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APRIL 2015
APRIL 9-12, 16-19, 25-26

EVENT GUIDE
ARTXDETROIT.COM

LETTER FROM

RIP RAPSON
President & CEO,
The Kresge Foundation
Welcome back to Art X Detroit, the third
biennial celebration of our Kresge Eminent
Artists and Artist Fellows. For 10 days
spread across three weeks, our 2013 and
2014 awardees will be presented in nearly
20 venues from Midtown to Eastern Market
to Downtown and places between. In
galleries and museums and auditoriums,
we invite you to bond over free music and
dance, literary readings, film showings,
photography, painting, and more. We
invite you to experience how art is
uniquely able to bring us together.
No one needs to be reminded of how
tumultuous the two years have been since
we last shared the Art X Detroit experience.
To believe our doubters, Detroit should
be a crater of devastation at the core of
our region. Instead, in our political and
civic spheres, weve grappled creatively
with circumstances to put our community
back on track for a healthy, united future.
Throughout, our artists, our culture
creators, have both inspired our hopes and
reflected our challenges. Theyve had the
audacity to believe in themselves, in our
city, in art that can bring us together.

Through the Kresge Eminent Artist and

Artist Fellows Program administered
by Kresge Arts in Detroit at the College
for Creative Studies we have honored
more than 100 artists since 2008,
awarding them $3 million. Through Art X
Detroit, audiences near and from afar can
experience their work in the city that is
their incubator.
None of this would be possible without
the enthusiastic collaboration of Midtown
Detroit, Inc., the College for Creative
Studies, Creative Many, MOCAD, the
numerous host venues and others working
behind the scenes. We are in their debt,
just as we are in debt to our 2013 and 2014
Eminent Artists David DiChiera and Bill
Rauhauser and to our dance, music, film,
theater, literary and visual artist fellows. We
are proud to present their work with their
many collaborators in Art X Detroit.
Enjoy!
Rip Rapson
President & CEO
The Kresge Foundation

ART X DETROIT
Art X Detroit: Kresge Arts Experience
(AXD) is a 10-day festival of dance,
literary, musical & theatrical performances,
film screenings, visual arts installations,
workshops, panel discussions & interactive
experiences. AXD presents works created
by the 20132014 Kresge Eminent Artists
and Artist Fellows. AXD will be hosted
at multiple venues throughout Midtown
Detroit and beyond over a three-week
period in April & is FREE to the public.

AXD is presented by The Kresge

Foundation and produced by Midtown
Detroit, Inc. AXD partners include: Kresge
Arts in Detroit, College for Creative Studies,
Creative Many, and MOCAD.
Visit our website for updates and more
information surrounding Art X Detroit:
ArtXDetroit.com.
#ArtXDetroit #AXD2015

for details on each artist & project visit artxdetroit.com/artists

KRESGE ARTS IN DETROIT

Kresge Arts in Detroit, funded by The Kresge Foundation and administered by the
College for Creative Studies, represents one facet of the foundations efforts to
strengthen the long-term economic, social and cultural fabric of Detroit. Kresge Arts
in Detroit is designed to elevate the profile and strengthen the careers of artists living
and working in metropolitan Detroit and to enrich the quality of life for area residents
by helping artists provide a broad spectrum of cultural experiences.

KRESGE ARTIST fellowships

Kresge Artist Fellowships consist of an unrestricted $25,000 award and professional
practice opportunities for emerging and established metropolitan Detroit artists.
Fellowships recognize creative vision and commitment to excellence within a wide
range of artistic disciplines. A total of 36 fellowships will be awarded between 2015
and 2016, including nine fellowships in each of the following categories: dance/music,
film/theatre, literary arts and visual arts. Fellowship applications are available each fall,
and are reviewed by independent fellowship panels. For more information, please visit
kresgeartsindetroit.org.

KRESGE eminent artist award

Each year, Kresge Arts in Detroit awards one Kresge Eminent Artist Award to an
exceptional artist who has made a longstanding contribution to metropolitan Detroit
in dance, music, film, theatre, literary arts and/or visual arts. The unrestricted $50,000
award is given to an artist whose influential work, impact on their art form and proven
commitment to the Detroit cultural community are evident. The Kresge Eminent
Artist is selected by the Kresge Arts in Detroit Advisory Council, a volunteer group
of leaders drawn from the metropolitan Detroit cultural community. Recipients to
date include visual artist Charles McGee, master jazz trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, poet
and playwright Bill Harris, poet and publisher Naomi Long Madgett, composer and
Michigan Opera Theatre artistic director David DiChiera, photographer Bill Rauhauser
and textile artist Ruth Adler Schnee.

