Detroit is slowly and surely dragging itself back from the edge after the rockiest period in its history, but it’s not high-level Governmental measures or administrative oversight that is making the most visible improvements to the beleaguered city. Rather, it’s artistic projects such as Flower House, in which florists from Michigan and across the United States came together to prettify one of Detroit‘s many abandoned houses.
We’re not talking about a few vases of chrysanthemums either. This was a full-scale floral takeover the likes of which hasn’t been seen since the local multiplex screened a Day of the Triffids and Little Shop of Horrors double-bill. Happily, there was no plant-based menace in the air, just the sweet smell of blossoms and the old house’s faint yet poignant memories, rekindled for one last moment in the sun before the building is razed.
The Flower House art installation weekend was held to to fund the responsible demolition of the crumbling property, so that the land can eventually be re-purposed as a flower farm.
Photography, Heather Saunders
