Over the course of her Instagram takeover as part of the Model D Explorer Series, Melinda ‘MeMe’ Anderson took us from Parker’s Alley in downtown Detroit to the Avenue of Fashion, with plenty of stops along the way.
If you’re curious about public art and design in the city of Detroit, MeMe’s
takeover provides an inspiring point of entry.
A proud Cass Tech alum, Anderson’s own career has taken her from the University of Michigan’s school of architecture to Berlin to several prominent architecture and design firms here in town. She founded her own event design and production company,
Studio M Detroit, in 2009.
Earlier this year, Anderson debuted the 313 Heart, an installation in Parker’s Alley downtown. Her work has become part of the art and design fabric of the city that she so loves.
Later this month, Anderson will vie for a $25,000 grant from the Rebrand Black Accelerator program. A win would complete her fundraising efforts for Electric Fruit, a mobile art gallery for Black artists and designers.
We asked her all about it.
Model D: You’ve gone from a career in architecture to event design and production and now, with the 313 Heart, public art installations. How has that evolution taken place?
Melinda ‘MeMe’ Anderson: It has been really cool. And it kind of happened by accident. Because I was designing for Movement one year, and usually all my work was in the VIP area. And so no one from the general public ever really saw my work if they didn't have a VIP ticket. One year they asked me to design a backdrop at the last minute and so I designed a backdrop. The next year I said, “Hey, can I design this big boombox?” and it was 10 feet tall by 20 feet wide. And it was just one of the coolest things I've ever designed.
That was at the entrance of the Movement festival. So the general public came in and people just went crazy over it. They were interacting and dancing and taking pictures. And I was standing there and I said, you know, people respond to big things that are cool and familiar. And if you just tweak the design — I had these reversible sequins, where you could actually leave a mark and like write your name. It was a way for people to transfer their energy to the piece and become part of the artwork.
That was in 2019. That was a pivotal year for me because I did that design. There were something like 18 people that helped me work on it. So I had carpenters building the box. Then I had another crew doing all of the dowels for the numbers. And then, later on, that year, I won a $25,000 Knight Arts Challenge grant for an installation called
Electric Fruit that I'll be debuting next year. It’s basically a futuristic fruit stand that sells the work of Black artists and designers in Detroit.
Model D: Where’s that going?
MeMe: Great question. So the idea behind it was two-fold. Working on Detroit Month of Design, I often thought, “Wow, where are the Black artists and designers? And why are they not applying as frequently as other people?” So Electric Fruit became a platform for Black artists and designers to share their work. But instead of expecting people to come to galleries and museums, this installation is mobile. It will go into neighborhoods and I'll bring the art and design to them. They can experience these artists and designers and we’ll have community potlucks and design talks. I’ll bring the design experience to these neighborhoods, and it will travel, depending on funding for programming, maybe 10 times that season. And so it's just going to be a way to engage the community and to showcase design and ultimately, you know, I hope to showcase Detroit talent to the world.
I hope people see it and say, “That's a great idea. Why are we waiting for people to come to art and design galleries? Why don't we go to them?”
Model D: That’s really interesting. So it’s mobile, how does that work? Is it like a food truck that sells art?
MeMe: It's a futuristic fruit stand. The concept is one that I came up with while I was in New York. I was on a design trip, just getting a lot of inspiration, and I was staying in Chinatown. I was really fascinated by the fruit vendors — they popped up at seven in the morning and then at 6 p.m. they were gone.
This idea of the ephemeral has been something that's always fascinated me from architecture school. Then there’s this concept of what does a fruit stand look like? What is design? What is art? That's why it's hot pink, because it really needs to catch your attention and be engaging. Guests will sell the fruit, which is the artwork and design work. And then you'll have an ambassador, which will probably be me, engaging the public. With the 313 Heart, I've seen how people love to take selfies and things like that. So it will be a moment that people want to engage with.
Model D: As someone that’s a complete outsider to event design, it seems like it would be difficult to put all this work into creating this super cool thing and then never see it again. But I imagine that could be exciting for someone, too.
MeMe: To me, that temporary feeling is what's exciting. There are so many things that go into wanting to attract people to that one spot. You have the marketing aspect with the 313 Heart. What was cool in the way I designed it is that it debuted on Valentine's Day and then for other holidays, we kept changing it. So 313 Day, you have the 313 piece. On St. Patty's Day, there was this amazing florist, Amber Kirkland, who built a three-dimensional rainbow out of flowers. We celebrated on Opening Day and it was a tiger.
I pushed, I did the marketing, and I took a risk. It's bold and courageous design to say, Hey, I know that we're in the middle of a global pandemic, but here's something cool you can take a picture in front of and uplift your spirits. That was the whole idea. We wanted to do a piece that would uplift people's spirits during this time.