First Annual Seminole Street Artist's Colony and Exhibition

So, at yoga class this morning, I had an idea.

This summer it'd be cool to see the Seminole house brimming with creativity. Friends who'd like to join can help fulfill my father's dream of offering the house up as an artist's residence.

The thing about the house is, it can cast a kind of narcotic spell on the creatively inclined. Some rooms are polished and furnished and ready for movie watching and brunch. Others are missing chunks of themselves, with puffy pink stuff coming out of places, tiles in need of white gunk, patios in need of a French floral paint job-- and the third floor could use, in one place in particular, a floor. The master bedroom, the place where we could hold an exhibition-- what my dad has always referred to as 'the gallery'-- needs a good sweep and sanding but already has track lighting installed. It would be cool to tile one wall like it was the Paris Metro, I think.

What it also is, is a symbol: a microcosm of the city itself.

The house gives me the same feeling that industrial areas do, that unfinished air of potential that makes you hungry to create. You know that feeling? There's just this buzz in the air that makes you want to get out your camera or pencil or start a dark room and lose yourself for days.

So, I was thinking, if a friend or friend of a friend wants to come but isn't sure what that would look like, they can picture this: a stately old house that's like living inside a grandiose but half-realized idea; jazz, blues, Patti Smith, Anita Baker-- some kind of good music playing all the time; planting a garden with tomatoes and basil; periodic trips to Eastern market; family style dinners; yoga; painting parties; waking up early to have green tea and sit by yourself looking out the window; entire days spent writing a short story or taking pictures; filming interviews or leaves or feet. Trips to Canada and Belle Isle. And, you fill in the blank...

Then, maybe meet up with artists in the area, filmmakers, whatever, and plan a big creative party/ exhibit/ gallery opening and put our art on the walls.

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What I'm thinking, too, is this: our house is only so big. Even a party could only hold so many people. If I don't know you but you are interested in this idea, maybe try to put something together with your community as well... if you aren't in Detroit, have an arty event in honor of Detroit-- put up pictures of Detroit on your living room wall, have books about the city on your coffee table, and play some Motown. If you are in Detroit, maybe we could all try to do something around the same time: have art exhibitions in our houses and document them through blogs. We could even try to have them around the same time, as a series of festivals, of first Friday art happenings to go along with all the other summer events that Detroit hosts. It'll be like the thousand concerts that take place on Summer Solstice in Paris. We can electrify the city with summertime music, art and creativity and take pictures. A way to show Detroit differently, one event at a time.