Photo: “Camptown Ladies” by Kara Walker. Knight Foundation recently supported the Detroit Institute of Arts to open its latest exhibit, “30 Americans,” free to the public on select weekends, so that it can reached the broadest audience possible. “30 Americans” opened its three-month, special exhibition run at the Detroit Institute of Arts last week with fanfare and […]
Article · October 28, 2015 by Rosie Sharp
From Oct. 17-18, independent bookseller and Knight Arts Challenge winner DittoDitto hosted the third annual Detroit Art Book Fair. The event was held at Trinosophes, a fellow Knight Arts Challenge winner, where dialogue was certainly flowing as art enthusiasts and bibliophiles gathered in droves for creative and fiscal exchanges with a range of booksellers. Many […]
Article · October 26, 2015 by Rosie Sharp
Photo: Nancy Mitchnick’s “Storm Trees” at Public Pool. Telltale signs of autumn in Detroit: unpredictable weather, a preponderance of cider mill treats and, best of all, the Hamtramck Neighborhood Arts Festival. Held on Saturday, Oct. 10, the annual event featured several Knight Arts grantees, including The Hinterlands, Hatch, Lo & Behold and Popps Packing. Now […]
Article · October 15, 2015 by Rosie Sharp
Photo: Artist Jonathan Hernández’s mother takes in his work, on display at MOCAD through Jan. 3, 2016. Things that happen in the newspaper: tears, anguish, fire, crashes, people checking their watches. The cultural tropes of daily print media are never so apparent as in the work of Jonathan Hernández, artist and subject of the most […]
Article · October 12, 2015 by Rosie Sharp
Photo: Paulina Petkoski of Playground Detroit at the Creative Economy Policy Summit. It is a tricky and delicate practice to place value on something typically considered as intuitive and personal as art-making. But that is the main concern of the many organizations and speakers that played a part in the Creative Economy Policy Summit: Growth […]
Article · October 2, 2015 by Rosie Sharp
Photo: Pewabic Director of Programs Chrys Bonnay-Lewis and artist Blake J. Williams. This post has been updated to correct the date of the Knight Arts Challenge announcement to Nov. 9. Chrys Bonnay-Lewis, the director of programs at Pewabic in Detroit, is determined that the organization be known not only for its historical roots as one […]
Article · September 22, 2015 by Rosie Sharp
Gallerist David Klein’s original outpost in Birmingham, Mich. Photo via David Klein Gallery. Expansion, diversity and cultural exchanges with other cities are all hallmarks of a thriving art scene. With new arts infrastructure falling into place and a roster of fresh players emerging on the landscape, Detroit is making great strides toward all three. One […]
Article · September 21, 2015 by Rosie Sharp
Photo: Jon Brumit intends to use these raw materials for a mobile version of the Knight-backed project Sound House. Image courtesy of the artist. Jon Brumit is an original thinker, to say the least. A Detroit-based musician, sound and installation artist, Brumit is unlimited by convention or media, creating inputs and outputs wherever he sees […]
Article · September 10, 2015 by Rosie Sharp
Photo: Workshop participant Jennifer Fitzpatrick Salazar communes with her inchworm creation. Photo by Alice V. Schneider, courtesy of Hatch. Last month in Hamtramck, Mich., women gathered for an old-fashioned sewing circle activity under the tutelage of Mary Fortuna, an artist known throughout the region for her handmade sculptures and figurines. (Read more about Fortuna in […]
Article · September 3, 2015 by Rosie Sharp
Photo: A diverse crowd watching “Bebop: The Musical.” “It’s been a while since I directed a musical,” said Carrie Morris, director of Carrie Morris Arts Production (CMAP). “I forgot how much work it is.” CMAP, a Knight Arts Challenge Detroit winner, is one of four arts groups that comprise the Carpenter Exchange–a creative placemaking initiative […]
Article · September 1, 2015 by Rosie Sharp
Photo: Each performance of “The Harrowing” includes a ceremonial burial of artifacts that function as a metaphoric history of the neighborhood. Nobody appreciates the blazing days of August like true Michiganders, who know that a long, cold winter is always just around the corner. And what better way to celebrate the rites of summer than with […]
Article · August 20, 2015 by Rosie Sharp