Residents, business owners, and others with vested interests in northeast Detroit are encouraged to apply for mini-grants of up to $2,500 for neighborhood beautification and placemaking projects. Part of the Create NED initiative, these grants are available to anyone in the city’s City Council District 3.

According to organizers, Create NED grants will be made available to the residents, block clubs, business owners, churches, nonprofits, and community groups. Beautification is loosely defined, covering a wide range of projects from public art to landscape architecture, urban gardens to rain catchment systems. Community clean-ups, signage, tree plantings, and more also qualify for grants.

“As an artist and designer, I know how visions can change the world we live in, especially when we have the resources to implement those visions,” Ronald D. Jacobs Jr., a District 3 resident and member of the Create NED advisory board, says in a statement. “The Create NED mini grant program is an opportunity to uplift the neighborhoods we live in and revive faith in the purpose of collective work and responsibility in our community.”

Supported by ArtPlace, Create Northeast Detroit (Create NED) is a partnership between Restore NED, Allied Media Projects, and The Work Department. Create NED will activate residents to utilize art, design, and technology to make their neighborhood visions tangible and shareable with the broader public. Our goal is to present a vision for the community’s development that may be incorporated into the City of Detroit’s Master Plan.

The Create NED project aims to:

  • Use art, design, and technology to make residents’ land use visions for the future of District 3 tangible and accessible to the public in digital and physical forms.
  • Implement art and landscape architecture “demonstration projects” in three city parks.
    Produce community festivals to showcase the completed projects, highlight local artists, and engage City officials.
  • Distribute seed grants for resident-led green space beautification projects throughout the District.

Originally published in Model D