CREATIVE MANY
Creative Many Michigan, formerly ArtServe Michigan, is the statewide economic
development organization focused on the mission to develop creative people,
creative places and the creative economy for a competitive Michigan. Creative
Many emphasizes the power of creativity through advocacy/public policy,
research/reporting, professional practice programs, strategic communications
and networking for the greater good of the arts, culture and creative and design
industries. For more information, please visit creativemany.org.

ART X DETROIT PARTNERS

SCHEDULE
Art X Detroit is a 10 day festival spread over 3 weeks in April:
ONGOING EXHIBITIONS
1

Thu/April 9Sun/April 26
Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit
(MOCAD), Galleries

ART X DETROIT 2015

Visual Arts Exhibition
Presenting the Work of the 2014 Kresge Eminent
Artist and 20132014 Kresge Artist Fellows
Installation & Exhibition

Thu/April 9Sun/April 26
Cass Caf

Chris Campbell / WDET Radio Host

Live DJ Mix

What Would Lynne Tillman Do?

Book Signing

10 7:00p9:00p Detroit Symphony

Orchestra, Music Box

Jasmine Rivera
Voices of Detroit: The Music of
American Prophet
Film Screening, Live Recording

11

Collected artifacts, historic prints &

published books
Display

7:00p9:00p MOCAD, Installation

Kate Daughdrill

Fri/April 10Sun/April 26
Detroit Public Library, Main Branch
Concourse

In Memoriam: Arthur R. LaBrew

7:00p8:00p MOCAD, Caf

Lynne Tillman

Charlie OGeen: 4620 Cass Avenue

Advanced concrete experimentation and
alternative construction processes
Installation

7:00p11:00p NNamdi, Gallery

Medicinal Food and Tea Pairing

Interactive Activity

12 7:30p8:15p DIA, Detroit Film Theatre

Tracy Halloran Pearson

Nascent Transformation
Dance Company Premiere

THURSDAY, APRIL 9
ART X DETROIT:
KRESGE ARTS EXPERIENCE
2015 OPENING NIGHT
4

5:00p6:30p MOCAD, Caf

Lynne Tillman and the State of Arts and

Cultural Criticism
Novelist, short story writer, cultural critic, and
former 2010 KAID panelist Lynne Tillman will
read from her book What Would Lynne Tillman
Do? and speak on the state of arts and cultural
criticism. This reading and lecture will be followed
by a Q&A, book signing and reception.
Reading/Lecture

5:00p6:30p NNamdi, Black Box

Live Stream: Lynne Tillman and the State

of Arts and Cultural Criticism
Live Stream Projection

13 9:15p11:15p DIA, Detroit Film Theatre

Tony DAnnunzio

Louder Live with The Howling Diablos

& special guest Wayne Kramer
> Reservation suggested
Film Screening, Concert

FRIDAY, APRIL 10
14 12:00p2:00p MOCAD, Caf

Panel: Rethinking Justice

A moderated discussion including Wayne Kramer
(co-founder of Jail Guitar Doors and former
guitarist of MC5), Shaka Senghor (Live in Peace
Digital and Literary Arts Project, University of
Michigans Prison Creative Arts Project) and
Ashley Lucas (University of Michigans Prison
Creative Arts Project) about using the arts in
rehabilitation efforts in correctional facilities.
Panel Discussion

6:00p12:00a Detroit Institute of the

Arts (DIA), Crystal Gallery

Tony DAnnunzio
Louder Live Jenny Risher Photo Exhibit
Photo Exhibit

7:00p11:00p MOCAD, Caf

Art X Detroit 2015 Visual Arts Exhibition

Nick Austin / WDET Radio Host
Live DJ Mix

for details on each artist & project visit artxdetroit.com/artists

SCHEDULE
April 9-12, 16-19, 25-26
15 4:30p7:00p Detroit Public Library
Main Branch Friends Auditorium

Arthur R. LaBrew

SUNDAY, APRIL 12
22 12:00p2:00p Michigan Science Center

Peregrine Workshop

Arthur R. LaBrew AfriClassical

Musicologist
Introduction by Professor LaBrews nephew
Darryl Prestwood and a discussion with legal
advisor and researcher Ellis Washington and
David Washington of the National Association
of Negro Musicians about the life and legacy
of Arthur R. LaBrew.
Display, Discussion

