Marilyn Griffin is mother to Griffin Gardens, which sits, in part, on the vacant lot of her first best friend’s demolished home.
The home, dilapidated and neglected, was bulldozed in 2016.
Now, Griffin nurtures a curated garden for her community on that very lot, hosting her regular outdoor market Summer Saturdays, and an annual outdoor art show during the summer months.
Griffin Gardens’ fourth annual Art in the Garden show is slated for this month; the exhibition features the original works of 16 Detroit-based artists.
Founded by Griffin and curated by artist Mariah Mitchell, Art in the Garden exists to provide a locally accessible space for beautiful things: “When I lived in New York City, every neighborhood had festivals, or some type of community space and people didn’t have to go far to have these sorts of activities and events,” Griffin said.
Art in the Garden will show a variety of art styles: abstract, surreal, collage and more — presenting canvas art, framed art, and prints in northwest Detroit.
Into the green
With a love for her Detroit community intensified by just one undergraduate class in African American Studies, Griffin, now 43, attended Wayne State University for her master’s in education with an ardent wish to stay in her hometown of Detroit to teach kids about their histories.
However, with Detroit Public Schools in financial crisis, she recalls little demand for history and social studies teachers, and Griffin left for New York in 2010 to find guaranteed work. She taught social studies to middle school students in the Bronx.
A decade later, Griffin returned to her family home off Seven Mile and Lahser. Her objective? To track the genealogy of her family.
Griffin and her folks have a living family tree, on a posterboard in her home. “Everyone has to add on the names of the new babies born each year,” said Griffin. But this search for roots also set off another chain of events.
The clearing of the home adjacent to Griffin’s childhood house bore opportunity. With her father’s spontaneous purchase in 2018 of the near vacant lot from the Detroit Land Bank ― for just $100 ― Griffin found her calling.
Stir crazy and musing, Griffin broke dirt on April 21, 2020, at the height of the pandemic. She explicitly remembers the date; the first things she planted were vegetables, “The lots were across the street from the park; and I thought that it would be so cool to build a garden to beautify the neighborhood.”
From a garden, sprouts a market
“It was just some type of epiphany,” said Griffin. “Where you’re out going ‘Oh, I want to have a market.’ “
In 2022, she started her Summer Saturdays market at the dead-end of Vassar Road, where vendors (then, only five in total; now more than 20 with plans for expansion) sold art, food, jewelry and journals.
Griffin acquired four more lots for $250 each from the city of Detroit — two additional lots the following year, another two later — all within 500 feet of her father’s home.
She curates her gardens with love. On a recent Thursday afternoon, the garden was a calm spot amid the gliding sound of vehicles and a distant muffle of music from a nearby house. Griffin waved to passersby as she watered and weeded.
A partnership in art
Griffin met art curator Mitchell at Summer Saturdays.
Mitchell, 29, heard of the Summer Saturdays market through word of mouth, a free venue. And her interest had been piqued. Mitchell was one of the first vendors to sell art, specializing in portraiture.
In 2022, Griffin reached out to Mitchell about working together on the art show.
Mitchell grew up “right around the corner” from Seven Mile and Lahser, and it represented more than just a place to show her work.
As a young artist, it was challenging to find opportunities to show her work. “I’d create them for myself and others,” Mitchell said.
At the Art in the Garden exhibition, Griffin and Mitchell seek to provide foot-in-the-door opportunities for up-and-coming artists.
Said Marilyn Griffin: “I want everyone in the neighborhood to come out … this is our version of the Eastern Market. … I want people to have access to these types of things closest to where they live.”
Admission is free, and artwork is affordable and all are welcome within the flowery perimeter.
“I’m super proud of the community that I’ve been building and the people that come and how much they enjoy being here, making connections with each other,” Griffin said.
Art in the Garden
4 p.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday, July 19
19400 Bentler St. in northwest Detroit
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroiter Marilyn Griffin turned a vacant lot into an art showcase
Reporting by Allana Smith, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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