At Green Garage, a shared workspace with heavy emphasis in sustainability, Matthew oversees overall operation and communication. At Green Garage, printing paper could be reused; there is no air conditioning, but rather a dehumidifying process; the bathroom lights are assumed to be off; the list goes on. Matthew himself barely purchases new items and usually practices repurposing and reducing single usage items to contribute to sustainable causes. Green Garage is tightly connected with El Moore Lodge, El Moore Gardens, and Seasons Market due to the founders: Tom and Peggy. While walking around with Matthew, he told me about how the entrance of El Moore Gardens came from an old water tower, and it now serves as a free space for public congregation. El Moore Garden has mostly, if not entirely, native Michigan native plants. He also introduced how the specific design of the garage is intentional in creating a more aesthetically pleasing community.
Matthew enjoys his interactions with Detroit. He perceives Detroiters to have strong work ethics, and the city to have abundant opportunities for creativity. He loved the proximity to a lot of great lakes. He believes the sustainability movement in Detroit starts from the ground up. There used to lack leadership in sustainability but has seen increasing prioritization recently. Now that the city has an organization and starts to build infrastructure. Two of the most iconic ones being the riverfront and dequindre development. The riverfront used to be purely industrial with minimal emphasis on people, but it now serves as a great place for Detroiters to relax and socialize.
Matthew founded a publication called Essay’d, which covers the Detroit contemporary art scene. He also writes for other publications that focus on Detroit arts and architecture. He wishes to close the gap between what artists wish to share in local space and what people are understanding: we are all inhabiting architecture and we ought to know more about it.