I am really excited to announce a huge project we are undertaking with the folks at the Goergia Street Community Garden. The basics: With all proceeds from the screening of After the Factory on March 22 at the Main Art Theatre in Royal Oak, we are initiating a neighborhood project on a vacant lot at the Georgia Street Community Garden. We want to use the film as a tool to create real growth and to go beyond just talking about the good things happening. We want it to be a crucial part of the movement, too.

So, a neighborhood project? We are building a remote control race car track (this photo more or less conveys what that means). There I said it. I couldn’t help it. But wait, a remote control race car track? Let me explain.

The idea is to create an attraction, something that kids are curious about and want to take part in. After all, there are no remote control race car tracks in the city of Detroit, so it will also be something very unique to them and their neighborhood. Once the track is constructed, kids will have a variety of ways in which they can earn car time– they can volunteer in the GSCC media center, they could help tutor a fellow neighbor with their math homework, they could volunteer with Mark in the garden, take part in the up and coming youth garden market, or a variety of other things. But the point is this: once they have put a little work in, they are rewarded with some good old fashioned fun at the track where they can race cars and have a good time on space that was previously derelict. But it goes significantly further than that. With enough interest we can run classes that show kids how to build their own car, and perhaps some become interested in circuitry, engineering or product design. Then the universities step in to help make that vision possible with some partial or full scholarships. But here’s the main point: we’re taking dirt, a vacant lot, some extra materials and creating a very unique form of community engagement that is easily scaled up and emulated by others.

So! Who is WE? Well, obviously Mark Covington and the folks in the vicinity of Georgia Street Community Garden, then us here at DL!, but we’re looping in Patrick Thompson from Patrick Thompson Design to help really steer an innovative design process that involves kids and neighbors at the front end of designing this thing (learn about Patrick in a recent short film we did on him here).

Last item: We really need your help. Please buy your tickets for the screening on March 22 and support this endeavor. The more people that come, the closer we get to reaching our mark of raising at least $3,000 for this effort. If you cannot come to the screening, please tell your friends to come through Facebook and Twitter. Next, we will need some volunteers when we get to cleaning off the lot in April. So, get ready, we think this is going to be a really exciting forward movement for the folks on Georgia Street, but hopefully pave the way to creatively thinking about some new forms of neighborhood engagement. Onward.

Five things you can do from your desk chair on this wonderfully magnificent rainy Monday:

1) Vote for Mark Covington in the Energizer Keep Going Hall of Fame. Do that here. You can vote every day, and I would highly reccomend you incorporate it in to your daily routine. Not familiar with Mark’s work? Well, have a looksy.

2) Pledge some money for the latest DL! documentary film in Poland and Detroit on Kickstarter here. Be a part of creating some trans-Atlantic dialogue about reviving post-industrial cities, an issue that is very important. Every dollar counts people, and we really do need your help. Plus, you can get some cool stuff for throwing money in the bucket— DL! shirts, DVD’s, prints, VIP tickets, all kinds of stuff. Come to think of it, it’d be just downright magnificant if you posted something in your social networks to assist in the effort. Just sayin’–

3) Send an email to a friend that is coming to visit you soon in Detroit about having them consider the new hostel as their launch pad instead of your couch. That is, assuming you don’t have a guest room. Book that comfy bed here.

4) Listen to this soul gem coming straight from soul-laden Detroit in the 70s. Masterpiece’s “Love Affair.” Sure to put a punch in any grooveless soggy Monday. Guaranteeeeeeed.

5) Head on over to Noah Stephen’s Flickr account and look at the portrait series he is doing titled “The People of Detroit.” Not only are the photos engaging, but it’s a sweet little picture show of all kinds of walking goodness in Detroit.

You’ve seen Mark Covington before, perhaps in the DL! film “The Farmer and the Philosopher” (watch). He’s a big, burly fella with hands and calves the size of an oak sapling, a heart of gold and a laugh that can shake the room. He runs the show at Georgia Street Community Collective, an organization committed to re-building his neighborhood– one house and block at a time. The organization provides health services through education on the merits of fresh food and produce from the garden that serves as the epicenter of their efforts at Vinton and Georgia Street. They teach kids in the area leadership skills and provide workshops and fun things to do all the time. Mark, through his own efforts, is giving people in that neighborhood someone to look up to, an example to follow. They are even building a community center that will house a media lab and place where kids can congregate for all kinds of activities. No doubt, they are making tracks.

GSCC is currently looking for a qualified grant writer to prepare grants and provide assistance finding new opportunities that would help push their programs forward. The organization has not pursued grants aggressively in the past, so there is some serious opportunity to make a difference here.

Qualified applicants can mail a simple statement of purpose along with a list of organizations and successful grants written. Please also attach a resume and mail to talk@detroitlives.org.

Let this be the friendly reminder about Georgia Street Community Collective’s 3rd Annual Super Bowl Party fundraiser. That’s right. Tonight is the night, and a $12 ticket gets you all kinds of food and beer, plus the peace of mind knowing that you are helping a neighborhood collective financially to do things like provide programming for kids in the neighborhood and continue to renovate their community center that is still a work in progress. For more info on GSCC and their work in the neighborhood, check out the DL! film “The Farmer and the Philosopher.”

Doors are at 5pm, admission at the door is $15 or just email Mark and get a $12 advance ticket. Or, check out the Facebook event page.

9352 Georgia Street
Detroit, Michigan
(313) 452-0684

So now that we know the Steelers are playing the Packers for the Super Bowl, it’s time to make plans for the right kind of party, and Mark Covington saves the day. Normally, you go to a Super Bowl party and just eat a lot and watch the commercials. With Mark’s party at the Georgia Street Community Collective’s new community center, you can eat a lot, watch commercials, drink beer AND benefit a pretty awesome neighborhood organization. That’s right. Tickets are $12 in advance and can be purchased by emailing your RSVP to georgiast313@yahoo.com.

