The Dequindre Cut is a gallery of graffiti and urban culture.
Excerpt:
The Cut is a trench under the streets of the former Black Bottom
neighborhood now known as Lafayette Park and runs between Orleans and
St. Aubin streets. It's a defunct railroad line that ran from the
Detroit River warehouse district north through Eastern Market and out
to the suburbs. A one-mile stretch recently opened as the Dequindre Cut
Greenway, a spur off the River Walk, open from Woodbridge on the south
to Gratiot on the north, and is attracting bicyclists, rollerbladers
and walkers to its level roadway.
Since the greenway opened, underpass walls and arches, long hidden
beneath the streets, have become exposed -- and with them the
eye-stabbing colors and line of tags, throw-ups, and full-blown pieces
and productions by the city's graffiti artists.
While the greenway is a wonderful showcase for this underground art,
ironically it threatens it's survival. While this ad hoc museum of hip
hop culture is opening people's eyes to long hidden talent, it is also
closing off the venue from the organic painting and repainting that is
inherent in graffiti culture.
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