Hello Beaconers....

This is Doxie from D-troit.....i am writing to tell you about a pretty kick ass project in Detroit. David Best will be here in about a week to help us build a Temple...in one of the worst neighborhoods in Detroit that has found long and hard to become sustainable. (www.youtube.com/watch We are very proud to be working along with them.

Along with some friends of mine we started a Non-profit, SPARC (Society to Promotion of Art & Recreation in the Community), and have teamed up with Motor City Blight Busters and BRAF (Black Rock Arts Foundation) to construct a piece of functional public art with David...NO this Temple will not be burnt! (at least not by us!)

here is some info on it....


Groundbreaking for the “Detroit Dream Project”

Two grass-roots organizations from Detroit and one from San Francisco broke ground in Northwest Detroit on May 10th for a project, which will culminate in a large-scale art installation in June of this year. The Temple of the American Dream, designed by sculptor David Best, will serve as a testament to the positive impact of public art resulting from community collaborations.

NORTHWEST DETROIT. Over the next month, The Society to Promote Art and Recreation in the Community (SPARC) and Motor City Blight Busters, both local Detroit organizations, will work with renowned San Francisco sculptor David Best to transform an empty space in the Brightmoor neighborhood, known as Peace Park, into a unique community setting. The centerpiece of the park will be an ornate pavilion called The Temple of the American Dream.

Groundbreaking began Saturday, May 10th after a year-long grass roots fundraising and planning effort by local volunteers from both organizations. They began working with Best to design the pavilion in the hopes of demonstrating to other local groups how community organizations can work together to create civic spaces in neighborhoods that lack them.

SPARC, a burgeoning non-profit arts organization whose members have experience with large-scale art installations at various events in the city of Detroit and across the country is providing management and technical expertise to the project. They have teamed up with the Motor City Blight Busters, who donated the land for the project, located in the vicinity of Lahser and Grand River Avenue. David Best, in addition to his nationally acclaimed sculptural work, is a member of The Black Rock Arts Foundation (BRAF), a San Francisco-based organization with a mission to promote civic participation through the installation of public, interactive art projects. BRAF has contributed to the project's planning, funding and design.

Best and volunteers will assemble the structure in one weeks time to be completed in time for 20th year anniversary celebration of Motor City Blight Busters, headed by John George, who have worked to turn despair-wrought neighborhoods into a vibrant, clean and well-organized community.

The collaborators hope their efforts will stimulate more civic-mindedness, economic growth and recovery as well as create a model for collaborations in other communities whose members hope to achieve similar results.

Website: www.detroitdreamproject.org
Myspace.com/detroitdream


If you any questions I can be reached at 313.608.4580

Hope to see some of you in the dust very soon!!!

Danielle Kaltz
aka.... ~doxie