Brick Road

Wealthy Street

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I recently met up with some good friends for dinner on Wealthy Street (Grand Rapids, MI). I lived at the corner of Wealthy and College about 12 years ago. Back then it was still a fairly gritty part of town. I have many stories about my experiences there, and none of them are bad. Even back then this area had a real charm to it. The homes are gorgeous. The famous Meyer May house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright was just around the corner. The street is mostly still brick. I often thought about what this area was like back in the time of horse and carriage. That apartment still is at the top of my list of favorite homes I have had.

When I was leaving this neighborhood I could see the glimmer of renewal taking place. The liquor store a couple of blocks east has just been replaced by the Wealthy Street Bakery. Today this area is filled with locally owned eateries, shops and coffee houses. My favorite apartment is now a luxury condo.

I was early meeting my friends so I took a minute to shoot a couple of photos:

Wealthy Street Theatre

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A Summer Evening Remembered

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I found this pic today from a visit to Chicago back in August. We happened upon a neighborhood festival in Rogers Park. It was such a fun evening. I took this photo of the kids cheering on the dancing kitten puppet show.

This puppet show is actually a booth attached to a bike. To better see what I’m talking about, visit http://www.puppetbike.com.

Visiting THE HUB – ArtPrize 2012

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I stopped by the HUB today to pick up my artist name badge and swag bag. This is the second year that this building has been the HUB, but this year they have added an entire outdoor lounge where the street normally is. This is the center of all things ArtPrize. You register to vote here, shop for all of your ArtPrize goodies here, and also this is where they display the winning piece of art from last year. Let the fun begin. It is ArtPrize again. I can seriously feel the buzz of energy in this fine city of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Post 97, Ladies Literary Club, continued…

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I want to apologize to all of my blog land buddies for my absence. I have been trying to juggle a whole lot of craziness lately. I thought today I’d post another photo from the Ladies Literary Club I took back at the end of May. The first photo got a very positive response from all of you. I hope, hope, hope to get out more in the next week or so to resume my daily(ish) posting from around my fair city of Grand Rapids.

Also, we are only 3 more posts away from my 100th blog posting! That means you still have time to leave me a like or a comment on any of my pages (facebook, twitter, wordpress, tumblr, web site) and I’ll enter you in a chance to win one of my photographer’s field notebooks and a set of my snazzy fabrikate pin trios. If you haven’t yet seen these items, check out my web site at http://www.fabrikateshop.com. The winner will be announced at the beginning of my 100th blog posting.

@ Division

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I took these photos on Weston Street facing Division Ave. Division used to have a bad reputation. When I used to tell people I lived downtown they’d say to me, ‘OH, stay away from Division.’ I realized after a while that the people who used to say this to me were all from the suburbs.

If they had taken the time to visit this street in recent years they would have realized the charm of this area. Numerous shops and galleries line this street and all of them are locally owned. This area has a special vibe. It is very down to earth, with shop owners accepting the old buildings for what they are and working with that, instead of feeling the need to tear them down and destroy the city’s history in the name of commercialism.

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