The Dearborn Community Fund is accepting submissions to the Midwest Sculpture Initiative Visual Arts & Writing Contest. Entries must be submitted between January 2 and February 29, 2012. Three cash prizes will be awarded.

Writing and artwork submitted in the contest must have been inspired by one of the 12 sculptures on exhibit throughoutDearbornin the 2011-12 Art In Public Places Project, part of the Midwest Sculpture Initiative (MSI).

Artists and writers may submit a maximum of three images of artwork or poems, essays, dialogues, and/or narratives.

All submitted work will be reviewed by a jury. Prizes for the winning pieces are:   $100 first place, $50 second; and $25 third. Several honorable mentions also will be selected.

Entries can be submitted on paper or electronically in PDF format to communityfund@ci.dearborn.us. For complete contest guidelines, view the brochure that lists the sculpture locations at http://www.dearbornfordcenter.com/communityfund/ or call 313-943-5478.

Winning entries will be read and juried artwork displayed on March 28, 2012 at the Dearborn Community Fund’s “Multi-Arts Night Celebration” at theFordCommunity & Performing ArtsCenter,15801 Michigan Ave.,Dearborn.  This event begins at 7:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

Winners also will be recognized in the Dearborn Press & Guide newspaper.

“We expect entries to in the Visual Arts & Writing Contest to reflect the variety of styles found in the sculptures in the Art In Pubic Places Project. They range from whimsical to serene, provocative to straight forward,” said EmmaJean Woodyard, executive director of the Dearborn Community Fund.

The Art in Public Places project is coordinated by the non-profit Dearborn Community Fund (DCF). The organization provides resources to support recreational and cultural projects that impact the citizens ofDearborn. It is funded entirely through generous contributions from individuals, businesses, sponsors and fundraising activities.

For additional information about the Visual Arts & Writing Contest or the Dearborn Community Fund, call 313-943-5478.

What’s your best Dearborn story?

That was the question posed by the Dearborn Historical Museum earlier this month, and residents and former residents have deluged the museum with favorites — dozens and dozens of them, written out and signed, up close and personal.

As a result, a prospective book project announced by the museum as a fundraiser three weeks ago is officially on. It will contain more than 100 favorite stories, it is expected to be priced around $20, and it should be back from the printer as a soft-cover publication before Dec. 1.

The book, the first of its kind ever compiled by the museum, is titled “Best Dearborn Stories: Voices From Henry Ford’s Hometown.”

“I’ve always believed that people love to share stories about themselves and their towns, so I’m not at all surprised at the response,” said L. Glenn O’Kray, vice chair of the Dearborn Historical Commission and coordinator of the project.

“Even though we set a very short deadline for submitting the stories, I think it just encouraged everybody to sit down and write instead of putting it off. We had an original goal of 300 stories, but realistically that would have been too many for one book. We do plan to keep additional stories as they come in, anticipating that we’ll have more than enough for a sequel next year.

“As it is, we should have the books available for sale at the museum in plenty of time for Christmas shopping.”

Publishing costs are being underwritten by the Museum Guild of Dearborn, a nonprofit group of more than 20 clubs that support the museum. The Guild is finalizing a contract with a printer for a rush job on the book, which will be sold at the museum’s gift shop at the McFadden-Ross House, 915 Brady.

Profits from sales of the book will go to the museum, which has begun a membership drive to help keep its doors open after city funds run out during the current fiscal year ending June 30, 2012.

If you enjoy blues music then here’s an interesting event to check out in Dearborn Wednesday evenings.

Joe’s Top Dog Coney Island & Bar, 13342 Michigan Ave., (just down from City Hall), hosts a new jam blues session each Wednesday night from about 8:30 p.m. until 2 a.m.

What’s cool about how Top Dog owner Joe Bojovic has put this together is that this blues night is an open mic jam session. So if you have an instrument and want to play with the band, you can. Bojovic has been hosting the Wednesday night blues sessions for just over a month now and interest has really started to pick up, he said. There is no cover charge either, which is also nice.

“We wanted to try and peak some interest in East Dearborn with these sessions,” said Bojovic, who for 29 years has been serving some of the best coney dogs in Dearborn. “It’s a nice way to kick back and enjoy some good music and food with friends in the middle of the week.”

