FLINT, MI — When people walk through Flint's Civic Park neighborhood Thursday, Oct. 23, they won't see just blighted houses, but colorful words intended to make them think about the neighborhood in a new way.

The Flint Public Art Project is holding an art parade in the neighborhood. The parade welcomes artists, musicians, dancers and members of the community to walk the streets of their neighborhoods to celebrate the areas they live. FPAP started the art parades in 2013, taking place in neighborhoods that have fallen victim to blight and crime. The parades are an effort to help residents restore a feeling of ownership in their communities.

"I think it's a good thing," said Maurice Davis, president of the Civic Park Neighborhood Association. "I think it's going to look nice. (The houses) will have a little touch of art. It will look better than blighted houses."

Melisa Morgan is the lead artist on the project. She grew up near Flint's east side and said this was her introduction to the north side of town. She said she learned a lot by attending neighborhood meetings and spending time with people in the community.

With a degree in graphic design and a passion for art, she said she was glad to use her skills to make billboards that bear positive messages.

The whole idea of the parade was centered around the idea of using words. She and FPAP Executive Director Stephen Zacks worked to come up with the idea of painting words in bright colors over the plywood that covers the doors and windows of vacant homes.

But they aren't the words you might expect.

"We have words like 'pause, echo, past, assembly, bouquet,'" Morgan said.

She said they talked a lot about using more traditional positive words like "hope" and "love," but they decided that such words were so common that maybe they'd lost the impact they once had.

"We were trying not to be so moralistic -- less preachy in a way, and more abstract. But the idea of hope and the idea of love are still present in the words we chose. There are a lot of murals that exist with those words. ... Words that make you think," she said.

They started painting the signs Monday, Oct. 20.

"We've had a lot of people asking, what does that mean? And that's kind of the point," she said. ... "It's meant to be a conversation starter. And hopefully turn into something more concrete."

In addition to the words painted on the houses, there will also be bulletin boards placed throughout the parade route where community members can write messages and ideas back and forth to each other.

For Mark Baldwin, who's been volunteering with FPAP for about a year and runs UFO Village, an urban farming site on Galespie Street, the project is exciting.

"This art parade is just amazing," he said. "That's art of (UFO's) vision too, is taking these abandoned homes and making them more attractive."



The parade will start in two locations. Those interested in taking part should meet at Civic Park School, located at Forest Hill Ave. and W. Dayton St., and Salem Housing, located at 3216 Martin Luther King Ave.