Detroit Cultivator

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d et ro i t cultivator

Oakland Avenue Urban Farm



urban plan designed by Akoaki in partnership with Oakland Avenue Urban Farm & Detroit Cultivator

September, 2017 Detroit



d et ro i t cultivator

In Detroit’s historic North End, we are building a civic commons at the Oakland Avenue Urban Farm. It is called Detroit Cultivator. Detroit Cultivator is a six acre urban plan where food production, cultural activity, and civic assets work together to strengthen the social and economic fabric of the community. The effort is unique in its respect for cultural heritage and social integrity. Farmers, residents, architects, gardeners, engineers, legal and business professionals, and urban designers with the support of foundations and concerned individuals are contributing their knowledge and sweat equity to the success of the project. This booklet is a brief description of the ongoing project and an invitation to participate.

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oakland avenue urban farm

“

The Oakland Avenue Urban Farm is a place where we are not only growing food, we cultivate youth, we cultivate art, we cultivate music. We truly cultivate much more than fruits and vegetables.

�

- Jerry Hebron, executive director

For the past decade, against a backdrop of extreme social and economic need, the Oakland Avenue Urban Farm has established a reputation as a stabilizing anchor for the community. By growing healthy food, offering mentorships, conducting educational programs, supporting outdoor gathering and art spaces, and generating jobs, the Farm helped create a safety net where virtually no other was available. The Farm started with just one city lot in 2000. Today it includes over 30 lots and 8 structures ready for civic programming.

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the epic north end

The North End was once Detroit’s premiere

focused, as evidenced by many local, innovative,

cultural nexus: a predominantly African American

grass-roots initiatives. The neighborhood is home to

neighborhood that attracted emerging artists

a high concentration of politically engaged, culturally

from across the country and influenced vanguard

active residents who, since Detroit’s bankruptcy

music, fashion and style on a global scale. Today a

and ensuing economic resurgence, have become

visitor to the North End would be hard pressed to

increasingly wary of the city’s unbridled blight

find visual evidence supporting that extraordinary

remediation and redevelopment policies, perceived

legacy of place; Detroit’s prolonged economic slump

by many as a threat of cultural erasure. With the

and exuberant blight remediation campaigns have

M1 Rail connecting the neighborhood to Detroit’s

erased many material vestiges of its history.

Renaissance zones (Midtown and Downtown), speculation is on the upsurge.

The quantitative data is glum: 70% of the building stock is gone, creating a neo-rural landscape in close

Today revitalization efforts are growing in the

proximity to the city center; average incomes are

North End, making the success of the Oakland

well below the poverty line; and the majority of the

Avenue Farm project critical to equitable local

neighborhood’s young are under-employed.

redevelopment, while providing a new way forward for similarly challenged neighborhoods nationwide.

Despite these challenges, however, the community has remained strong, dignified, and cooperatively 08



Detroit’s agricultural landscape: each dot represents one urban farm or garden, combining family, school, community and market types (data source: Keep Growing Detroit, 2014).

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urban farming in detroit

There are over 1300 urban farms in Detroit: some covering as many as 40 acres and operating at an industrial scale, others turning single vacant lots into much-needed food for families. While the substantive benefits of urban agriculture are recognized, few urban farms are sustainable—either ecologically or economically. The Oakland Avenue Urban Farm, with its broad network of community and institutional partnerships, is uniquely poised to be the first truly sustainable urban farm in Detroit and a living laboratory for best practices internationally. The North End’s challenging socio-economic scenario offers the impetus, space and opportunity to explore new methods of stewardship as we work together to reactivate a locally rooted economy.

