Now more than ever, small, local businesses are seeking support from the community to help attract customers and stay afloat during the global pandemic. So Beatrice Wolnerman, owner of local co-creating and co-working space Bea’s Detroit, decided to help by making advertising fun, artistic, and accessible with a new installation and flower garden on the Dequindre Cut.
By participating in Bea’s Small Business Art Garden, business owners can market themselves and their products by displaying art and sayings on 3-foot tall posters. So far, business like City Bark, Good Neighbor, David Vintage, and Populace Coffee have opted into the art garden.
Each of the posters is displayed on Bea’s plot of land on the Dequindre Cut under the Gratiot overpass. “We knew the power of this location right here on the Dequindre Cut, so we wanted to do something to give other small businesses the opportunity to get that great exposure as well,” Wolnerman says.
Small businesses that want to be featured in the garden are being challenged to portray their brand or logo in a new, creative, and artistic way on their poster. They can work with Bea’s in-house designer at no cost or they can create their own designs for the display.
The idea for the art garden came to Wolnerman after the success of her lemonade stand, Bea’s Squeeze, last summer. She bought the plot of land on the Dequindre Cut to build the pop-up lemonade stand, and the venture ended up being so successful that she now sells her lemonade in 11 states. Using that same area of land, she created the art garden this summer to give back to the community.
Wolnerman says that people who want to support small businesses are coming up to the installation, taking photos, and sharing them with their friends, and the businesses that advertise in the garden are excited to be a part of this fun, unique experience. “This is a special and different opportunity that really makes an impact,” Wolnerman says. “Businesses have already gotten a lot of great feedback and traction.”
For more information on Bea’s Detroit and a full list of the businesses featured in the art garden, click .
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