My City January 2023

April

Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring! Home & Garden 2022 Lift a window, throw open a door and give your home a breath of fresh air. MCM's annual Home & Garden special section offers tips to help you say goodbye to winter and hello to spring. You’ve been waiting for this season that stirs a desire to

refresh your living space both inside and out.There is no better time to reinvent your home with a style to suit the wiser, more creative you. Revitalize the old or create a brand-new look with some out of-the-box home design ideas.

Window with a Different View Artist Ed Watkins

Artist Ed Watkins is always listening, thinking, pay ing attention to the world around him. Each illustration he creates is a window into his world – a world of hope, fear and confidence, of anxiety, struggle and peace. It is evidence of a world of his experience, of the African American experience and of our collective humanity. “My art develops as the world develops,” he stated. “Much of my work is about me making sense of the world around me through my experience as a Black man in Ameri ca.”For his recent works,Watkins took inspiration and images from the Ferguson protests, Black Lives Matter, George Floyd’s death, racial divide and other social issues, as well as singular moments in time that represent the experience of living in America.Many of the illustrations were featured at his exhibit at the Flint Institute of Arts.

AModel for Community Healing Sarvis Park Neighborhood Association

Born and raised in Flint’s Sarvis Park neighborhood, Ladel Lewis had seen the community at its best but after she returned to the area in 2019 to care for her ailing father, she found it most troubling. “The community was in a tough place.There were bullets in the streets and many residents felt like they were living in prison,” she explained. “They deserved better. I said to myself, ‘no more’.” Lewis got to work and with help from neighborhood residents, created the Sarvis Park Neighborhood Association (SPNA) to “help build pride and reduce blight in the community.”The SPNA is built around making Sar vis Park a community hub and public center but is working toward doing much more. “We want to improve the quality of life for families around it by establishing pride and feelings of security.”

83