Detroit's 'Artist Village' is a creative haven for city

For those in the Old Redford neighborhood, there's an oasis of creativity to be found at the "Artist Village."

Excerpt:

Motor City Blight Busters founder John George spits out the mission statement "revitalize, repopulate and stabilize" as if it's one word, he's said it so many times to anyone who will listen. He really seems to believe his catch phrase that the Blight Busters is saving the world one neighborhood at a time -- starting with Detroit.

For the past 21years, we've seen the examples of his volunteer force dismantling rotting houses and fixing up others and making them habitable again.

But there's another facet of Blight Busters we don't hear so much about. It's called Artist Village.

George, his partner Alicia Marion and art director Chazz Miller believe it takes more than sturdy walls to make a home, and more than a couple blocks of stable houses to make a neighborhood. A neighborhood needs a soul. And that's why they started Artist Village: to give the Old Redford neighborhood on Detroit's west side a sense of community and shared purpose. The idea is, it could give folks the feeling that together they can make their corner of the city look better with art, and function better with the small businesses that art could spawn.

Read the entire article here.
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