Opening Reception: June 16th - 6-8pm 

Heidelberg Project

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Show Statement

October 29^th 2011 I moved my life to a city of Soul that sang to mine so clearly.  Suddenly, I was hearing very explicit messages about my life and its purposes, as the Motor City was the keeper of these secrets…(Go figure!).  A few days into my first footings here, I remember coming to grips with the fact that I officially and honestly believed in something far greater than myself.  And through a sequence of events that I can only understand as acts of magic, I found myself residing at the Iron St. lofts, where 2,275 miles from where I grew up, I finally understood the concept of a Promise Land. 

Prior to my chance happenings upon this legendary land, I had a funny little hobby of photographing men in their bathtubs equipped with their most sacred belongings.  The project had been on a bit of a standstill until I suddenly found myself overwhelmingly surrounded by all of these righteously talented people.  The classic urban landscapes and architectural decay of Detroit is enough to keep a photographer excited and satisfied for a lifetime.  But it’s the people energy interacting with the age and wisdom of these industrial remnants that tell the story of our city and inspire me most.  Detroit is a city of beautiful souls.  And so it only made sense that I pick up Men in Tubs again… and sure enough, the testosterone of the D elevated this work beyond my wildest imaginings. 

Woven Muses is a visual ode to an awesomely funky haven for authentic, beautiful creators.  Situated on and energized by the flow of our city’s great waterway, there is a calm here that keeps us all imagining.  In its unique little pocket, the community on Iron St. is coexisting, co-creating, and working toward making big dreams come true.  I wanted the visions of our home to come from the eyes and souls beyond just mine, as it’s the collaborative perspective that makes this place so powerful.  So I distributed 6 disposable cameras to 6 artists in the building and here we have it: an interwoven tribute to a dynamic, supportive community with exponential potential for creative vision and growth. 

And so I ask us all to continue dreaming BIG, imagining out loud and putting into action:

What we can really do with all of this collective goodness.

Packard Plant: one hellofa sacred space.

If I ever happen to forget why I love this city so, I know just where to go to remember.  Luckily, it's just a hop, skip n' a jump! 

Here's what the Wika-wika-pedia tells us about it.....

The Packard Automotive Plant is a former automobile-manufacturing factory in Detroit, Michigan where luxury Packard cars were made by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan, and later by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation of South Bend, Indiana.

The 3,500,000-square-foot (325,000 m²), plant was designed by Albert Kahn and is located on over 40 acres (0.142 km²) of land on East Grand Boulevard. It included the first use of reinforced concrete for industrial construction in Detroit.^[1]

The Packard plant was opened in 1903 and at the time was considered the most modern automobile manufacturing facility in the world with skilled craftsmen who practiced over eighty trades.^{[citation needed]} The factory closed in 1958, but the buildings remain standing as of 2012. The City of Detroit has pledged legal action to have it demolished or secured.^[2] Portions of the upper floors of several small sections in various buildings have been demolished and lay in ruins in the wake of several aborted attempts at full-scale demolition over the years. Owing to the reinforced concrete construction, almost all but those small sections remain structurally sound.

Since its abandonment, the plant has served as a haven for graffiti artists, urban explorers, paintballers and auto scrappers. Scavengers have extensively stripped the buildings of wiring and other building materials. A number of the outer buildings were in use by businesses as recently as 2007; however, in 2010, after renting space in the plant for over 52 years, the last tenant, Chemical Processing, left in favor of nearby suburban Madison Heights.^[3]

I didn't quite make it to Cali this holiday season, but hell! I sure did make it to Kalamazooooooooooooooo!

Meet Mike and Dante - My sweet, sweet neighbor bros. They work on movie sets.. which brought them to the best named town in all of Michigan.  

Missing these cutie pies and craving fresh territory, before I knew it, I was rollin into Kalamazoo too.  

while they worked all day making props and things, i got lost with my camera for some hours.

Which inevitably rejuvenates my connection to my soul.  

ah sheeeesh! Please excuse the dirtiness. 

(viewer discretion advised)

I got a little distracted by a dreamland.

It was also lil Moo's first road trip. She was super.. which brought great relief to my anxiety that having a pet prohibits journey'ing.  Moo's gonna be a gypsy-cat when she grows up. 

My Little Moo-Moo-Meridian

We found one another this past Monday. Someone moved out of their loft and left her in the hallway with some food. She kicked it there for a good few days – I guess people just walked right on around her.  I only use that hallway when I take my trash out…. which fortunately was ready to go out on Monday.  And there she was. The cutest damn thing I ever did see.  I scooped her up, asked in the office whom she belonged to, they said no one, and that they were about to put her outside! It also happened to be the first snowfall of year, mind you. 

So now I have the best lil roomy ever.  And I’m so so so inlove.  She’s got lots of courage and a whole lot of sweetness.    

I call it my home-cation.

 I think I want to live in an old funky loft forever.