WSU professor transforms a Detroit garden into living art

Created by WSU art professor Allana Clarke, the "Amend" garden in Detroit's Little Village neighborhood grows heirloom crops whose histories trace the movement of African peoples across continents.

Can a community garden tell the story of the African diaspora?

That question sits at the heart of "Amend," a living art installation and educational community garden created by Wayne State University Assistant Professor Allana Clarke. Located at the newly opened Cadillac Arts Centre in Detroit's Little Village neighborhood, the garden is more than a place to grow vegetables. The project uses heirloom seeds, historical research and community participation to explore migration, displacement and Black resilience through the lens of agriculture.

Clarke, who joined the WSU faculty in 2020, engages in an interdisciplinary artistic practice that has long examined Black identity, history and systems of power.

For Clarke, whose interdisciplinary artistic practice has long examined Black identity, history and systems of power, the garden represents a natural evolution of her work.

"My practice has always been about thinking through materials that carry cultural significance," Clarke said. "This project looks very different from my previous work, but conceptually it's an extension of the same questions I've been asking for years."

A Trinidadian American artist who joined the WSU faculty in 2020, Clarke has earned a reputation for creating photography, sculpture, performance and installation works that examine Blackness across multiple facets. Her research often draws on everyday materials connected to Black beauty practices, challenging audiences to reconsider how race is reflected therein.

"Amend" expands that inquiry into the landscape itself.

The garden grows heirloom crops whose histories trace the movement of African peoples across continents, including West African leafy greens, heirloom okra, sorghum, fonio, brown cotton and other culturally significant plants. Many of the seeds represent varieties preserved by generations of families after being carried across the Atlantic by enslaved Africans.

The "Amend" garden includes West African leafy greens, heirloom okra, sorghum and other culturally significant plants. "I became fascinated by the fact that some of these seeds still exist because enslaved people hid them on their bodies during the transatlantic slave trade," Clarke said.

"I became fascinated by the fact that some of these seeds still exist because enslaved people hid them on their bodies during the transatlantic slave trade," Clarke said. "That act of carrying a seed speaks to hope. It says you cannot destroy a people if their seeds are still alive."

Located beside the Cadillac Arts Centre, "Amend" opened in May as part of the center's grand opening celebration. The installation serves as both a public artwork and an educational gathering space where visitors can learn about seed sovereignty, African and African American agricultural traditions, and climate-resilient growing practices through free workshops and community events.

The project reflects Detroit's rich tradition of urban agriculture, something Clarke admitted profoundly influenced both her artistic practice and her teaching.

"I was inspired by the incredible community of urban growers throughout Detroit," she said. "The city showed me that there was a way to merge my creative practice with gardening."

That connection extends directly to Wayne State.

Rather than building the project alone, Clarke intentionally assembled a team of former Wayne State students and graduates. Alumni have served as garden assistants, photographers, videographers and graphic designers, giving them professional experience while continuing relationships that began in her classroom.

The garden has attracted both former students who work with Clarke and community members who are allowed to enjoy its produce free of charge.

"It was really important for me to continue working with our students," Clarke said. "Learning shouldn't stop when students graduate. This project lets us extend mentorship beyond the classroom, and I couldn't have done it without the support of so many former students."

That philosophy mirrors how Clarke approaches teaching.

She encourages students to see community engagement as an essential part of artistic practice and reminds them they don't have to leave Detroit to make meaningful contributions.

"So many of our students will remain in their communities after graduation," she said. "I want them to know they can bring what they've learned at Wayne State back into those communities and create change there."

The garden itself has become an example of that idea in action.

Residents who have lived in the neighborhood for decades regularly stop to ask questions, volunteer or attend workshops. Produce grown in the garden is shared for free with community members, while seedlings are handed out each year so participants can grow historically significant crops in their own yards.

Clarke says those everyday interactions have become among the project's most meaningful outcomes.

"The garden has become this space where people who may not have felt welcome elsewhere feel welcome here," she said. "It brings together longtime residents and newer neighbors, and everything we grow is shared with the community at no cost."

Unlike traditional gallery exhibitions, "Amend" exists entirely in public view. Visitors witness not only the finished work but also the ongoing labor of planting, cultivating and harvesting. For Clarke, that accessibility is essential.

"There are no barriers to entry," she said. "It doesn't matter what your economic means are. Everyone has access to the work."

Unlike traditional gallery exhibitions, "Amend" exists entirely in public view. "It doesn't matter what your economic means are," Clarke said. "Everyone has access to the work."

Ultimately, Clarke hopes visitors leave with more than an appreciation for the garden itself.

Whether they discover an unfamiliar crop, learn a forgotten history or begin growing their own heirloom plants, she hopes each experience plants a seed of curiosity that continues to grow.

"As a teacher, education is always at the center of what I do," she said. "If someone leaves the garden with new knowledge they can bring into their home or community, then the project is doing exactly what I hoped it would do."