Marge Sorge

ArtistsDetroitKresge arts

20 Detroit Artists Get Fellowships, Awards From Kresge Arts

Detroit is jam-packed with artistic talent that is playing a huge role in the city being recognized as an artistic center. Seventeen of them and one collaborative have been recognized with Kresge Artist Fellowships this year and two emerging artists will get Gilda Awards. Each fellowship comes with an unrestricted $25,000 prize and a year of professional practice support provided by Creative Many Michigan, including an invitation to an intensive professional development retreat presented by...

Michigan-Based Program To Encourage More Fresh Food Purchases And Support Local Growers Expanding Across US

The Fair Food Network fights every day to redesign the nation’s food system so it is based on equity, diversity, ecological integrity and economic viability. It’s a system the nonprofit’s President and CEO Oran Hesterman has said is just plain broken. n “We need to fix the food system and have national and local conversations about the solutions,” he told DetroitUnspun back in 2013. “We have to shift the system to make it work and raise the issue of the food system to serious national...

Bringing The Magic Of Reading To Detroit's Children, One Little Library At A Time

There is something magical about books. When most of us grew up libraries were places we could go, take out book and lose ourselves in imagery worlds, listen to story time, learn about any topic we wanted and, yes, do homework. Today that’s not the case for many in Detroit. The libraries in many neighborhoods are closed or have reduced hours and oftentimes transportation to get to other libraries is hard to come by. That means not only is the magic we experienced gone, it makes it harder for...

Alexis CanoLexi Cano

Detroit Area Soccer Player Headed to the Deaf World Cup in Italy

If you watched Dancing with the Stars this season you know Nyle DiMarco waltzed away with the Mirror Ball trophy. What made it so special was DiMarco is deaf … he danced without and sound to help him keep the beat. That win showed the world being deaf cannot stop anyone from realizing his or her dreams. DiMarco was a hero to the deaf community. Well, we have a hero right here in Alexis (Lexi) Cano. She’s on the women’s United States Deaf Soccer Team and will head to Salerno, Italy, later thi...

See The City Pedaling From Your Bar Stool With HandleBar Detroit

Want to pedal to a pub, see some of downtown Detroit and not have to do it alone? Then HandleBar is your answer. You can take 15 of your friends and hop on Detroit’s first and only 16-person pedal powered pub on wheels. There’s a driver in the front. You sit on “bar stools” on the side and, yes, you have to pedal. You’ll need to bring your own food and drink. There’s a stereo on board with a headphone jack so you can hook up your iPod or iPhone and be the DJ for your favorite tunes. There’s...

Have Some Fun For A Cause: To Help Less Fortunate Keep Heat On This Winter

The weather gurus are predicting we’ll have warm winter. That’s terrific. But if it does happen (we’ll see … after all this is Michigan) we still won’t have summer weather and there will be plenty of people struggling to pay their bill and keep their heat on. That’s where The Heat and Warmth Fund (THAW) comes in. For 30 years it has been helping those less fortunate stay warm in the winter. There are several ways you can help and have fun at the same time. Here’s how. Hallelujah for Heat...

Bon Bon BonChocolateDetroit

313-Foot-Long Box Of Chocolate Aims For World Record Oct. 14

Forest Gump once said “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna to get.” Well, if you get to the World’s Longest Box of Chocolate event on the Detroit riverfront on October 14 you’re going to have a lot of choices. The 313-foot-long box of chocolate crafted by Hamtramck chocolatier Bon Bon Bon contains 2,600 pieces. The event runs from 5:00-7:30 p.m. and is sponsored by GM RenCen. You’ll get a chance to mingle, taste fabulous Detroit-themed chocolates, grab a great...

DetroitSoil SafetyUrban Gardening Safe

Project To Answer Food Safety Questions In Detroit’s Urban Gardens

The rise of urban gardens in historically industrial city may be a shock to many, but they’re happening, and big time.  These gardens provide free or at least inexpensive food that is healthy and sustainable as well as educate children and other community members about food production and rehabilitating the local ecosystem. Along with these benefits questions also have come up. Is there a risk of contamination when growing gardens in cities, especially historically industrial ones like Detro...

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services programsMichigan programs to help Detroitersprograms to help people get off of assistance

200 Detroit Food Assistance Recipients To Get Help Finding Jobs In New Program

Sometimes people need a river of opportunity to find the tools they need to succeed. Under a new program in Michigan, 200 food assistance recipients in Detroit will be able to “swim”” that “river of opportunity” thanks to more job training possibilities, which will hopefully help them find their way off the assistance program. The nearly $1 million federally funded initiative began April 1. It targets 200 able-bodied individuals between the ages of 18 and 49 without dependents, who are recei...

David Whitney BuildingDetroitDowntown Detroit

Historic David Whitney Building Receives Award For Historic Preservation

Back in the 1990s I watched aerial silk acrobats fly through the air in the dank lobby of the David Whitney Building. One of the automakers secured the empty building for a press event during the North American International Auto Show. The acrobats where part of the entertainment. It was fun, but even with heaters it was cold and even with decorations hanging everywhere you could see the building was in dire shape. What a difference today. After a $92 million renovation, the 19-story David Whi...

Arise DetroitClean up DetroitHow to Clean up Detroit

Motor City Makeover Is A Great Way To Get Involved And Clean Up The City, Here's Where To Help

If you haven’t signed up for Motor City Makeover there’s still time and there sure is need. The makeover will be held over three Saturdays in May. The city’s 1st and 2nd districts will be “made over” on May 2. They are on the west side. Work will be done in the 3rd, 4th and 5th districts on the east side on May 9. The 6th and 7th districts in central and southwest Detroit will be tackled on May 16. If you are interested in helping you must register with the City of Detroit to receive limited...

Cristo ReyCristo Rey High SchoolHigh School Detroit

These High School Kids Are Truly Gems Of Detroit

I first met kids from Detroit Cristo Rey High School three years ago when I visited the school. I wanted to learn more about this Catholic co-ed school that provides college preparatory education to students from economically disadvantaged families in Detroit. The average family income of Detroit Cristo Rey students is less than $30,000. I had a great time that day. The kids were fun, smart and great to be around. Then, I had an opportunity to work with them as part of the school’s work-study...

DetroitDetroit Mounted POliceDetroit Police

Batman and Superman are Great, But Detroit Has Its Own Superheroes That Need Your Help

Batman and Superman have been seen around Detroit many times over the past year, thanks to magic of movie making. The film, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, stars Ben Affleck as Batman and Henry Cavill as Superman and you can often catch the stars around Detroit. Both stars have said terrific things about the city and the can-do spirit of its people. That can-do spirit shows up in Detroit’s own superheroes, the city’s first responders. As Christopher Reeve, who also starred as Superman in...