The Georgia Street Community Collective started a couple years ago with the intention of rebuilding and sustaining the neighborhood by providing residents health, education, leadership skills and protection. All proceeds from the Super Bowl party benefit the collective which will assist with a lot of things– finishing construction on the community center, events and classes for the kids in the neighborhood and with supplying things like clothing and school supplies throughout the year. For more information, check out their website.

As you may recall, last week I revealed the details of DL!’s involvement in the East London Design Show with a limited edition print of the Speaker Stack design printed through EAST END PRINTS. In anticipation of all that coolness, I am guest blogging on a site called THECUBE London– essentially a business incubator in London with shared workspace and resources ala TechTown or the Detroit Creative Corridor Center locally. Anyway, the first blog discussed how I got this whole DETROIT LIVES! thing going and where I see it in the future. Today, a new piece was posted on the site discussing what enterprise means in Detroit and how it is all embodied in the phrase “MAKE IT HAPPEN.”

In the post, I talk about Mark Covington over at Georgia Street Community Garden, Chazz Miller at Public Art Workz and DL! as a company developing new media that attempts to get people to live, work and play in the city. All of that conversation rolls up in to this package that once again tells a tale of opportunity in the city. Wanna do installation art? Great, we’ve got some artists you can probably collaborate with. Start a business? Perfect place for that. Create a sustainable wind farm? Plenty of space. Initiate a non-profit group? You get the point. What are you waiting for?

Anyway, see the full post here.

Paul Harris with the UK’s The Guardian came to Detroit not too long ago to produce an article on the way that urban agriculture is revitalizing and changing Detroit for the better. It was his second visit to the city and an attempt at presenting a wider view of the kind of strides farming is taking in the city. In the article he covers many folks in Detroit– Mark Covington and his Georgia Street Garden (the same guy featured in DL!’s documentary “The Farmer and the Philosopher”), beekeeper Rich Wieske with Green Toe Gardens, Taja Sevelle’s Linwood Street Urban Farm, Patrick Crouch and Earthworks Urban Farm and Mike Score with Hantz Farm. Quite a talent bill, eh? Harris weaves a fabric of hope in the article with equal parts devoted to each character. Covington tells the tale of gardens saving neighborhoods, Wieske talks about how perfect Detroit is for all sorts of agricultural endeavors, Savelle addresses the progress of the urban farming movement, Crouch discusses income potential from gardening for poor residents and Score looks at large scale commercial farming as a viable industry in Detroit. All pieces fit together nicely to display the potential of farming in this city from a variety of different angles. All of which point once again to the fact that as Detroit pushes forward re-defining itself with its signature pioneering spirit, there is a good chance other struggling cities will listen and take note. Evidence, once again, that we gotta keep pushing. Onwards.

As some of you probably know, last fall DL! finished up its first film “The Farmer and the Philosopher.” We had a cool screening event at Whitdel Arts (formerly the Ladybug Gallery), screened it with the Mitten Movie Project and even alongside Jeffrey Dechausse’s film ‘American Auto‘ for its USA premiere in Detroit. We’ve been making an honest attempt at getting it aired nationally on Current TV’s cable network (more info here on the network, it’s pretty cool). At this point, no word on an airing schedule. The film, however, has been airing on CMNtv– Comcast channel 52 and WOW channel 18– Mondays @ 6:30pm; Tuesdays @ 1pm and 9:30pm; and Saturday @ 7:30pm in the following cities: Auburn Hills, Berkley, Royal Oak, Ferndale, Huntington Woods, Pleasant Ridge, Troy, Clawson, Rochester, Rochester Hills and Oakland Township. Recently, we got the film uploaded on to YouTube and Vimeo due to some complaints about the ease of viewing on Current. So there you go, check it out if you haven’t already:

DETROIT LIVES! // The Farmer and the Philosopher from DETROIT LIVES! on Vimeo.

Urban gardening continues to provide an inspiring and positive storyline in the city whether it’s the consistent coverage the city gets or the cool projects that are sprouting up (like Jim from Sweet Juniper’s latest project at the Georgia Street Community Garden) in the city as a result. Speaking to the former, Detroit was recently featured in the Christian Science Monitor as a beacon of awesome in the urban gardening realm. The article talks about the occasionally controversial Hantz Farm, but also RecoveryPark, the lesser-known 10 year, $220 million project putting organic farms in four different struggling neighborhoods around Detroit. Quite possibly the most engaging part of the article is the fact that it exemplifies Detroit’s leadership in pushing forward an agricultural agenda in a post-industrial city. Meanwhile, other places like San Francisco are following suit, lending credence to the fact that Detroit is forging a new, innovative path for modern cities.

Alright, lots of plans with the film “The Farmer and the Philosopher” coming up. First, it will screen as part of Mitten Movie Project’s February 2 showing (at Main Art in Royal Oak). It is also going to air on Public Television for customers with WOW! and Comcast cable all throughout Southeast Michigan within a month or so. Details on specific airing times and dates will be posted when available. The film will also screen in March alongside Jeffrey Dechausse’s feature-length documentary about an honst used car salesman in Detroit called “American Auto.” And finally, last and certainly not least, the film is going up as a contender to air on the nationally broadcasted Current TV network. Please view the film here and vote it up (to vote you have to click on the link and hit the green button) so that we can make a shot at getting it on national television. I mean, hey, do it for Detroit if nothing else. Enjoy!