Corktown and Mexicantown have felt the effects of the rise and fall of the Michigan Central Station. Once, it symbolized a physical divide between the two communities. Now, it exemplifies a rebirth by piecing back the community like a puzzle.
Last Saturday, April 26, Detroit Creative Society held an event titled ‘Pieces of Detroit’ to intertwine cultures across Detroit, specifically Corktown and Mexicantown, through art. Detroit Creative Society is a youth advisory group funded by Michigan Central Station and is managed by Congress of Communities.
The focal point of the event at Roosevelt Park was an art installation of four puzzle pieces depicting the cultural and historical significance of the city.
“The puzzle pieces are love, culture, family, and community. And all of it together represents Southwest Detroit,” said Maria Salinas, executive director of Congress of Communities.
The event hosted a plethora of performers, artists, caterers, and community resources. It was located at the Mexicantown Mercado on Bagley and at Roosevelt Park to encourage residents from either neighborhood to cross that threshold.
“I think a main issue, I don’t want to say it’s the core of it, but a big issue in a lot of the racial separation that we have in our country and our communities is due to a lack of exposure to different cultural backgrounds. And that’s what we plan to do here. We’re exposing people to different cultures and different ways of life, and that’s important,” said Dionna Garcia, a youth advisor with Detroit Creative Society.
Angelo Brown is a 62-year-old Southwest resident who has lived in the area most of his life and considers it home. He witnessed the rise and fall of the community, and remembers when “this area was big for making a lot of money.” His father and grandfather both worked in the major factories, but by the time he entered the workforce, “the factory had moved overseas and you know some of them went south,” said Brown
“I lived here all my life and I’ve seen the area change and I’ve seen cultures come…But I’m thankful for the ethnic communities, for Corktown, the Irish community, for Mexicantown, our Mexican community, for the Arabian area you know, and the restaurants, and just the events that go on,” said Brown.
Detroit Creative Society faces a few challenges but wishes to continue the event to highlight local artists and the community. They are hoping to find a new funding source as the current one comes to an end, and find youth committed to their community
“I feel like the only struggle is the fact that we’re so young, you know myself, I’m still in school. I go to Wayne State University. Dionna, she also goes to Wayne State University. I am studying marketing and accounting. So, it’s a little bit different from what I’m doing, but I love the community,” said Elizabeth Amezcua Tepehua, one of the three youth advisors.
Salinas, said the group originally started with 10 youth advisors and has dwindled down to three who are real movers and shakers in their community.
“We all had to tie down and you know be good with our time management and make time for something that we love,” Garcia said.
This was only the second iteration of this event, but was the first year that Detroit Creative Society was given full reign on making the decisions with support from CoC.
“We hope to be able to find more funding and be able to collaborate with different organizations and make this a bigger thing. Make this an annual event,” said Garcia.
