Although our lives rely completely on a hyper-industrial global economy, a belief in the promise of industrialization itself — which is the promise of less burdensome living for all — is on the wane, especially in a city like Detroit, where it is all too apparent that a total reliance on massive and industrial economic […]
Article · June 8, 2012 by Jeremy Schmall
If you have some time between 1-6 p.m. on any Saturday this June, it would be well spent on a stop by Public Pool in Hamtramck to experience “Reckoning A Peripheral Wilderness” — an installation by Detroit artist and CCS graduate Michael McGillis. In the front window, ghostly coyotes cast in milky molded plastic peer […]
Article · June 5, 2012 by Jeremy Schmall
In a 2010 interview with the author Jonathan Lethem, legendary performing artist Patti Smith boldly declared that New York’s creative dominance was finished, and even went so far as to suggest that Detroit could be the next New York. What she meant by that statement is that the Detroit of today—with its struggling economy and […]
Article · June 1, 2012 by Jeremy Schmall
Despite some rainy moments, Memorial Day Weekend in Detroit afforded numerous opportunities for everyone to rest, relax and enjoy the holiday in the manner of their choosing. For my part, it was inconceivable to spend more time than necessary indoors, so I joined an upbeat cross-section of Detroiters enjoying the riverfront walkway against the audible […]
Article · May 29, 2012 by Jeremy Schmall
No need for out-of-town plans this holiday weekend; Memorial Day Weekend in Detroit is chock-full of action! The Detroit Film Theater has an exciting Friday night line-up: Friday Night Live & Detroit Film Theatre present “Friction: Moon Pool and Dead Band” in concert, as well as “The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye” onscreen. The […]
Article · May 25, 2012 by Jeremy Schmall
By guest blogger Rosie Sharp It was quite the banner weekend for the arts in Detroit, and this blogger had the opportunity to attend two different performances, each of which informed the other in the most unexpected ways. The pinnacle of the weekend was Saturday night’s “Bollywood in the D” at the Music Hall Center […]
Article · May 22, 2012 by Jeremy Schmall
This past Sunday, I had the pleasure of taking in a performance of Blair Thomas & Company’s “A Kite’s Tale,” at the Detroit Institute of Arts (a Knight Arts grantee). It was a puppet show unlike any I had ever seen, involving a live performance by pianist Kathryn Goodson of Modest Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an […]
Article · May 18, 2012 by Jeremy Schmall
Anyone with a background in community service can attest that simple ideas are often the most powerful. It is the rare organization that can resist the allure of overdevelopment and stick to basic principles. Arts & Scraps, a nonprofit based out of Detroit, was founded in 1989 on the simple concept that industrial waste materials […]
Article · May 15, 2012 by Jeremy Schmall
Like most people, my involvement with theater has been pretty passive, so I’m not ashamed to admit I was intimidated to be a part of the Open Training Session the Hinterlands Ensemble held on Sunday, May 6, in the stunning Jam Handy Building. The fact that I drove to the training session and walked my […]
Article · May 11, 2012 by Jeremy Schmall
In honor of the centennial of the sinking of the Titanic, the Henry Ford Museum is hosting “Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition,” a huge collection of pieces salvaged from the undersea remains of history’s most high-profile shipwreck. Massive in scope and rich in detail, the 10,00-square-foot exhibit takes both a historical approach and a distinctly human […]
Article · May 8, 2012 by Jeremy Schmall
“Seinfeld,” the TV sitcom famous for being “about nothing,” is in my mind actually the iconic sitcom about America in the ’90s, concisely encapsulating a decade of American life. I apologize for bringing “Seinfeld” into the discussion; my point is simply that a show about nothing naturally ends up being about quite a bit more than […]
Article · May 4, 2012 by Jeremy Schmall