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cameron street

westminster street

goodwin street

oakland avenue


owen street



the detroit cultivator family recipe PEOPLE

INFRASTRUCTURE

LANDSCAPE

1 visionary pastor

8 existing structures

500 fruit trees

1 indefatigable executive director

3 hoophouses

30 birch trees

1 tuba-playing farm manager

6 acres

100 lbs of the world’s best spinach

1 committed board of directors

1 new commercial strip

100 lbs of collards

7 enthusiastic market team collective

12 market stalls

50 lbs crowder peas

1 Ideal Studio

10 bushels of peppers

2 tool sheds

120 blueberry bushes

1 speakeasy

300 strawberry plants

1 jazzy shoe shine parlor

10 gallons of honey

1 hostel for gardeners and others

500 jars of AfroJam

1 UNESCO design library

30 rhubarb plants

1 performance center

sweat equity to taste

10 farmers 1 network of loving and dependable mentors 1 new generation 1 architecture studio 1 landscape architect 1 materials engineer 2 social entrepreneurs 1 UNESCO network 2 university partners 6 supporting foundations 15 individual donors 400 Volunteers 5000 yearly visitors

1 community house 2 public kitchens 1 agricultural incubator 1 irrigation system 6 water towers 2 new insulation prototypes

INSTRUCTIONS

solar cells as necessary

Combine all ingredients. Mix well. Adjust seasoning. Share with as

a generous serving of cultural capital

many as possible.

a pintch of love

***


j

k

e

i

f

b

a


In the near future, each structure on the farm will be activated as a public amenity with: (1) a civic program, (2) residential accommodations, and (3) architectural sytems contributing to environment sustainability. Full descriptions of each architectural intervention available on pages 26-45.

c

k

k

d

g h



A unique garden accompanies each structure for event overflow and public programming.



The productive agricultural landscape is planted throughout the six-acre site, inviting visitors and gardeners to interact directly with the Farm’s growing beds and orchards. The plan is engaging and demonstrative: an educational landscape for all.



Natural landscapes are important for the Oakland Avenue Urban Farm. They support biodiversity, the native ecology and permaculture with bees and insects. Plus, they help integrate sustainable water management strategies into the long term vision for the Farm.


d. Ideal Studio

a. The Landing

b. Incubator

e. UNESCO City of Design Library

j. Community Social

c. Herbarium


f. Store

g. Red’s Jazz Shoe Shine

h. Market Row

k. Water Shed



the landing

ADDRESS: 9185 Goodwin Street SCALE: 2500 sq ft TYPE: 3-story, 2-family residential COST OF RENOVATION: $180,000 PROJECTED ANNUAL INCOME: $66,400 SOURCE OF INCOME: Event space rental, short and long-term lodging STATUS: In progress, under construction FINANCING: 80% secured

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The Landing is a mid-sized hostel and intimate gastronomic performance center. The ground floor hosts cultural and food-centered events and experiments. The second and third floors provide accommodations for visiting students, gardeners, agriculture aficionados, and eco tourists. The Farm has generated great interest both in the U.S. and abroad -- last year the Farm received 5,000+ local, national and international visitors. But the nearest hotel is more than a mile away, and very limited short-term rental options currently exist in the North End. This is a missed opportunity to bring economic value to the Farm and the neighborhood at large.



incubator

ADDRESS: 9180 Goodwin Street SCALE: 1700 sq ft TYPE: Single family residency COST OF RENOVATION: $60,000 PROJECTED ANNUAL INCOME: $5,000 SOURCE OF INCOME: Retail sales STATUS: Schematic design FINANCING: 0%

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Currently the Farm is developing a range of products that includes AfroJam, medicinal tea and tisanes, West African hibiscus drinks, and plant-based fabric dyes, all made with the Farm’s produce. The Incubator will host the Farm’s startup businesses, providing space for product development, office and meeting rooms, a test lab and retail space featuring value-added products. Here the Farm will connect its agricultural startups with Detroit’s existing network of entrepreneurial support. The incubator will also serve as a platform for the entrepreneurs to introduce their products to customers.



herbarium

ADDRESS: 9156 Goodwin Street SCALE: 1230 sq ft TYPE: Single family residence COST OF RENOVATIONS: $110,000 PROJECTED ANNUAL INCOME: $20,000 SOURCE OF INCOME: Retail sales STATUS: Schematic design FINANCING: 20%

