Etheldra Mae Williams Park in Brightmoor is home to a group of 12-foot-tall nutcrackers for the holidays.
And they’re not your typical holiday nutcrackers, either.
The 14 statues all have their own unique style and are entirely made out of repurposed materials. There’s a chocolate King of Hearts nutcracker, a Sugar Plum Fairy, a penguin and even a Michael Jackson nutcracker during his Motown days with The Jackson 5.
The Nutcracker Garden is part of the Brightmoor Lights Holiday Festival, which runs until Jan. 3. In addition to the park, there will be more holiday displays on Darcy Street and Burgess Street for a drive-through experience.
The festival, now in its second year, is run by neighborhood organization Williams Park Alliance. Alliance manager Michael Williams said that while the neighborhood hosts several events during the summer, there was not much activity happening during the fall and winter seasons and that’s how the group came up with the holiday festival.
The Nutcracker Garden was an idea that was conceived this year, Williams said. In order to get the recycled materials, the alliance received donations from sustainable leather goods manufacturer Pingree Detroit, as well as Blight Busters and Recycle Ionia.
“Most of these were just scrap items,” Williams said. “We’ve got carpet leather, we’ve got chicken wire, we’ve got tarps. Blight Busters donated a bunch of paint to us. We channeled our resources and we did what we could to help to save the environment.”
The group also received 40-inch tubes, which is what the nutcrackers are made up of.
“I couldn’t create as many myself, so this gave an opportunity for local artists to be involved,” he said.
Williams began his artist search last month on Facebook and in-person with the art enthusiast group Detroit Fine Arts Breakfast Club. He said the 13 artists are from around metro Detroit.
One of those artists is Williams’ friend Karen Robinson. The Detroiter built a fashionable nutcracker dressed in a pink shirt, white pants, a scarf and a black and pink hat. The piece is named after the classic Christmas song, “Baby, it’s Cold Outside.”
Robinson said she made her nutcracker out of old tablecloths, sheets and vinyl. It took about two weeks to put everything together.
“That’s my first one and hopefully next year, if I’m able, I might do another,” Robinson said.
Absolutely beautiful!!