In my past blog I noted that I am new Detroit, as a new person in town you spend time getting to know the city. It also helps that when you are new town and living alone, you want to find things to do so you don’t spend an entire evening binge watching shows on Netflix. (Don’t get me wrong, I love to binge watch shows and wear my sweats) However binge watching is bad for your health. So here are some of the things you can do with ample amounts of free time.
1) Attend awesome (and Free!) events:
Drinks x Design |
Like to learn about design in the city? The Detroit Creative Corridor (DC3) hosts Drinks x Design, an evening of design every month at various locations throughout the downtown. This past month featured video production and illustration and was located at the Tanget Gallery. The idea of the event is to expose people to various aspects of design by opening the doors of creative business in Detroit. Next month is Interaction Design on November 10th, check out their website for more details!
http://detroitc3.com/what-we-do/exposure/drinks-x-design/
Detroit Experience Factory |
The Dertoit Experience Factory is awesome if you are in new to Detroit. Why you may ask? Because it offers free tours (other are for a fee) of the downtown. It gets better, tours are tailored to interest, there is an art and architecture tours, best of downtown, northweast neighborhood tours, and Detroit innovation tours. I went on the Art and Architecture tour; the tour visited buildings and locations downtown and lasted about an hours. I learned about the different eras of architecture which created the downtown sky line and about various art projects. It was great and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about Detroit in general.
http://detroitexperiencefactory.org/
2) Not free but still awesome opportunities:
After 5 Detroit |
I found out about After 5 Detroit through another program of theirs, Connect After 5. I participated in a floor hockey tournament with Challenge Detroit and we almost won, taking home second place is still a victory in my book. It was great but After 5 is a great place to find all kinds of events happening in Detroit. Want to find a comedy show? Interested in seeing a play? Wondering what seasonal events are happening in Detroit? This is your place to find it.
Dine Drink Detroit |
This event takes place in the month of October and features restaurants in Detroit. Restaurants that participate provide a menu for a small plates and drinks at a cost of $15. If good food wasn’t enough incentive to go explore, this also provides you an opportunity to explore restaurants you wouldn’t go to for causal dining. Say you have been wanting to go to a restaurant that would typical serve a plate around $30, Dine Drink Detroit allows you to go get a taste and a beverage for half the cost. This years list included restaurants such as Katio, Gold Cash Gold, Townhouse, Huron Room, Republic Tavern, and Calexico.
http://www.dinedrinkdetroit.com/
3) Last but not least, Volunteer:
The Heidelberg Project |
What is the Heidelberg Project?
“The Heidelberg Project is an outdoor community art environment. The elements of the canvas contain recycled materials and found objects, most of which were salvaged from the streets of Detroit. Each work of art is carefully devised to tell a story about current issues plaguing society. As a whole, the HP is symbolic of how many communities in Detroit have become discarded. It asks questions and causes the viewer to think. When you observe the HP, what do you really see? Is it art? Is it junk? Is it telling a story? That’s for you to decide.” – The Heidelberg Project
This project caught my eye before I moved to Detroit; so when an opportunity to help arose I jumped on it. Recently the project had thousands of plants donated to them by Hoffie Nursery, and reached out to the community to help get them all in the ground. I spent a Saturday helping out and exploring. It was great the people in the community are really passionate about their block, like most in Detroit. The Heidelberg Project is evolving, changing, and is looking for volunteers to help out.
This is only a taste of the events taking place in Detroit. I hope that you found something that peeks your interest and encourages you to go explore (if not Detroit than your own city). Have fun and enjoy!!!