51 Aprons Turn to Art on Woodward

The vacant lot along Woodward Avenue in Ferndale, between West Lewiston and West Cambourne, was the perfect spot, Brighton artist Dennis Bruce Spencer said.

Spencer, 54, rescued 51 aprons from the trash and turned them into art, hanging them on the fence that surrounded the lot.

"I looked for the perfect place for some time and then I saw that. There couldn't be a more perfect spot," he said. "Everyone that drives up Woodward would have to see it."

Spencer, who helps out from time to time at , had 51 white aprons. He tied them together, which totaled 459 linear feet he said, and on Wednesday, had people write one word on each of the aprons.

Once the words were completed, he took the aprons to the vacant lot and hung up the string along the fence. The fence had a black tarp-like material surrounding it to obstruct the view into the empty lot. The black material, Spencer said, is what made this so perfect. "The contrast of color, the black material and the white aprons, it couldn't be better," he said.

The vacant lot was set to be developed into a mixed-use development, Ferndale Downtown Development Director Cristina Sheppard-Decius said. However, in 2008, the economy crashed and financing for the lot fell through. She said the owner of the lot is still looking for developers but nothing solid has been presented.

At first, 51 was just the number of aprons, Spencer said. Now, however, each apron is a tribute to the 50 states plus Puerto Rico.

Spencer said this the one-word apron is his answer to 2wordstory.com, a multidenominational, 530-church campaign aimed at injecting faith and hope into Detroit and its suburbs by taking one word first as a question and then as the answer. It was a satirical way to look at the campaign. "I'm very satirical with my art," he said.

Words scrawled across the aprons include "Love" and "Hope" and "Smile," plus 48 others.

AJ O'Neil, who owns where the project was completed, called the apron project just another example of Ferndale's creative community.

"This is a creative, cooperative community and a creative cooperative piece of art," O'Neil said. "It's great art that kept 51 aprons from the trash and were used as art."

Spencer hopes the art stays up for a few more days. After which, he'll donate the project in some capacity to the Penrose Art House and Art Garden at Seven Mile Road and Woodward in Detroit, he said.

As for more public pieces of art like the 51 aprons, Spencer said he's unsure. "I don't know," he said. "It's just one of those things."