16 6:00p8:00p The Carr Center

Gallery 1st Floor

Leon Johnson

The City is Made of Stories

Interactive Workshop, FAMILY ACTIVITY

23 3:00p4:00p Michigan Science Center

Planetarium

Daniel Land
Brave Red World
Family Presentation

24 4:00p5:00p Michigan Science Center

Planetarium

Daniel Land

Vestigial Enclaves / Sacral Enclosures:

The Fox Creek Biome
Readings by Bill Harris & Norman Douglas,
music by Efe Bes
Presentation

Why We Go
Family Presentation

25 6:30p7:30p Garden Theater

Britney Stoney
Save Yourself!

17 8:00p9:00p MOCAD, Caf

Musical Stage Performance

Stephen Nawara
Beehive Recording Co.
Presentation

18 9:30p1:00a MOCAD, Caf

THURSDAY, APRIL 16
26 12:00p2:00p MOCAD, Caf

Artists as Social Entrepreneurs

Stephen Nawara

Since 2010, Laura Callanan has explored and

profiled the surprisingly real overlap between
artists and social entrepreneurs and innovators
across the country from their imagination and
adaptability to their commitment to technique
and passion. Join Laura, now Senior Deputy
Chairman for the National Endowment for the
Arts, for a rich discussion on how artists can
and do advance creative solutions to real-world
challenges at the macro- and local levels.
Panel Discussion

Grand Opening of the Beehive

Recording Co.
Concert

SATURDAY, APRIL 11
19 12:00p2:00p MOCAD, Caf

Panel: Design of the Times: Detroit

What is the value of design to Detroit in the
21st century? Design and the creative industries
are a vibrant and complex ecology. Design in
particular currently has multiple meanings, scales
and opportunities for a diversity of practitioners
and practices. Moderated by Cezanne Charles
(Creative Many), this panel will examine how
design and the creative industries impact Detroit.
Panel Discussion

20 6:30p7:30p MOCAD, Gallery

27 12:30p2:00p King High School

Auditorium

Gayelynn McKinney
Discover Jazz Workshop for Music
Students
Gayelynn McKinney (drums) with Aline Moore
(piano), Marion Hayden (bass), Michelle McKinney
(vocals)

Ben Hall

Windbag for Thirty-Six Sets of Lungs

> Reservations required for
performance participants

28 7:00p9:00p Trinosophes

Interactive Installation

21 9:00p1:00a Michigan Science Center

Planetarium, Rocket Ship Area

Daniel Land
World Space Party Detroit

> Reservations required

Interactive Student Workshop

Leon Johnson
Vestigial Enclaves / Sacral Enclosures:
The Fox Creek Biome
Readings by Bill Harris & Norman Douglas,
music by Joel Peterson
Presentation

Projection, Talk, Live Stream,

Cocktail Party

Schedule numbers correspond with venues & artists

SCHEDULE
Art X Detroit is a 10 day festival spread over 3 weeks in April:
29 6:30p8:30p DIA, Detroit Film Theatre

35 3:00p4:30p NNamdi

Rola Nashef

Carolyn Walker

Rola Nashef, The Directors Cut

Writing It Out: Using the Arts to Heal

Film Screening, Artist Talk

Reading, Discussion

30 9:00p11:00p DIA, Detroit Film Theatre

36 4:30p6:00p Garden Theater

Donavan Glover

adrienne maree brown

You Want Poems: Jessica Care Moore

(A Documentary in Progress)

Detroit Visionary Fiction Generator

Readings by Autumn Brown, Oren Goldenberg,
Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Dream Hampton, Walidah
Imarisha, Dani McClain, & Gabriel Teodros
Readings, Projections

Talkback with jessica Care moore

Film Screening, Talkback

FRIDAY, APRIL 17

37 6:00p7:30p Garden Theater, Lobby

31 12:00p2:00p MOCAD, Caf

adrienne maree brown

Panel: The Art of the Documentary

Juanita Anderson (WSU Department of
Communications) will facilitate a discussion
on the art of documentary productions across
multiple mediums.
Panel Discussion

