I’m sunburnt and in much need of sleep, so this won’t be as exhaustive of a post as perhaps it should be. I did, however, want to say, before passing out, just how happy I am about the way things went today. What I saw unfold this afternoon on Water Street, I’m certain, will keep me inspired well into the fall.
Thank you to each and every one of you who played a part; Jeff Clark, Jason Tallant, Linette Lao, all the children and adults who came out in the snow a few days ago to help prepare the site, the kids of Summers-Knoll and Yspi Middle School who really took ownership of the project and helped immeasurably, everyone who contributed toward the making of the 2,745 seed bombs that were produced over the past two weeks, all my neighbors who came to the site this evening with delicious food to share, the 27 individuals who pledged money toward making the whole thing happen, the incredibly motivated men and women of the Ypsi Free Skool, and everyone who stood happily packed together on the sidewalk, hurling seed bombs onto our burgeoning native meadow this evening.
We live in an awesome little community, and our possibilities are endless. When we work together, as we demonstrated today, we can really make things happen… beautiful things. And, if you don’t believe me, just keep an eye on this little piece of property along Michigan Avenue, as the native plants come back to life, and people begin to spend more time there.
My sense is that a true community commons is evolving.
[All photos, except for the last one, which I took, come courtesy of our friend, the world-famous Doug Coombe.]
24 Comments
Much more beautiful than May Day in Seattle.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20130502/us-immigration-marches-washington/
What an incredibly creative and life affirming way to build community! Bravo , Mark!
What Lisa said.
What a huge success!!! Can’t wait to see the results. Looks like a lot of fun too, on a sunny May Day!
So, what’s next?
Thanks for organizing this, Mark. It was a great event!
A few benches. A path. A piece of sculpture. A few berry bushes. Maybe a tiny library. And hopefully lots of flowers.
Can the sculpture look like this?
http://imgur.com/a/OrWoA#0
Or, maybe this.
http://www.christopherfowler.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/vomit-259×300.jpg
Or, if we’ve got the money, maybe this.
http://www.vh1.com/celebrity/bwe/images/2011/03/Michael-Jackson-Bad-Sculptures-01.jpg
And not a single eye was lost!
I’m sorry I couldn’t be there but you probably would have been sorry if I were.
I’ve never seen a real, live maypole. That’s cool.
More progressive event should incorporate activities for children. Seed bombing is perfect. I wouldn’t be surprised if other like-minded groups didn’t pick up on the idea.
This is the sculpture that I’d like to see.
http://www.thisblogrules.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/woman-in-bad-sculpture.jpg
Mark,
I want to thank you for the original idea, and completion of all its components. I had a fabulous time yesterday. It was my first maypole too.
What a great way to bring Ypsi together.
I was sorry not to meet Clementine, maybe next time. But was really happy to get introduced to Arlo, hes a sweetie.
Get some much deserved rest, and dream up some new fabulous idea.
YOu know what I would love to see? A sidewalk chalk art festival, and it could happen right at Water Street.
How long before we might see some growth of all the lovely bombs????
AnnArbor.com has some photos as well.
http://www.annarbor.com/news/ypsilanti/ypsilanti-water-street-seed-bomb-draws-crowd/
Congratulations on a huge success!
Bloom!
Are we expecting rain over the next few days? If not, how about a bucket brigade from the river?
If anyone would be interested in organizing a sidewalk chalk art event, I’d love to incorporate it into the Heritage Festival.
Hey Andrew, lets find a way to make this happen. I could help in some way
friend me on facebook and we can message about it
https://www.facebook.com/smelke?ref=tn_tnmn
sue ;)
Meanwhile, to the East of the site.
From today’s AnnArbor.com:
Read more:
http://annarbor.com/news/ypsilanti/water-street-history/
Paula Gardner (A2.com) wrote an opinion piece on Water Street yesterday. In it, she says it’s possible that “nothing” will ever happen on the site. The word “nothing” is a link to an article about your seed bombing of the site. I don’t agree that it was “nothing”, but, from the perspective of some, I guess it is.
http://annarbor.com/news/opinion/ypsilanti-water-street-development-options/
Seed bombing is a powerful metaphor for community organizing.
My Mayday photos are on Flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=69251992@N00&q=mayday
You gotta have some big ole’ testicles to pull this off, bro.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBJowiFQj_c
14 Trackbacks
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