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The Herbarium is an education and retail facility focusing on urban agriculture and agricultural products. In the design, the attic cladding is removed and replaced by a technologically efficient and sustainable greenhouse cladding to reveal the roof structure below. This is the place where young and old explore their relationship to local ecologies and food systems.



store

ADDRESS: 9400 Oakland Avenue SCALE: 8500 sq ft TYPE: Commercial big box COST OF RENOVATION: $1.2M PROJECTED ANNUAL INCOME: $90,000-$150,000 SOURCE OF INCOME: Housing rental, event rental, food and beverage sales STATUS: Schematic design FINANCING: 40%

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The former grocery store at 9400 Oakland Avenue is a mutually beneficial not-for-profit/private partnership between Oakland Avenue Urban Farm and Fellow Citizen, LLC, a for-profit social venture. Together, the organizations will create a community gathering space to instigate socially equitable neighborhood redevelopment and job creation. Featuring a commercial kitchen, an event space, and two units of residential housing, the building will host locally rooted arts and education programs while creating demand for the produce and products of Oakland Avenue Urban Farm. The space will flex to meet the needs of local artists, musicians, food entrepreneurs, chefs, performers, urban farmers and young people. Its cultural and experimental programs will serve as a scalable prototype for similar generic “big-box� buildings found throughout Detroit.



ideal studio

ADDRESS: 9134 Goodwin Street SCALE: 1410 sq ft TYPE: Single family residency COST OF RENOVATION: $80,000 PROJECTED ANNUAL INCOME: $20,000 SOURCE OF INCOME: Art education classes, and retail sales of artworks and artisanal crafts STATUS: Schematic design FINANCING: 0%

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Ideal Studio is an experimental space for the exploration of identity through the practice of art. Recognizing that cultural practices, especially the purposeful making of things, embody “ideals,� the project aims to contribute to an individual and collective sense of identity and citizenship. Ideal Studio will feature a fully equipped art space with a kiln, open workshops, gallery, retail and accommodations for resident artists. Most importantly, it will host programs that position selfexpression as therapy, enabling us to understand what makes us unique and what binds us to society and humanity at large.



UNESCO city of design library

ADDRESS: 9245 Goodwin Street SCALE: 1300 sq ft TYPE: Single family residency COST OF RENOVATION: $85,000 PROJECTED ANNUAL INCOME: $12,000 SOURCE OF INCOME: Rental income, educational facilities rental STATUS: Schematic design FINANCING: 0%

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In December 2015, Detroit was awarded the accolade of UNESCO City of Design, the first such designation in the United States. Building on the relationships established between the Farm, Akoaki, and the CitĂŠ du Design in St Etienne, France on the occasion of the 2017 International Design Biennale, the UNESCO City of Design Library brings together a collection of publications from around the world contributed by designers and organizations from the UNESCO Cities network. The Library contains accommodations for socially minded designers, and connects such Detroit practices with a global network. The project creates linkages between urban farming and equitable regeneration by offering the first such space located at an urban farm. Here residents and designers will access publications, dialogues, and events that consider the role of design in equitable urban regeneration. Strategically, the library illustrates how the UN designation can operate within communities and creates access to design thinking for all.



red’s jazz shoe shine parlor

ADDRESS: 9148 Oakland Avenue SCALE: 2,500 sq ft TYPE: Commercial big box COST OF RENOVATIONS: $110,000 PROJECTED ANNUAL INCOME: $20,000 SOURCE OF INCOME: Event rental, retail STATUS: Schematic design FINANCING: 20%

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The Oakland Avenue Urban Farm is restoring and reactivating the historic Red’s Jazz Shoe Shine Parlor. For over half a century, the space was a cultural and commercial epicenter in the North End. A smallscale mixing chamber for the city’s top performers, politicians, and luminaries, the shoe shine provided a storefront cover for a speakeasy where the Temptations, Smokey Robinson, and Aretha Franklin made regular appearances. By Spring 2018, the Farm plans to reopen the space as a hybrid urban attractor combining services (shoe shine & cobbler), commercial space (boutique), and an event-space (performance & party) for family-size, intimate gatherings. The complementary programming will maximize 24-hour use, and appeal to a wide range of audiences in the immediate neighborhood and the city at large.