Dearborn blues band Jack Rabbit Slim kicks things off each Wednesday at about 8:30 p.m.

Drafts are just a $1, well drinks $2 and Long Island Ice Tea $4 until 10 p.m. each Wednesday. The grill is open until midnight so you can get Top Dog’s coney, burgers, chicken sandwiches and salads.

A few years back, Dearborn kicked off a campaign called Fall into Dearborn.

It was great idea developed as a way to get people to visit Dearborn shops, restaurants, bars, museums, etc. But since its inception, the annual event appears to have lost some of its horsepower.

Enter Moose’s Martini Pub, whose owners initiated a meeting with the Dearborn Chamber of Commerce to get an event schedule rolling for this year’s event and to inspire some action in downtown West Dearborn.

So beginning this Friday, Sept. 23, and running through Saturday, Oct. 1, Fall into Dearborn will get underway again with the goal of generating extra activity through the streets of downtown West Dearborn.

For a list of activities so far planned, you can visit a facebook page for the event, set up by Moose’s Martini Pub.

“I’m trying to do what I can to stir things up downtown,” said Hisam Elawad who owns and operates Moose’s with his brother, Chad. “It seems like it’s been pretty stale and that our city and Chamber are doing little to spark the business NOW, rather than just future. The things in the pipeline are great. However, the businesses that are here and that plan to stay need some incentive and push.”

Indeed.  West Dearborn has a lot to offer and the more we can find ways to draw people to visit the better. Mark your calendars and tell your friends to do the same.

Fall Into Dearborn kicks off on Friday, Sept. 23 with the Dearborn Symphony celebrating its 50 year anniversary with its first concert of the season.  On Saturday, Les Stanford will host a massive Corvette show at its dealership on Michigan Avenue.

All week offerings, include:

• Mati’s Deli: 10% off any time this week (call 313.277.3253)

• Silky’s: Half-off drinks and appetizers

• Big Fish: $20 for 3-course meal all week

• Village Picture Frame: 40% off framed art; 25% off gallery items

• SEEN Vision: 20% off all sunglasses

• Moose’s Martini: 3-5pm Fall Craft Beer bottles $2; pints $2 from 5-7pm.

For the facebook page that lists events and all participating businesses, click HERE.

Dan Merritt, co-owner of Dearborn’s Green Brain Comics, sent over this news to us about the 50^th anniversary of the Fantastic Four and a tribute that will be held at his store.  Drop by and see the exhibit and say hello to Dan. The news begins below:

Fifty years ago a new “world” was created. Ushered into existence by creators Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, the Marvel Universe was born with the first issue of Fantastic Four in November, 1961.

​To pay tribute to this visionary comic book, and its lasting impact on popular culture, you need a suitably grandiose concept. Green Brain Comics’ co-owner and Headspace Gallery curator Dan Merritt came up with one: Assign 26 different artists a page each of the landmark issue’s entire contents (The cover and 25 interior story pages). Each artist was asked to bring their own style to the page while staying loyal to the original content and intent of the overall issue.

The results of this tribute will be on display in Green Brain Comics’ Headspace Gallery starting on Wednesday, September 21 with an opening reception from 7-10pm. The exhibit will be shown through Dec. 31, 2011.

Many local artists will be featured, including contributions from Dave Acosta, John Nagridge, James Anderson and Sean Bieri. Admission to the reception is free, however, we will be accepting donations for the nonprofit arts and literacy advocacy group KIDS READ COMICS.

HEADSPACE GALLERY is located inside GREEN BRAIN COMICS at13210 Michigan Avenuein East Downtown Dearborn. For more information check the website HERE or call 313-582-9444​

Dearborn artist Janet Kondziela paints food at Top Dog Coney Island, 13342 Michigan.

Dearborn Paints – Good Food, an exhibition of art, commerce, marketing and a bit of fun, is finally completed and open to the public.

Following 12 months of painting good food from Dearborn restaurants (and probably a bit of tasting it, too, we hope), Dearborn artist Janet Kondziela is putting down her easel and paints, just for a day, so we call can view her original paintings of each restaurant’s signature product.

We wrote about Kondziela’s restaurant project a year ago, HERE and some of you may have bumped into her while she was on location at several Dearborn establishments with her easel and paints.

