Detroit, Michigan

Trumbullplex

Detroit housing collective working to create an "environment for revolutionary change."

Located in the Woodbridge neighborhood of Detroit, the Trumbullplex is a housing collective and performance venue that was created in 1993. The members of the collective established the nonprofit Wayne Association of Collective Housing and purchased the property as well as two Victorian houses and the single-story art space between them that year.

The collective, which contributes to a nearby school for teenage mothers, a cycling nonprofit, several Detroit-based organizations that promote urban agriculture, and a number of other causes, operates with a mission statement that calls for the creation of “a positive environment for revolutionary change in which economic and social relationships are based on mutual aid and the absence of hierarchy.”

Living up to their mission statement, the collective acts on the basis of consensus decision-making and serves as a home, art gallery, theater, meeting space, and temporary residence for traveling activists. The art space is run on a donations-only basis. Members of the collective each pay an equal portion to cover the costs involved in maintaining the property and fundraising, outreach, and finance committees manage respective areas of operation.

The Trumbullplex was named the “Best Place to Hang Out With Anarchists” by Detroit’s Metro Times in 2002.