Power Meets the Arts in Detroit

[marmar]

from the Next American City blog:



Power Meets the Arts in Detroit
Joann Plockova | Jun 24th, 2011 |


In “Michigan: Detroit in Decline” - an article written by TIME magazine in 1961, which sadly remains relevant today, the words of Henry Ford II resonate strongly in relationship to a Detroit-based non-profit: “Detroit admittedly has its problems – intelligent citizen interest and action can solve them. As I see it, the vital need now is for the people themselves to become interested in the community and government, and to take an active part in their affairs.”

Exemplifying ‘intelligent citizen interest and action’, Power House Productions (PHP) is working to help stabilize and revitalize their city – specifically in a Detroit neighborhood near Hamtramck - through the arts and other cultural endeavors.

Formed in 2009, PHP is run by architect and artist couple, Gina Reichert and Mitch Cope, and is a result of their own Power House project, which began back in 2008. Their work soon grew beyond one house to a point where, as is written on the PHP website, “it was necessary to establish a more structured organization”.


The Power House, a formerly foreclosed drug house purchased for $1900 in 2008 was how it all begin for Detroit-based Power House Productions | © Mitch Cope

The Power House is named for its ability to power itself through the generation of its own electricity and heat | © Mitch Cope

Located just around the corner from their residence, the Power House was a formerly foreclosed drug house that Reichert and Cope purchased for $1900. The home was one amongst several of a new crop of vacancies, as Reichert put it, that the couple took note of one year after the purchase of their residence in 2005. This, along with an arson, changed the feel of the neighborhood for them and pushed them to take action. “We started to be more active out of necessity,” said Reichert. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://americancity.org/buzz/entry/3037/