The SPCA Community Animal Kinship Art Garden is a joyful, community powered public art project transforming a vacant lot in Detroit’s Southfield Plymouth neighborhood into a vibrant outdoor gallery celebrating the animals that share our urban ecosystem. Led by the Southfield Plymouth Community Association in partnership with Weaver Community Arts Inc. and Weaver Fine Art Creatives LLC, the project brings neighbors together to create colorful, animal themed sculptures, murals, and storytelling installations that spark imagination, compassion, and pride.
The garden is designed as a welcoming creative space where youth, families, and longtime residents collaborate to beautify their neighborhood while learning about humane education and local wildlife. Through hands on workshops, young artists help design and build the artworks, gaining leadership experience, artistic skills, and a sense of ownership in shaping their community.
What makes this project awesome is its simplicity and its heart: a once empty lot becomes a place of color, creativity, and connection. Children see their artwork displayed publicly. Neighbors gather, talk, and co create. Visitors encounter playful depictions of deer, birds, cats, and other animals that reflect the life of the community itself.
The Awesome Foundation grant will help us expand the next phase of the garden with new youth created installations, weatherproof signage, and materials for community art days. This small investment creates a big, visible impact — turning an overlooked space into a living symbol of neighborhood pride, creativity, and kinship with the animals who share our world.