The life and death of Detroit’s Brewster Projects

Slits, February 2014
Slits, February 2014

My first encounter with the Brewster Projects was in June of 2012. In the middle of a sunny afternoon, the heat was relentless. The sun bleached, weed filled center circle drive stood out in harsh contrast to the dark empty windowed towers looming around in a group. On my first trip to Detroit at the time, I was too intimidated to venture any further than the ground level perimeter of the site. I had been told it was a sketchy neighborhood and that there was security. I never saw any and there were no fences, so I took pics of Flying Fortress and Nychos hitting up the bottoms of the towers.

In the summer of 2012 the European graffiti crew JBCB (Juke Box Cow Boys) were in town along with other international artists involved with the Detroit Beautification Project.

By the time I got to Detroit there were only 4 remaining of the big, 15-story towers. There used to be 6, but 2 were torn down in 2003. The towers were called the Frederick Douglas Apartments and were built in the 40s and 50s. This was the housing project where singer Diana Ross grew up and where, in the rec center, boxer Joe Lewis trained. The projects are right across the freeway from Ford Field and downtown Detroit. There were other low rise apartment houses there too, but they have been removed in pieces over the years.

Juke Box Coy Boys
Juke Box Coy Boys, June 2012
Nychos
Nychos, June 2012
rem and ff
Nychos and Flying Fortress, June 2012
Flying Fortress and Nychos
Flying Fortress and Nychos, June 2012
Nychos and Flying Fortress
Nychos and Flying Fortress, June 2012

I moved to the Detroit area in the fall of 2013 and made it back to the Brewster towers in October of 2013 determined to check out the inside. On that trip I made it to the top of one tower. In the 15 months since I’d last been there, tons of graffiti had been added to the towers. The bottoms were now grilled with tags, throws and pieces. More noticeably, 3 epic 15-story top to bottom rollers had been executed. In addition, Gats, Feral Child, and Ghost Owl had done rollers at the top of another tower, prominently placed and visible to highway traffic heading south into downtown Detroit. As I climbed I noticed preparations for demolition, but didn’t pay a lot of attention to it. There had been ongoing delays and interruptions in the effort to complete the removal of the projects.

Aerub, October 2013
Aerub, October 2013
Feral, Gats, Ghost Owl and more, October 2013.
Feral Child, Gats, Ghost Owl and more, October 2013

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Banksy + 5: October 25th

Banksy's grim reaper at Houston and Elizabeth streets. Photo courtesy of The L.I.S.A. Project.
Banksy’s grim reaper at Houston and Elizabeth streets. Photo courtesy of The L.I.S.A. Project.

Yesterday Banksy announced hisĀ Better Out Than In piece quite late in the day. That, combined with some WordPress issues that we’ve been facing, and today’s Banksy + 5 is a day late. Sorry. Anyway, the piece was announced in the evening because it’s another performance and this one starts at dusk. As you can see in the video below (originally posted to Banksy’s site), the grim reaper in a bumper-car character drives all this little stage Banksy has set up at Houston and Elizabeth streets (right next to where Swoon and Groundswell are working on a piece at the Bowery and Houston mural location). The piece will be active from dusk to midnight today and Sunday if you want to go check it out. Me, I’m not too bothered. Also, there’s an audio description for the piece on Banksy’s site. Interesting side note: Banksy previously used the grim-reaper-riding-a-bumper-car image in this painting that he gave to the band Brace Yourself for changing their name from Exit Through the Gift Shop.

Today we have Clet Abraham, Revs, Ghost Owl and two unknown artists in the + 5:

Clet Abraham in London. Photo by Dave Nolionsinengland.
Clet Abraham in London. Photo by Dave Nolionsinengland.
Revs. Photo by carnagenyc.
Revs. Photo by carnagenyc.
Clepto and Ghost Owl. Photo by Brian Knowles
Clepto and Ghost Owl. Photo by Brian Knowles
Unknown artist in Christchurch, New Zealand. Photo by Jocelyn Kinghorn.
Unknown artist in Christchurch, New Zealand. Photo by Jocelyn Kinghorn.
Unknown artist in Venice, Italy. Photo by Corrado Disegna.
Unknown artist in Venice, Italy. Photo by Corrado Disegna.

Photos by The L.I.S.A. Project, carnagenyc, Dave Nolionsinengland, Brian Knowles, Jocelyn Kinghorn and Corrado Disegna