market row

ADDRESS: 9122 Oakland Avenue SCALE: 4,000 sq ft TYPE: New commercial construction COST OF CONSTRUCTION: $200,000 PROJECTED ANNUAL INCOME: $50,000 SOURCE OF INCOME: Retail storefront rental STATUS: Schematic design FINANCING: 0%

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Oakland Avenue is the North End’s historic commercial artery. Once a shopping destination for fashion, music, and necessities, today only one active storefront remains. Market Row will be Oakland Avenue’s first new business construction in decades. Designed to launch entry-level businesses, the project provides access for 5 to 15 low-cost, year-round, turn-key-ready retail spaces. Using sustainable systems to keep utility costs low, the commercial structure will facilitate short term rentals so that new entrepreneurs can test and prototype their businesses without significant capital investment or risk. The interior partitions are modular and can accommodate variable spatial requirements allowing businesses to grow and adapt.



community social

ADDRESS: 9231 Cameron Street SCALE: 1,700 sq ft TYPE: Micro-church COST OF RENOVATION: $80,000 PROJECTED ANNUAL INCOME: $5,000 SOURCE OF INCOME: Event rental, ticket sales STATUS: Schematic design FINANCING: 0%

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The Farm will transform a former church into a space for movement, participatory self-expression, cultural continuance and health. Detroit’s dance hall and cabaret culture is unique. This project restores a space for this critically important social activity, which once took place throughout the neighborhood. Community Social will take programming one step further, incorporating contemporary physical activities: yoga, African diasporic and experimental dance, to name a few. Community Social is sited in an apple orchard, elevating the range of practices through its proximity to nature.



water shed

ADDRESS: 9310 Oakland Avenue & elsewhere SCALE: 1000 sq ft TYPE: New construction shed COST OF RENOVATION: $40,000 PROJECTED ANNUAL INCOME: $20,000 SOURCE OF INCOME: Retail, water savings STATUS: Schematic design FINANCING: 0%

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Existing models for equipment storage and market stalls are functional but not always attractive and rarely, if ever, offer additional benefits. For the past decade, the Farm has operated a weekly market without a market stand, relying on tents that offer little protection from the elements and that require labor for setup. Water Shed answers the need for simple agricultural infrastructures like market stalls and tool sheds, while integrating water-catchment systems and beauty into these structures. The system’s modular units offer a canopied infrastructure that expands to meet evolving needs. Additionally, a second level platform creates a novel vantage point for understanding the landscape.


sustainability

Perhaps more than anywhere else, sustainability matters in Detroit. Here citizens have experienced first-hand the crises associated with boom and bust cycles. As a result, sustainability is a priority for the Detroit Cultivator project, and we are committed to creating culturally, ecologically, and economically sustainable systems. Working in partnership with the University of Michigan and local industries, we are developing new technologies for architectural sustainability, water management, and landscape stewardship. We view the project as a center for discovery and exchange.

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IRRIGATION Currently, the Farm cultivates 1.5 acres of productive landscape. We plan to install a hybrid drip irrigation and water catchment system designed to maximize water efficiency and reduce costs. The irrigation system, developed in response to robust rainfall and water-use analysis, will be capable of sourcing from city water or collected rain water as needed. WATER CATCHMENT & STORAGE Catching and storing water is critical to the sustainability of Detroit’s landscape. Water tanks and water bladders are broadly used in residential and commercial applications, but these industrial solutions are relatively large in scale, cumbersome when empty, immobile when full, and visually ascetic. Detroit’s urban farms are struggling to develop sensible systems for irrigation: tapping into the city’s drinking water, for instance, proves economically unfeasible due to integrated sewage treatment costs. In response, the Farm’s unique water towers communicate the importance of protecting water quality with a discernible product, creating a practical, lightweight irrigation system that’s portable and easy to deploy. The towers are imagined as artful urban markers that residents can identify with and self-manage.

