“We just wanted to make recycling cool,” says Matthew Naimi, director of operations at Recycle Here! “Artists and musicians make people come back.” Recycle Here! was started in 2005 and now functions as the city of Detroit’s recycling program. Since then, it has recycled more than 4,400,000 pounds of material from more than 73,000 visits from Detroit residents. Following Naimi’s vision, it has covered nearly all of its 300,000-square-foot facility with art from an eclectic mix of local and national artists. The bright murals covering its buildings and “buzz” from its recognizable bee logo have helped build interest and transform the industrial block around Holden and Trumbull. While standing on the future site of the Holden Street Sculpture Garden and watching Marianne Audrey Burrows stand atop a large box truck to begin one of her signature large-scale wall murals, Naimi added, “Public art in the neighborhood brings people together and allows them to talk and be neighbors again … I usually can’t afford to commission something, but I will buy anybody paint.” Pieces by Burrows and Brown bag detroit on the facade of Recycle Here!’s buildings have even attributed to a decline in graffiti and vandalism. “It seems that even the worst tagger in the world will respect a piece of art,” Naimi adds Recycle Here! has established itself as a resource for artists in the city and a bastion for utilizing arts for revitalization. Some of its other initiatives include festival clean ups, neighborhood outreach and educational programs. It is safe to say that, for me, Recycle Here! is one of most inspiring places in the city. When I see Robert Sestok’s painting of the “MC5” and I’m surrounded by friends and neighbors doing something positive, “Kick Out the Jams” starts to play in my head and, no matter what, my day becomes just a little more awesome.

Recycle Here! is open: Wednesday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 1331 Holden Ave. Detroit, Mich. 48202 313-871-4000