StoryCorps Detroit: Chalk Drawings on the Hudson Building

A Detroit artist uses the Hudson Building as his personal canvas.

Maurice Greenia, Jr. is an artist and performer from Detroit. In the mid-1990s, he decided to brighten up the boarded-over display windows of the Hudson Building.

StoryCorps

“I was trying to do something positive for the city and downtown.”

In this StoryCorps Detroit segment, Greenia talks with his friend, Jennifer Gariepy, about creating over 500 chalk drawings on the Hudson’s Department store in the years before the building was imploded.

The real estate company, Bedrock, is planning to erect a skyscraper at the site of the former Hudson Building. If completed as designed, it will be Detroit’s tallest building. See renderings of the futurist structure here.

Click the player at the top of the page to listen.

Want more? StoryCorps Detroit is a podcast. Click here to listen on wdet.org or subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or your favorite podcasting app.

Author