Octavias Brood: Science Fiction from

Social Movements
Book Signing

38 7:00p8:00p Garden Theater

Chace Mic Write Morris

Youre Coming With Me

32 5:30p8:00p MOCAD, Caf

Side Parking Lot

Kate Daughdrill
Value Making Ceremony

Readings, Live Music, Projections

39 8:00p11:00p Cinema Detroit

Diane Cheklich

Discussion, Bonfire

33 8:00p11:00p Cinema Detroit

Diane Cheklich

The Dr. Reddy Experience

> Reservations required
Film Premiere, TalkBack

SATURDAY, APRIL 18
34 12:00p2:00p Charles H. Wright Museum
of African American History, GM Theater

The Dr. Reddy Experience

> Reservations required
2nd Screening, Talkback

40 8:00p11:00p Garden Theater

adrienne maree brown &

Chace Mic Write Morris
With performances by Tunde Olaniran,
DJ Mike Medow and others.
Reception, Release Party

Why the Arts Matter: A Conversation on

Art, Engagement, and Community

SUNDAY, APRIL 19

Art X Detroit welcomes Jane Chu, Chairman

of the National Endowment for the Arts, for a
public conversation with The Kresge Foundation
President & CEO Rip Rapson. Jane and Rip will
discuss why the arts matter and the critical role
arts, culture, and creativity play in restoring
and animating communities across the country,
including Detroit.
Public Conversation

AXD Film Showcase

41 2:00p10:00p Cinema Detroit

Featuring a variety of films produced by and
about the 20132014 Kresge Artist Fellows.
Visit ArtXDetroit.com for the full schedule of
screenings.
Film Screenings, Q&A Sessions

42 2:30p4:00p MOCAD, Caf

Artist Talk: Bill Rauhauser

A discussion of the life & work of the 2014
Kresge Eminent Artist.
Discussion

43 4:30p6:30p Cass Corridor Commons

Sanctuary

Kisma Jordan
Beyond Classical: Classical Crossover
Concert

for details on each artist & project visit artxdetroit.com/artists

SCHEDULE
April 9-12, 16-19, 25-26
SATURDAY, APRIL 25

51 10:00p4:00a Garden Theater

Juan Atkins

44 12:00p-2:00p MOCAD, Caf

Juan Atkins Celebrates 35 Years

of Techno

Panel: The Art of Food Sovereignty

Jamii Tata, Kate Daughdrill, Jerry Hebron, Paul
Weertz, and Wayne Curtis will explore what food
sovereignty is, why it matters, and the creative
and artistic ways that urban farmers in Detroit are
cultivating a more food sovereign city. Organized
by Burnside Farms and Keep Growing Detroit.
Panel Discussion

Projection, Live Performance,

DJ Party

1:00p6:00p Detroit Gallery Crawl

Galleries across Detroit will host special
programs, exhibitions, and previews.
See page 9 of the program for more
information. Hosted by Art X Detroit.

SUNDAY, APRIL 26
52 11:00a1:00p Trinosophes

dream hampton

45 4:00p6:00p MOCAD, Caf

A Live Scored Conversation

with Detroit Legend Ed Love

New Music Detroit

Music by McKinney Zone.

Live Recording

New Detroit Sounds

Concert

46 2:30p3:30p Wayne State University,

Studio Theatre

53 4:00p5:30p Michigan Opera Theatre

Detroit Opera House, Main Stage

David DiChiera

Terry Blackhawk

An Afternoon with David DiChiera

& His Works

Protea Currency
> Reservations required

Concert

Mixed-Media Poetry Reading

47 4:30p5:30p Wayne State University,

Studio Theatre

54 6:00p8:00p First Congregational

Church, Sanctuary

Gayelynn McKinney

Terry Blackhawk

Gayelynn McKinney & McKinfolk:

The New Beginning

Protea Currency
> Reservations required

Concert

Mixed-Media Poetry Reading

48 6:30p7:30p MOCAD, Gallery

55 7:00p9:00p Salt & Cedar

Leon Johnson

Ben Hall

Vestigial Enclaves / Sacral Enclosures:

The Fox Creek Biome

Windbag for Thirty-Six Sets of Lungs

> Reservations required

Readings by Bill Harris & Norman Douglas,

music by Joel Peterson
Presentation

Interactive Installation

49 7:00p9:00p MOCAD, Caf

Dunya Mikhail
Poetry and Music from Iraq
Reading, Musical Performance

50 7:00p9:00p Garden Theater

Sherina Rodriguez Sharpe

>

Reservations can be made online on

the event page or the artist page at
artxdetroit.com.