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STORM WATER Storm water is a major problem in Detroit, overtaxing the city’s water treatment systems. The city has established fees to incentivize storm water runoff prevention, and the Farm is embracing this challenge. INSULATION Working with the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture + Urban planning, we are developing a technologically advanced translucent insulation system that dresses existing and new structures in warm, efficient, and attractive skins. SOLAR CELLS We’re using solar cells technology to create new roofing materials that seamlessly integrate energy production into the architectural form. We seek to create mass-customized solutions that can be manufactured in Detroit.

The sustainable plan for the Farm is budgeted at $400,000, and we are currently developing systems with 20% of the financing secured.


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detroit cultivator partners

In 2016, Detroit Cultivators was formed through the collaborative efforts of its keys partners, each bringing their expertise, passion and perspective to the aspirations of this project. Our multidisciplinary initiative is unique in its variety of participating partners and in the breadth of the knowledge brought together to realize this collective vision for Detroit’s civic commons. NORTHEND CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION Northend Christian Community Development Corporation (NECCDC) is a not-for-profit 501 (c)(3) dedicated to youth development and the cultural and economic revitalization of Detroit’s North End. Since 2000, NECCDC has been working with neighbors to celebrate the life and art of the community. The current focus of its efforts is the Oakland Avenue Urban Farm. OAKLAND AVENUE URBAN FARM For the past decade, against a backdrop of extreme social and economic need, the Oakland Avenue Urban Farm has established a reputation as a stabilizing anchor for the community. By growing healthy food, offering mentorships, conducting educational programs, supporting outdoor gathering spots and art spaces, and generating jobs, the farm helped create a safety net where virtually no other was available. The farm started with just one city

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lot in 2000; today, headed by the husband and wife team of Billy and Jerry Hebron, it includes over 30 lots and structures ready for civic programming. AKOAKI Akoaki is an award-winning Detroit-based architecture and design studio founded by Anya Sirota and Jean Louis Farges. Since 2008, Akoaki has established a reputation for innovative and resonant projects that critically engage the social, spatial, and material realities of place. Bridging the commonly perceived divide between social and aesthetic practice, the work explores urban interventions, perceptual scenographies, and pop actions as responses to complex and contested urban scenarios. FELLOW CITIZEN Fellow Citizen is a for-profit social venture founded by Stephen Gliatto and James Lesko. Exploring ways to make positive impact in the city through the creation of mutually beneficial not-for-profit/ private partnerships, Fellow Citizen is partnering with the Farm to reactivate 9400 Oakland Avenue, transforming it into a multi-use space that will increase demand for Detroit-grown produce, support the growth of employee-owned businesses and create a social space for all. The project purposefully disrupts typical development patterns that often displace residents, erode local culture and extract community wealth.


Farm Logo © Oakland Avenue Urban Farm

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selected projects AFROJAM Launched by the Oakland Avenue Urban Farm to support a new, more localized food economy in Detroit’s North End, AfroJam produces a range of jams grown, made and sold in the neighborhood, providing income for local residents while celebrating and preserving ancestral skills and traditions. Each year, AfroJam hosts a music festival, strengthening the cultural ties within the community and celebrating the harvest. WEE ART GALLERY Developed by O.N.E. Mile, Oakland Ave Urban Farm and The Abstract Oracle Collective, the Wee Art Gallery honors the North End’s home-grown artists who are too often overlooked and under supported. A semi-permanent pavilion installed on the grounds of the Farm, the Wee Art Gallery is curated by long-time North End resident and artist Makeeba Ellington. Each year, the gallery and the work it contains is renewed, creating an always-fresh urban marker where emergent and established artists share their work with each other and the city at large. PLANETARY COMMUNITY CHICKEN A project of Belgian Artist Koen Vanmechelen in partnership with Wasserman Projects, Planetary Community Chicken focuses on bringing new, healthier chickens to the world’s communities, and emphasises the importance of diversity and local, small-scale community farming for long-term sustainability. The project has created the world’s most genetically diverse chickens, whose eggs are sold at the Oakland Avenue Urban Farm.


