DETROIT: Chimera

If you ever happen to drive on I-75 through the north end of Detroit, before you reach the suburbs you might just happen to spy a massive Chimera upon a wall. Acting as a huge welcome sign to Detroit from the north, this huge piece, the largest mural in Michigan has entranced me ever since I moved to the state. Not only is it huge - it's 870 feet in size, but it's beautiful. The Chimera which the artist Kobbie Solomon describes as being a composite of the four Detroit sports teams (Detroit Lions, Detroit Tigers, Red Wings and Pistons) and the art which occurs daily within the building upon which the design was spray painted upon - the Russell Center. Built in 1915, the Russell Industrial Center was a hive of activity manufacturing parts for the big auto companies born out of Detroit, and during the war was home to manufacturing B-17 Flying Fortress Wings. Now it's home to over 150 small businesses and artists and is considered one of the key examples of positive urban redevelop within the city - oh and they were filming scene's for the next Transformers movie there the other week too!

It actually took my parents telling me over the weekend that Texas had song on the radio about Detroit - surprisingly it's never really made my radar living so close to city limits but there you go. While I've never been a huge Texas fan, I certainly can appreciate the they actually filmed the song in the city - and barely any ruin porn shots feature (yippie!!). It's a video that features many places now familiar to me - Woodward Avenue, Fox Threatre, Belle Isle to Campus Martius and Hitsville (Motown) many of the places which have appears on Dear Ms Leigh at some point or another.

And while we're talking about Detroit, make sure you check out my guest post over on Bethan's blog A Pretty Place to Play were I express my love and passion for exploring my home turf.

What's your favorite things and places to go around your home patch?