Thursday, May 26, 2011

Graffiti alive and well at Detroit's Metropolitan Building

Painting of this extent doesn't happen overnight.

But over three-plus decades, the possibilities are endless.

The Metropolitan Building in downtown Detroit, the one-time hub of the city's jewelry retailers, has stood empty on John R just south of Grand Circus Park since the late 1970s. Since then, nearly every window in the 15-story building has served as the canvas for an especially peace-minded graffiti artist.

Red hearts, the word "LOVE", and a cryptic splash of green letters have adorned the building's facade for years and can be seen for blocks up Farmer Street. It's pretty impressive work, were it not a reminder of another empty building downtown.

Also of interest (at least to us) is a fun fact we learned from our friends at BuildingsOfDetroit.com. When the Metropolitan was built, a handful of buildings were razed to clear space, including the former home of the Detroit Times. That was in 1924, years before the Internet made it possible for a guy with a cell phone camera and a computer to create a blog with the same name.