Eastern Market is a small neighborhood just north of Downtown Detroit and Ford Field that hosts a farmer’s market every Saturday (the longest-running year-round farmer’s market in the country). In 1969, an artist commissioned the neighborhood’s first murals, and the Detroit street art scene here blossomed since. In just the last six years, more than 100 new murals have been added, thanks to the organization Murals in the Market.

I didn’t know any of this when I chanced upon Eastern Market; I was writing at a café nearby when I spied a mural across a highway and made my way over to investigate. I ended up spending a half-day exploring the Eastern Market murals and absolutely fell in love with this Detroit street art neighborhood.

Don’t leave finding street art during your Detroit trip to chance; head over to Eastern Market and see this vibrant street art scene for yourself.

Detroit street art’s Eastern Market murals

All you need to do to find the Eastern Market murals is open your eyes—it’s literally impossible not to find this Detroit street art.

Murals are painted on just about every vertical surface, from walls of wholesale meat markets to abandoned, crumbling buildings.

One of the reasons I recommend Eastern Market as one must-do activity in Detroit is the concentration of amazing murals here. You can’t walk a block without coming upon a remarkable piece of public art—or several!

What’s more, the number of Eastern Market murals grows every year. The annual Murals in the Market festival, which happens every September, combines murals with a block party-like series of events to celebrate this uniquely Detroit neighborhood.

In fact, Smithsonian Magazine named Murals in the Market one of the best street art festivals around the globe (and was the only one in the US).

My favorite Eastern Market murals

Ok, so I actually can’t pick a favorite among this Detroit street art. But I filled up my camera’s memory card with snaps of nearly every mural I saw.

I even wandered a little farther afield than the central Eastern Market spot. I found murals on abandoned buildings and some street art I had to view through chain link fences.

This Detroit street art isn’t sanitized. It has a point of view. It embraces Detroit’s gritty identity, and it doesn’t sugarcoat the very real issues residents of Motown face.

That’s one of the reasons I love Eastern Market murals, and why you’ll adore them, too.

What to do in Eastern Market

When you’ve had your fill of seeing Detroit street art, hang for a little longer in Eastern Market. Here’s what to do in this Detroit neighborhood.

Taste Detroit at the farmer’s market

If you visit Eastern Market on a Saturday, taste locally grown produce and other goodies from roughly 225 vendors. This year-round, indoor farmer’s market has been running for 125 years!

Support local artisans

On Sundays, local jewelers, artists, crafters, musicians, cooks and more gather in Eastern Market’s high-ceilinged buildings to share their wares. June through September, support Michigan makers and bring home something unique to Detroit.

Sip specialty coffee

Stop in at Germack, the nearly 100-year-old craft coffee roaster in Eastern Market. They take coffee seriously (and you can walk past their roasting operation on your way to the bathroom). While you’re there, pick up specialty spices, loose leaf tea and their custom snack mixes as gifts for the folks back home (or for yourself!).

Buy art for your own walls

Now that you’re totally inspired by all the Detroit street art, take some local art home. Find letterpress posters, handmade postcards and more at the printer’s co-op Signal-Return. I spent nearly an hour in here narrowing down which posters and prints I would buy. They’ll happily roll them up in a cardboard tube so you can safely transport them home.

If you’re looking for other things in Michigan to do as a family, don’t miss this comprehensive guide of things to do in Michigan with kids over on DQ Family Travel. A bunch of bloggers, including me, suggested our favorite Michigan family activities!

Have you ever been to Detroit? Did you see any Detroit street art? What did you think of the city?

The post The #1 spot for Detroit street art: Eastern Market murals appeared first on To & Fro Fam.