Summer in the City

(Rouge Park, 2010)

Finale Friday last year was one of the most epic experiences in SITC history. We painted one of our biggest murals of all time, had a wonderfully crazy SITC Olympics, and hosted a massive barbecue with plenty of special guests from all over town. I highly doubt that I’m the only one who walked away from that day totally ready to do it all again next summer.

And now, there’s only 24 HOURS UNTIL SITC 2011! Can you feel the excitement?

(Harry Laker, 2010)

This was one of my favorite murals because we completely transformed the park in just one Friday. Everyone was energetic and having fun, and we really worked well to get everything done. At the end of the day, it looked like this! Even better, a guy from the neighborhood told me that they were having a block party the next weekend, and that everyone was really excited to see the park so cleaned up.

8 DAYS TO SITC 2011
(Am I counting right?! So soon!)

(New Center, 2008)

The Tetris mural (which, sadly, has since been torn down) is one of my favorite murals we’ve done. I’ll admit, when we were sketching it out, it was miserable (chalking in tiny squares on a hot, hot day). But I drove past it a couple days after it was all painted in, and I just had to smile and say, “Worth it.”

9 DAYS TO SITC 2011

(Romanowski Garden, 2010).

It never rains on Summer in the City, but when it does, we still keep it awesome. This was one of those rare days. The painters from Phoenix moved over to Romanowski for some perfect gardening weather. Even a dedicated painter like me can’t resist getting muddy sometimes.

13 DAYS TO SITC 2011

(Phoenix, 2010)

This is one of my personal favorite photos, because it shows the behind-the-scenes process of making a mural. Jasmine and a couple of volunteers sketched out a perfect sun using whatever chalk and string we had lying around, and it came out beautifully:

14 DAYS TO SITC 2011

(Somewhere in a garden, 2010)

I’ve used this photo in slideshows for recruiting volunteers, and I love watching their faces when they see just how much fun gardening is. Detroit’s urban agriculture is not your mother’s garden!

16 DAYS TO SITC 2011

(Finale Friday, 2010)

This is one of my all-time favorite SITC photos. Last summer, we put together backpacks for all the kids, including books, stuffed animals and, of course, Silly Bandz. The kids actually wanted to give some of their Silly Bandz back to the crew and volunteers (I still have mine =]). Just another great moment in the life of SITC!

20 DAYS TO SITC 2011

(Gratiot/McDougall, 2007)

I chose this photo for some nostalgic value. We used to do projects that involved concrete, such as building benches and walls. Mixing concrete is, to say the least, labor intensive. But it was fun and messy, and the benches we made that day are still hanging out with our last day mural for 2007. — Emi

26 DAYS TO SITC 2011!

(Somewhere on Third Street, 2010)

“This photo is from the 2nd to last day of the summer in 2010. I took a group on a wild goose chase around the city looking for anything that we needed to finish. I was driving past one of our murals on Third Street—I’m not even sure where, exactly—when I saw that it had already been tagged. One of the volunteers had the idea to fingerpaint, and that’s exactly what we did. SitC is nothing if not creative on a budget.” — Emi

27 DAYS TO SITC 2011