Party pics: Detroit Soup
The one-year anniversary of Soup brought together more than 100 people at the Loft above the Mexicantown Bakery. The evening was spent discussing the triumphs and challenges that Detroit creative projects have and will encounter. The public event invites guests to pay $5 for a locally-grown and made meal of soup, salad and pie. That money is then put into a pot, and participants are welcomed to present ideas to the crowd. At the end of the night, dinner guests vote on which projects to fund.
In the begining, the grants were around $100, but by August 2010, when Soup was profiled in a New York Times article, the event was raising around $700 a month. Not only that, but several other neighborhood soup's popped up including Spalding Court, Hamtramck, and the newest addition, Dearborn.
While the idea of Soup is simple, the impact it has on the community is not. The way Soup brings people together allows for a dialogue that otherwise would not exist and pools community resources to support the projects they care most about. The impact of Soup was easy to hear on Sunday night as past winners explained how the funds have allowed them to undertake projects that once seemed impossible and serve as a platform from which to jump. The room was enveloped by an art installation by Dan Demaggio, making it warm and comfortable despite the falling snow outside.
An announcement was made that this monthly event will become seasonal so that organizers can target issues and each event can have its own feeling with art installations relative to the topic. Long after the night's tomato soup had disappeared from bowls, people lingered, connecting and enjoying home-brewed drinks and tasty sweets.
Learn more about Detroit soup or get involved here: www.detroitsoup.com
