Culture is something that is so present in our daily lives, that many times we won’t even notice its there. That is, until you enter a new environment, and the culture you have been raised on is flipped, in some regards, on its head.
Then you definitely notice culture. Your personal culture, the culture of your workplace, the culture of communities, the culture of your high school — entering new environments can for sure put things into perspective.
Growing up, I had an idea of what the culture of an urban setting would be — wild, fast paced, and excitement at every corner. And I’ve found that Detroit fits that description, but not exactly in the way I had pictured. Not only is Detroit a unique city, and has its own culture that is distinct from probably every other major urban center, but each neighborhood has its own culture too.
Learning the culture of these neighborhoods, how the community interacts, and what is important to the identity of each one (specifically HOPE Village and West Village) These cultures have developed over the long history of Detroit, but are still subject to sudden change.
Change in culture is not necessarily bad, but it is important to know if the community is on board with changes.
For example, in both of our target neighborhoods we are trying to get public art projects up and running, but even though I think art can be beautiful in many forms and in any place and can transform communities for the better — we want to make sure that the community feels that the art is aligned with the culture and identity of their community.
In a meeting today I was asked what is my definition of “art”. And I kind of froze. What was I supposed to say? What was the ‘right’ answer in this situation? Because a definition of art can be different in different places. But in that meeting, the community we were meeting with wanted to know my definition of art.
My response was that I think public art is something that is either commissioned, or is considered by the community to be art. Finding what each community considers “art” will be another step on my journey to discovering what the culture of each neighborhood is.
In my discovery of culture at work, and culture in — I think I’m going to learn a lot about my own personal culture as well. And I’m looking forward to that experience.
Till next week, and Go Tigers.
-Cole
