By Kelli B Kavanaugh, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit MOCAD’s summer season is now open, and there are two wonderful exhibitions coupled with a full roster of public programs to entice you to come visit the Museum.

The first, Post-Industrial Complex, is an exhibition and source book that celebrates the ingenuity and adaptivity of the Detroit community. The exhibition is organized by MOCAD and curated by MOCAD’s Curator of Education, Katie McGowan, and Curator of Public Engagement, Jon Brumit. This multi-disciplinary exhibition, comprised of locally made objects and recorded interviews with makers, proposes a conversation about the meaning and value of personal labor in Detroit. From the half-baked idea to a life’s work, from the janky fix to a potentially world-changing solution, the spirit of invention takes center stage.

MOCAD’s call for submissions to the exhibition generated nearly 200 entries, from which just a dozen were selected for exhibition. All submissions — which will continue to be accepted through the entire run of the show — will be published in a catalog later in the year. Through the run of the show, the MOCAD store will feature a Made in Michigan table that will include work by both submitters and exhibitors.

The makers and wares to be featured in the exhibition include Fred Ellison (mosaic); Bill Kozy (model rocket); Dozer Cycle (custom motorcycle and BBQ); Anthony Reale (water turbine prototype); Cezanne Charles & John Marshall (sound installation); Angela Kiel (sweater); Mr. Motin (maple syrup collection system and boiler); Aisling Arrington & Jill Bersche  (bicycle-powered cement mixer); James Aquash (sweetgrass baskets); Four Colours Productions (Ojibwe language children’s books); Phenomenal Woman (jewelry); and Walter Bailey (drawing workshops).

The second exhibition is the Detroit installation of Vertical Urban Factory, which is curated by architectural historian Nina Rappaport and was first exhibited at New York City’s Skyscraper Museum.

Vertical Urban Factory features the innovative design of factory buildings that are both urban–located in cities or shaping cities–and vertical–multi-storied and dense. Included are significant examples from around the world and including Detroit, spanning the modern era to the present. By examining the significance of these spaces, this project points to the impact of global economies on local industries and aims to stimulate ideas for the sustainable reintegration of the factory into the urban fabric.

A sampling of the events planned for the season include a Storytelling Potluck on May 24; music from fan favorite Omar Souleyman; A Family Day with the Nationwide Museum Mascot Project; the second installation of Drive-In Radio Theater; a trading post and a swap meet! Learn more about these and all of MOCAD’s Public Programs at Upcoming Events.

We hope to see you at MOCAD this summer before the season closes on July 29.