Artists turn N. Corktown vacant lots into creative space

Model D, 8/6/2009

A simple space in Detroit's North Corktown neighborhood looks to provide some room for performance.

Excerpt:

Corktown artist Kathy Leisen found a novel way to approach Detroit's vacant land as an asset rather than a liability. She is making use of two lots in North Corktown as The Lot, a space for performance art that pushes the boundaries of what might usually be found in a museum or gallery, places that she says "serve a really important function for artists, but (this) challenges them to think a different way."

Leisen's concept stemmed from an intense winter session she taught at an art school in Saugatuck, Mich., at which visiting artist Mark Dion challenged and inspired her and her students. Living next door to the land and "looking at it for three years" spurred her to begin investigating possibilities for the parcels.

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Detroit