philadelphia have been painting large murals on abandoned buildings in an effort to revitalize neighborhoods. Philadelphia for example, has around 2,000 thousand murals to help brighten up the city. Now a Detroit artist now also bringing color to the motor city. "Revitalize Detroit" It's a sunny afternoon in Detroit. Cars drive by with windows rolled down. Groups of people are chatting and laughing with one another on the sidewalk. On this particular block many of the buildings are covered with murals, some big, some small. On the side of one building are the words, "revitalize Detroit" in elaborate lettering. In addition to the paintings, colorful wood carvings of animals and butterflies line the street and hang from trees. But this area didn't always look so welcoming. "It was rough," says Chazz Miller. "I got car jacked around here in 1999." Seeing Change Miller is the guy behind Public Art Workz, a non-profit organization based in a working class neighborhood in Detroit called Old Redford. Miller's mission is to revitalize Detroit by painting murals across the city. He's only been painting here for a few years and he's already seeing a difference. "There would be so many people coming up behind you trying to sell you drugs, prostitution, it was just bad. The alleys smelled bad," he says. "Now literally at night time we have kids playing in the alley." Miller grew up in Detroit. After high school he moved away to Ohio to go to art school and work in the commercial art industry. He moved back in 2007 and says the city looked dark and grey and wanted to give it color. He started on little projects like painting homes and bathrooms, but eventually he wanted something more. Miller decided he would dedicate his time to painting murals and focused his efforts in Old Redford. Miller says art has helped this area come to life by creating a sense of pride. He says his murals have even brought in new businesses. "You want to create a place and a sense of place and that's how you start rebuilding a community with your art because now with that care people feel like, 'Okay someone's taking pride, someone cares about this neighborhood, maybe I'm willing to invest.' So now we have over five new businesses that opened up in this immediate area," he says. Unconvinced But to no surprise, not everyone in this neighborhood thinks art can save Detroit. Paul Bologna owns a barbershop just a few doors down from Miller's studio. He's been working here since the late 1950s. He says thousands of kids used to come from the suburbs to watch movies at the historic Redford Theater while their parents shopped at the many businesses that lined the street. He says that's not the case anymore. Bologna says, while he has noticed the murals, he doesn't think art can bring in revenue to the city like businesses do. "It's better than it used to be. The place looks a little cleaner, people are different than they were before but still it hasn't bring it up to where it was before. It will never be what it used to be," he says. Sense Of Hope David McCray grew up in Old Redford. He's an intern at Detroit Hope Community of Christ, a church nearby. I caught up with him after he was getting a tour of Miller's studio with other church members. He thinks Miller's murals have made a difference. "I definitely appreciate all the artwork," he says. "It's uplifting to those people who typically feel that Detroit is down, people are sad, no jobs and this and that. "These people are like, 'You know what? It's okay. Beyond all the garbage and all the downtrodden people, it's okay because we care.' And I get all of that from just seeing these murals around every now and then. So I really do appreciate it." Chazz Miller, the guy behind the paintings, says his next art project is to create a series of large murals on four and five story buildings in downtown Detroit. He wants people in the area to help out and paint what he calls "love letters to Detroit" across the city.