ARTPLACE AMERICA ArtPlace is a ten-year collaboration among a number of foundations, federal agencies, and financial institutions that works to position arts and culture as a core sector of comprehensive community planning and development in order to help strengthen the social, physical, and economic fabric of communities. W.K. KELLOGG FOUNDATION The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, founded in 1930 as an independent, private foundation by breakfast cereal pioneer Will Keith Kellogg, is among the largest philanthropic foundations in the United States. Guided by the belief that all children should have an equal opportunity to thrive, WKKF works with communities to create conditions for vulnerable children so they can realize their full potential in school, work and life. THE CENTER FOR COMMUNITY BASED ENTERPRISE (C2BE) C2BE, a Detroit-based not-for-profit, provides legal, financial, product development, marketing and self-management expertise to create living-wage jobs through worker ownership—particularly among historically under-served populations in Detroit.

HAZON FOUNDATION The Hazon Foundation works to create a healthier and more sustainable Jewish community, and a healthier and more sustainable world for all. ERB FAMILY FOUNDATION The Erb Family Foundation nurtures environmentally healthy and culturally vibrant communities in metro Detroit, consistent with sustainable business models, and supporting initiatives to restore the Great Lakes Ecosystem. MAHINDRA USA Mahindra USA is part of the $ 16.9 billion Mahindra Group’s Automotive and Farm Sector – the #1 selling tractor company in the world, based on volumes and the only tractor manufacturer in the world to win the industry’s top two quality awards – the Deming Application Prize and the Japan Quality Medal, care of Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers. ONE MILE ONE Mile is a multi-disciplinary collaborative effort to support the cultural production and socio-economic activity of Detroit’s epic North End neighborhood.

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supporting organizations GREAT LAKES SIERRA CLUB Founded by legendary conservationist John Muir in 1892, the Sierra Club is the nation’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization -- with three million members and supporters. Their successes range from protecting millions of acres of wilderness to helping pass the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Endangered Species Act. THE KRESGE FOUNDATION The Kresge Foundation is a $3.6 billion private, national foundation that works to expand opportunities in America’s cities through grantmaking and social investing in arts and culture, education, environment, health, human services and community development in Detroit. FRESH WATER FUTURE Fresh Water Future ensures the healthy future of our waters in the Great Lakes region. WAYNE STATE CURES Headquartered at Wayne State University in the heart of Detroit, the Center for Urban Responses to Environmental Stressors (CURES) is one of a few select environmental health sciences core centers in the nation funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

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MICHIGAN STATE EXTENSION Michigan State University (MSU) Extension helps people improve their lives by bringing the vast knowledge resources of MSU directly to individuals, communities and businesses. For more than 100 years, MSU Extension has helped grow Michigan’s economy by equipping Michigan residents with the information that they need to do their jobs better, raise healthy and safe families, build their communities and empower our children to dream of a successful future. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN The University of Michigan is top ranking public university with with a tradition of excellence in research learning and teaching. FOCUS HOPE Focus: Hope builds a metropolitan community where all people may live in freedom, harmony, trust and affection.



detroit cultivator: the people

The Farm is not just an organization in service of the community. It is the community.

- Jerry Hebron

While the Detroit Cultivator project began in 2015, the aspirations of the project were seeded much earlier. In 2000, Pastor Carter of St. John’s Evangelist Temple of Truth and School of Wisdom in the North End challenged her congregation to provide food to needy residents and neighbors. Responding to the call, a core group of founders planted the first garden. Building on the Farm’s successes and generosity of spirit, many more people have since become involved. What binds us is a shared belief that we are stronger together and that collective action can create transformative change.

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“

I am about people pooling together and helping, and excelling with one another.

