It still smells like fresh paint inside Kunsthalle Detroit, the city’s new art museum. (That feels really great to say, so I’m going to do it again: Have you heard? Detroit has a new art museum.) When our Kunsthalle (that’s German for “art hall” and denotes a non-collecting museum) opened two weeks ago, it came […]

Belle Isle is spectacular. The Detroit island park is home to dense woods, weeping willow-lined lakes, vast fields, dramatic views of the skyline and passing freighters, and some truly inspired architecture. The contemplative tranquility of its natural and man-made beauty also makes it a perfect place to encounter art, as the folks at Access Arts […]

This Saturday night, the Circa 1890 Saloon on the Midtown campus of Wayne State University will host “A Crowded House.” The rousing performance  will feature some of the area’s most talented and celebrated poets, spoken word artists and musicians. A whopping 35 individual artists will perform between 7:30 p.m. and 1:30 a.m., filling the saloon […]

Richard Chew knows a thing or two about film editing. Throughout a 44-year career, the Oscar winner has edited more than 30 movies, including Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Conversation” (1974), George Lucas’ “Star Wars: Episode IV” (1977) and Terrence Malick’s “The New World” (2005). Chew is currently a visiting professor at Detroit’s Wayne State University, […]

Cedric Tai doesn’t think Detroit is a blank canvas. (That controversial metaphor gets tossed around quite a bit these days by people who champion the city’s remarkable creative potential at the expense of its complex present and recent past.) The Detroit-born artist and Kresge fellow does think the city is filled with bad graffiti. To […]

In an exciting collaboration between two major local arts organizations, the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit will host members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra this Thursday evening for a remarkable (and free!) performance you won’t want to miss. The concert marks the completion of one of the works on display as part of “Barely There […]

I had the opportunity last weekend to show off the Detroit Institute of Arts to some first-time visitors to the city. We didn’t have much time, so I tried to steer them right to my favorite galleries (Contemporary and African-American). They were more interested, however, in the “Annual Detroit Public Schools Student Exhibition” that’s on view […]

“Barely There (Part I)” opened last weekend at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit. It’s the first installment in a two-part show that investigates “immateriality, presence, absence and performance.” “Part I” focuses on the mind, specifically on subjects like loss, geographic/linguistic identity and the power of questions. (“Part II,” opening in the fall, will concentrate […]

There’s a wonderful show in Midtown’s Work Detroit gallery that is a testament to the imagination and talent of the area’s youth and the community outreach efforts of local learning institutions. “The Gathering of the Herd” features an inspired assortment of baby elephants fashioned out of a wide variety of recycled materials. Some are the […]

The Re:View Contemporary Gallery in Midtown is currently hosting an exhibition of work by Detroit designer Andy Kem. “Interlocker” features mostly functional art objects (like lamps and chairs), but it also includes a large, freestanding sculpture and a few wall pieces. Almost everything on display is made of plywood. The objects’ taut, elegant curves and […]