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Colorful murals by Jesse Kassel, 30, decorate two walls at Social Sushi restaurant on Livernois Avenue in the University District. The other is below. (Photos by Daniel Isley for Quicken Loans)
Seven Detroit artists splashed vibrant colors on a half-dozen small business exteriors this weekend, spreading street art beyond customary sites like Eastern Market, The Belt alley downtown and the corridor previously known as Cass.
In another notable change from some earlier mural projects here, all artists are Detroiters.
The new eye-grabbers, sponsored by Quicken Loans and the 1xRUN gallery on Gratiot Avenue at the eastern edge of downtown, are in Jefferson-Chalmers, University District, Rosedale Park and Springwells. (A map below the photos shows each location.)
One artist's display includes four words that could be a motto for this small business murals project: "Let's create something beautiful" says the text on Michelle Tanguay's mural at Craft Cafe on Mack Avenue in the Jefferson-Chalmers business district.
"The blend of arts and entrepreneurship plays a powerful role in successful neighborhoods," says Helen Johnson, a Quicken Loans vice president, in a statement.
Merchants who gain the attention-grabbing building upgrades, earlier received entrepreneurial training and development assistance from BUILD Institute, Lifeline and ProsperUs.
In addition to one of two walls at Social Sushi, shown above, here's the second mural there by Jesse Kassel, a 30-year-old College for Creative Studies graduate -- followed by the other five locations:
The Garden Bug, a landscape supplier at 18901 Grand River Ave. in an area straddling North Rosedale Park and Minock Park, is brightened by a Detroit painter calling herself Ouizi (pronounced wee-ze). She moved from Los Angeles to Detroit in 2014..
"Let's create something beautiful" it says on the right of Michelle Tanguay's mural at Craft Cafe on Mack Avenue in the Jefferson-Chalmers business district.
Sydney G. James, a 2001 College of Creative Studies graduate, shows what's sold at E&S Uniforms on Schaefer Highway near the Greenfield neighborhood on Detroit's west side (south of Blackstone Park).
The project's only collaborative work is by Sheefy McFly and Phil Fresh SImpson, who painted Cutz Lounge - The Grooming Shop on Grand River Avenue in North Rosedale.
Freddy Diaz, a 24-year-old Southwest resident. adds this eye-popping graphic at a popular Spingwells neighborhood market, La Posada Taquereia y Carniceria. "I have so much faith in the city," says Diaz, who has exhibited at two local galleries. ":I want Detroit, and Southwest Detroit, to be a place where people want to come and visit."