�

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- Reverend Bertha L. Carter


“

The Farm makes me feel good. I love making things grow and look beautiful, and seeing the progression of the farm helps me think about implementing growth in my personal life. I put my heart and soul into this work.

�

- Carlos Leonard

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“

There is no division in food, because everyone has to eat!

�

- Linda Ann Carter

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The Farm is important because of the exposure it offers. It feels like a second home and a family, where I know that I am doing something for the community.

- Alkesha “Kiki” Griffin

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Letting the neighborhood know what is going on, doing community engagement, it’s good to see the neighborhood grow. To see folks that I know have not been able to work due to a questionable background receive a job here and see them grow. Seeing people become passionate about the work.

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- Constance King


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The Oakland Avenue Urban Farm was a featured guest at the 2017 St Etienne International Design Biennale, where they met with urban farmers in the region to share experiences and best practices. Left: Billy and Jerry Hebron presenting the work at the biennale panel curated by Cezanne Charles for CreativeMany Michigan. Next page: the Detroit Cultivator team the Detroit delegation of artists and performers participating in the St Etienne Design Biennale 2017.

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ORIGINATORS Reverend Bertha L. Carter Reverend Allen Ann Carter Isabel Flemming Margaret Harris Bill Hebron Jerry Hebron Yvonne Jones Ms. Larkins Constance King Carol Trowell FARMERS MARKET TEAM Ann Carter John Carter Billy Hebron Patsy Higgs Carlos Leonard Constance King Jesse Mitchell OAKLAND AVE URBAN FARM Shelia Crawford Paris Felton Alkesha Griffin Christopher Griffin Eric Howard Shawnetta Hudson

Carlos Leonard Jason Shines Crystal Simmons Natosha Tallman James Thomas, Jr. Raymond Underwood Donald Williams INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORTERS AJ Transportation Central Detroit Christian CDC. City of Detroit Planning and Development Department City of Detroit City Planning Commission College for Creative Studies Detroit Black Community Food Security Network Detroit Community Markets Detroit Food Policy Council Detroit Land Bank Eastern Market Corporation Greater Woodward CDC Greening of Detroit Keep Growing Detroit Michigan Farmers Market Assoc. Michigan Food and Farming Systems Prevention Network


credits & deep thanks UNESCO City of Design Network Vanguard CDC Wasserman Projects Youth Making a Difference FRIENDS Alice Bagley Khalilah Burt Gaston Linda Campbell Halima Cassells Dan Carmody Bryce Detroit Pat Dockery Makeeba Ellington Pastor Flowers Nick George (Dr. Sushi) Dolores and Tommy Griffon Chef Maxcel Hardy Lisa Johanon Jeff Jones James Lesko & Stephen Gliatto Larry King Ms. Lorraine Ms. Lucy Maddox Pastor Ulysses Norris Demetrius Oliver Kef (Keif) Parker Sonia Plata Roger Robinson

Emily Rogers Crystal and Frank Simmons Christine Strother Jamii Tata Kathryn Lynch Underwood Renee Wallace Malik Yakini Rev Marvin Youmans Anonymous Donors AKOAKI Jean Louis Farges Anya Sirota Jonathan Watkins Christopher Campbell Megan Mohney Christopher Holder Loran Newman Lucas Rigney Johanna Mejia Vega Gabrielle Tanneau Anthony Ute Petit Audrey Adellon Fernand Bretillot Lauriane Carra Lorie Bayen El Kaim Louise Kalfas-Brat Zeina Farhat Juan Munoz Ponce Theresa Kaplan

DESIGN CONSULTANTS Christophe Ponceau Ron Edwards Lars Junghens Jennifer Maigret Maria Arquero De Alarcon Nishant Mittal Deokoh Woo Nathan Doud

Our deepest gratitude to the people and organizations who accompanied us and who have been involved throughout this journey. If we have left you out, it’s not for a lack of appreciation or love. Lists are sometimes difficult. Thanks to everyone for their amazing support over the years. xoxo.



©Akoaki 2017



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