Aided by a grant from the Dearborn Community Fund and some additional support from the Dearborn Chamber of Commerce, Kondziela was on site at more than 25 businesses.

Now her finished works will be open to the public on Friday, Sept. 9 at the Padzieski Gallery, located in the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center, 15801 Michigan Ave. The public reception for the opening runs from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm on Friday and the exhibit will run until Sept. 24.

There will be a Dearborn Chamber of Commerce “After Hours” reception on Wednesday, Sept. 7, from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Those wishing to attend that event should contact the Dearborn Chamber of Commerce at 584-6100 to make a reservation.

Both events are free.

The sculpture 'Internal Combustion' by Douglas Gruizenga, is located at Michigan and Brady near the Dearborn Historical Museum.

If you like those art sculptures you see while driving through Dearborn (we do) you can thank the Dearborn Community Fund, the non-profit organization that provides resources to support recreational and cultural projects in Dearborn.

Twelve new sculptures are enhancing the landscape in east and west Dearborn along Michigan Avenue.

The artwork was installed through Dearborn’s Art in Public Places project as part of the Midwest Sculpture Initiative (MSI).

The Dearborn Community Fund (DCF) project has expanded since it was first initiated in 2009 when eight sculptures were placed around the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center.

“Public interaction and interest in the project provided the encouragement to host a new exhibit for the third year in a row,” said EmmaJean Woodyard, executive director of the DCF.

This is the second year that the East Dearborn Downtown Development Authority (EDDDA) and the West Dearborn Downtown Development Authority (WDDDA) are collaborating in the project, which has helped to expand the initiative and increase the number of sculptures from eight to 12.

Residents and visitors to Dearborn are encouraged to take a sculpture tour.

“The sculptures range from whimsical to serene, provocative to straight forward,” Woodyard noted. “Residents already have commented that the subject matter – such as pistons and horses that look like wild Mustangs – as well as the steel and aluminum materials used by the artists, are a great reflection of Dearborn and our automotive history.”

Artists whose work is exhibited in the 2011 Art in Public Places Project are from Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. All can be purchased for those interested, too.

(more…)

Fordson: Faith, Fasting Football, the award-winning movie filmed in Dearborn that documents the Fordson High School football team during Ramadan, opens at select AMC Theatres Sept. 9.

We haven’t seen the film yet but early reviews and awards suggest it is well done.  People we have spoken to who live in Dearborn and have seen the film say it shines a more positive light on our city and its residents. For many who live outside of our city and only view us through the negative lens of the network news, the film could serve as a good educational tool.

The film will launch via the AMC Independent™ program in select AMC markets (for a minimum of one week), including Dearborn, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Orange County, Calif., Los Angeles, New York, N.Y., Brunswick, N.J., San Jose, Calif., San Francisco, and in the Greater Washington D.C. region, including Gaithersburg, Md., and Alexandria, Va.

According to the movie’s producer, the film shows all-American life in a typical high school (Fordson) that happens to be mostly Arab-American, unearthing a community desperately holding onto its Islamic faith while struggling to gain acceptance in post 9-11 America.

The film recently received the Special Grand Jury Award at the Slamdance Film Festival, Special Jury Prize at the DEADCenter Film Festival, the Audience and Founders Award at the 2011 Politics on Film Festival, the Best Documentary Award at the Detroit-Windsor Film Festival and was named Champion of the World Cup Film Awards.

You can read what Varity magazine had to say about the film after it was shown at Sundance by clicking here http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117944514/

“This film offers a dynamic and delicate story from a perspective that is not often told,” said Nikkole Denson-Randolph, vice president, specialty and alternative content for AMC. “We are proud to play a role in sharing the story.”

North Shore Films is launching a national grass roots marketing campaign to secure volunteers to promote the film in their local markets via educational institutions, religious organizations, youth sports teams and community centers. People interested in volunteering can sign up at www.fordsonthemovie.com

Additional information about Fordson is available at its website, via Facebook and Twitter (@FordsonTheMovie).

Longtime Dearborn resident David Good, chairman of the Dearborn Historical Commission and author of Orvie: The Dictator of Dearborn, sent us the column below.