On Becoming [Unfukwitable]
Stage Performance

Schedule numbers correspond with venues & artists

VENUES
Art X Detroit is a 10 day festival spread over 3 weeks in April:
A THE CARR CENTER

j GARDEN THEATER

311 East Grand River Avenue

Detroit, MI 48226
313.965.8430
thecarrcenter.org

3929 Woodward Avenue

Detroit, MI 48201
313.832.0888
thegardentheaterdetroit.com

16

25 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 40 | 50 | 51

Cass Caf
4620 Cass Avenue
Detroit, MI 48201
313.831.1400
casscafe.com

k MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
3200 East Lafayette Street
Detroit, MI 48207
313.494.7373
detroitk12.org/schools/king

27

CASS CORRIDOR COMMONS

4605 Cass Avenue
Detroit, MI 48201
313.556.1702
casscorridorcommons.org

l MICHIGAN OPERA THEATRE

Detroit Opera house
1526 Broadway Street
Detroit, MI 48226
313.237.7464
michiganopera.org

43

CINEMA DETROIT
3420 Cass Avenue
Detroit, MI 48201
313.281.8301
cinemadetroit.com

53

m MICHIGAN SCIENCE CENTER

5020 John R Street
Detroit, MI 48202
313.577.8400
mi-sci.org

33 | 39 | 41

COLLEGE FOR CREATIVE STUDIES

201 East Kirby Street
Detroit, MI 48202
313.664.7400
collegeforcreativestudies.edu

21 | 22 | 23 | 24

n MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART

DETROIT | MOCAD
4454 Woodward Avenue
Detroit, MI 48201
313.832.6622
mocadetroit.org

f DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS

5200 Woodward Avenue
Detroit, MI 48202
313.833.7900
DIA.org
6 | 12 | 13 | 29 | 30

g DETROIT PUBLIC LIBRARY

1 | 4 | 7 | 9 |11 | 14 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 26 | 31 | 32
42 | 44 | 45 | 48 | 49

o THE NNAMDI CENTER FOR

CONTEMPORARY ART
52 East Forest Avenue
Detroit, MI 48201
313.831.8700
nnamdicenter.org

5201 Woodward Avenue

Detroit, MI 48202
313.481.1300
detroitpubliclibrary.org
3 | 15

h DSO MAX M. FISHER MUSIC BOX

3711 Woodward Avenue
Detroit, MI 48201
313.576.5100
DSO.org
10

FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

33 East Forest Avenue
Detroit, MI 48201
313.831.4080
friendsoffirst.com

5 | 8 | 35

SALT & CEDAR

2448 Riopelle Street
Detroit, MI 48207
207.671.3462
saltandcedar.com
55

q TRINOSOPHES
1464 Gratiot Avenue
Detroit, MI 48207
313.737.6606
trinosophes.com
28 | 52

54

for details on each artist & project visit artxdetroit.com/artists

VENUES / aRT DETROIT NOW

April 9-12, 16-19, 25-26
r WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY

STUDIO THEATRE

Library Street Collective

1260 Library Street, Detroit, 48226 Downtown

4841 Cass Avenue

Detroit, MI 4820
313.577.2972
wsustudio.com

Live Coal Gallery

46 | 47

Ocelot Print Shop

the WRIGHT MUSEUM

MBADs African Bead Museum

315 East Warren Avenue

Detroit, MI 48201
313.494.5801
thewright.org
34

5029 Trumbull Street, Detroit, 48208

Woodbridge
3535 Cass Avenue, Detroit, 48201 Midtown
6559 Grand River Avenue, Detroit, 48208
Grand River

NCA (National Conference of Artists)

18100 Meyers Road, Detroit, 48235
Palmer Park

NNamdi Center for Contemporary Art

DETROIT GALLERY CRAWL

52 E Forest Avenue, Detroit, 48201 Midtown

North End Studios (NES)

4264 Grandriver, Detroit, 48208 Downtown

Saturday, April 25, 1PM-6PM

In partnership with Art Detroit Now

Art Detroit Now will host an afternoon at

Detroits leading galleries with special programs,
exhibitions and previews. Pick up a Gallery Guide
at any of the participating venues listed below
or view the pdf at artdetroitnow.com and plan
out a route for an afternoon of visual art viewing.
Art lives in Detroit!

