“A twist on the traditional artist’s print, each print available through Braddock Tiles is a crafted collaboration between Braddock Tile factory and an individual artist. Braddock Tiles, producer of beautifully crafted artisanal art objects such as these limited runprints, embosses and hand inscribes the edition number on the front with the artist’s name on the back.”  ~ braddocktiles.org

Living in a rustbelt city, I get excited when projects like this appear on my radar. There is no perfect storm for economic development in cities like Toledo Ohio or Braddock PA, but it is clear to me that the arts are no question going to be a big part of any solution to our hard times.

I look forward to hearing more updates about the Braddock Tile project… with the backing of SWOON it’s bound for success… financially? Who knows? Culturally? No question about it.

If I didn’t have to get up so early every day, I would totally do this: callinthenight.com

Call in the Night is an experimental radio show and telephone network documenting the nighttime experience. Anyone with a phone can participate!

Here’s how it works…

I headed up to Windsor this weekend to pick up my friend from Portland, Jason Sturgill. Jason was in Windsor to work on something with Broken City Lab called “Windsor Is Forever.” It’s a great project and now I’m brainstorming on doing something like it in Toledo.

After making my way through the border patrol, I grabbed Jason and we headed to Detroit. To be honest, I didn’t really understand how awesome of an experience I was in for. Our first stop was to the Power House. Gina Reichert (from Design 99) and her daughter gave us a tour of the project.

We checked out the Juxtapox X Detroit houses, which seem to still be works in progress. Above is a house sculpture by Ben Wolf, which blew my mind.

Walking down the sidewalk and seeing a SWOON piece in Detroit was a thrill.

The Sound House, decorated by Richard Coleman and RETNA was a trip.

Later Jason and I did a little exploring and were surprised to see so much random art on walls. Not all of it great, but it’s everywhere. Graffiti, street art, random shit you can’t even describe… everywhere.

We also hit the MOCAD which I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve never visited before. The experimental space was filled with compelling and thought provoking contemporary art.

The city is filled with boat loads of ruin porn. Loads and loads. And it’s all good, even when it’s bad.

Like all good Detroit urban explorers, we had to grab a picture of Michigan Central Station. Even in all of it’s dust and decay, we felt a lot of life.

Faesthetic #13 cover artist and long time friend Mike Giant talks about his hand styles.via Handselecta

good friends of Faest have started a new food blog & you should take note: mcgarveybarlow.com

This is absolutely brilliant!

“THE PERFECT BIKE. Cars go to the junkyard and we recycle them to create the most efficient, ecological and healthy mean of transportation.”

www.bicycledbikes.com

Above, you’ll find my donated piece to the Justin Van Hoy memorial show opening tonight at Space 1026 in Philly. If you’re around the area, you should go. $$$ raised from the show goes to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. All of the work in the show is pretty terrific, and was made by friends and fans of Justin. RIP JVH.