A former editor at The Detroit News, Good writes about the city’s master plan survey and the importance of filling out the online survey and allotting a few dollars to the category of “civic institutions” as a way to let our city leaders know that preserving one of Dearborn’s gems, the Historical Museum, is a priority.

Residents have until Aug. 1 to complete the online survey.

Good’s column begins below.

David Good

 “You have $100 to spend on public improvements in the City. How would you split your money?”

That’s one of the key questions in a master plan survey posted on the Dearborn city web site (www.cityofdearborn.org) as part of an effort to get residents involved in guiding “the future development of the city.”

If you’re a good citizen and fill out the survey by the Aug. 1 deadline, either online or on paper, chances are you’ll put most of your $100 on everybody’s usual priorities: police and fire, roads and parks. But if you don’t allot at least a few dollars for the category of civic institutions, you’ll be giving city officials a clue that it’s OK to let one of Dearborn’s least-known gems, the Historical Museum, close its doors.

As explained by Chief Curator Kirt Gross in the current issue of the museum’s quarterly publication, The Dearborn Historian, the museum is facing a “perfect storm” of increasing expenses and declining city revenues. In past years Dearborn has provided more money for historical museum operation than any other city in Michigan. But the daunting budget problems facing cities everywhere led Mayor Jack O’Reilly, always a strong supporter of the historical community, to look for ways to make the museum entirely self-sufficient within three years.

In June the City Council shocked museum supporters by slashing funding by about two-thirds for the new fiscal year – and cutting off city financial support altogether after next June. Unless the master plan survey helps convince city officials that the museum means more to the city than they think it does, the funding cuts means the museum will have to cannibalize money that was earmarked for a storage/exhibit building. And when that money begins to run out, the next steps will be to trim staff even beyond current record-low levels, sell off items from the collection, end the education program that shows second-graders what pioneer life was like – and finally close down the museum’s buildings.

In the meantime, the museum will have to drop plans to convert an old Quality Inn Motel building near Garrison and Brady into a facility to house the museum’s extensive collection of historical artifacts. You’ll recognize the motel building, which shares a wall with the museum’s office building, by the plywood sheeting that covers one entire north face of the former motel.

One bit of gallows humor prompted by the current financial troubles is a tongue-in-cheek suggestion to cover the drywall with a mural and perhaps a slogan like “We’re history.”

Needless to say, museum officials are already planning a fund-raising campaign, but these are dicey times to be asking people to donate money for a historical museum.

Maybe the best hope right now is a plan to include an advisory question on the November ballot to ask voters how they feel about more money for the museum.

In the meantime, for the first time since the Historical Museum opened its doors six decades ago, it is now offering individual memberships to those who have supported its activities and programs in the past. At the same time, the museum announced it will be asking first-time-ever fees for subscriptions to the Dearborn Historian and for admission to museum buildings.

Officials anticipate making every individual in the Dearborn historical community a card-carrying associate member of the museum – at no charge. Along with membership cards, the museum will be offering expanded opportunities to volunteer and to elect a higher level of support to the museum. Associate members who wish to upgrade their memberships by donating to the museum will be eligible for such additional benefits as a subscription to the Historian and discounts at the museum shop.

While all this is going on, museum officials are counting on residents to take the first positive step and fill out those master plan surveys, checking off the boxes that indicate support for culture and history – and by all means allocating as much as possible of that survey’s not-so-imaginary $100 for civic institutions like the Dearborn Historical Museum.

The third of six free outdoor jazz concerts in East Downtown Dearborn is this Wednesday (July 27) at Dearborn City Hall Park beginning at 7 p.m

The free concerts — presented by the East Dearborn Downtown Development Authority (EDDDA), V98.7 Smooth Jazz HD and WWJ Newsradio — will all be held Wednesday evenings from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. Bring lawn chairs or blankets and stake out a good spot for great music in the Park.

Tonight’s free concert features Lin Rountree.

Plenty of neighborhood restaurants will be open nearby too, so grab yourself some tasty carry-out and make it a picnic dinner before the show!

Here’s the schedule of the remainder of shows:

Wednesday August 10: Straight Ahead

Wednesday August 17: Urban Jazz Collection

Wednesday August 24: Alexander Zonjic All Star(s)…special guest(s) to be announced soon.