“Water Street,” a 38-acre grayfield near the heart of Ypsilanti, Michigan, was cleared of an array of industrial structures in the early 2000s in hopes the City might redevelop, sell, or otherwise capitalize on the property. Although apparently vacant for nearly a decade, local activists, explorers, and gardeners have made use of the site for walks, guerilla planting, plein-air meetings, May Day festivals, and picnics. In May of 2013, an acre at the southwest corner of Michigan Avenue and River Street was adopted by a group who initiated the first phases of what will be a multi-year native prairie restoration. That July, community members began to make public art in the adjacent lot. Art-hut.org attempts to document some of what is happening there.

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