Popps Packing
12138 Saint Aubin, Hamtramck, 48212
Hamtramck

Re:View Contemporary
444 W Willis Street, Detroit, 48201 Midtown

Red Bull House of Art

1551 Winder Street, Detroit, 48207 Midtown

Scarab Club
217 Farnsworth Street, Detroit, 48201 Midtown

Signal-Return
4620 Cass Avenue, Detroit, 48201 Midtown

1345 Division Street #2, Detroit, 48207

Eastern Market

CCS Center Galleries

Spread Art @detroit contemporary

Cass Cafe

301 Frederick Douglas Avenue, Detroit, 48201

Midtown

5141 Rosa Parks Avenue, Detroit, 48208

Woodbridge

Corktown Studios

Start Gallery

2707 14th Street, Detroit, 48216 Corktown

Elaine L. Jacob Gallery

480 West Hancock Street, Detroit, 48201
Midtown

Ellen Kayrod Gallery

4750 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, 48201
Midtown

Galerie Camille
4130 Cass Avenue, Suite C, Detroit, 48201
Midtown

Hatch Gallery
3456 Evaline Street, Hamtramck, 48212
Hamtramck

Heidelberg Project
42 Watson Street, Detroit, 48201 Midtown

Inner State Gallery

206 East Grand River, Detroit, 48226

Downtown

The Carr Center

311 East Grand River, Detroit, 48226
Downtown

Trinosophes
1464 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit, 48207
Eastern Market

What Pipeline
3525 Vernor Highway, Detroit, 48216
Southwest

Whitdel Arts
1250 Hubbard Street, Detroit, 48209
Southwest

Young World
6121 Casmere Street, Detroit, 48212 Hamtramck

1410 Gratiot Avenue, Detroit, 48207

Eastern Market

Schedule numbers correspond with venues & artists

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To see which venues are hosting Art X Detroit

events on a given day of the festival, please visit
ArtXDetroit.com/maps.

EMINENT ARTISTS

1
42

Bill Rauhauser

SELECTED PHOTOGRAPHS:
BILL RAUHAUSER
Iconic Detroit photographer and educator Bill Rauhauser
changed his career path from engineering to art after
first becoming interested in photography in the mid-1930s.
Exploring the medium first as a hobby and then as a serious
art form, Mr. Rauhauser spent years photographing the
streets and houses of Detroit and eventually joined the
photography department at the College for Creative Studies,
where he would teach for 30 years.
A gallery providing a selected display of some of
Bill Rauhausers celebrated photography will provide a
glimpse into works spanning the 1950s through the 1980s.

billrauhauser.com

Photo Credit: Carlos Diaz

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David Dichiera
AN AFTERNOON WITH DAVID DICHIERA
& HIS WORKS
Composer, educator and operatic impresario David DiChiera
arrived in Michigan in 1962 as a teacher and composer to
help build the school of music at Oakland University. He
went on to become the founder, music and general director
of the Michigan Opera Theatre. Best known for his opera
Cyrano, a large scale work for orchestra, double chorus, and
many soloists, Dr. DiChiera has presented operatic, dance,
and musical theater productions in Detroit and throughout
Michigan for over forty years.

Photo Credit: Ameen Howrani

An Afternoon with David DiChiera & His Works is a special

presentation of selected pieces from the works of David
DiChiera, featuring special guests, musicians and vocalists.
The event will be presented with the entire audience seated
on the stage of Detroit Opera House, to parallel the intimacy
of the works performed. The audience will enjoy an informal
afternoon in which to share thoughts about music and enjoy
the artistry of some of Dr. DiChieras favorite musicians,
including pianist Ivan Mostchuk, Angela Theis, and members
of the Michigan Opera Theatre orchestra.

michiganopera.org

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for details on each artist & project visit artxdetroit.com/artists

ART X DETROIT 2015

ART X DETROIT 2015 EXHIBITION

From April 926, 2015, MOCAD hosts the 2014 Kresge Eminent Artist, eight of the 2013 Kresge Visual Arts
Fellows, two of the 2013 Kresge Literary Arts Fellows, and two of the 2014 Kresge Dance/Music Fellows in
an exhibition of their works. This exhibition presents these artists as they arrive at the culmination of their
fellowship period, and shows their continuing explorations in the fields of painting, sculpture, photography,
ceramics, animation, video, and mixed-media installations. For some, the time as a Fellow has allowed for the
creation of new works specifically for exhibition during Art X Detroit 2015. It has also given some Fellows an
opportunity to collaborate with other artists, or to explore an altogether new medium for expression. The
Art X Detroit 2015 exhibition at MOCAD brings forth selected works from the collection of the 2014 Kresge
Eminent Artist, as well as the latest developments in the ongoing artistic careers of the Kresge Arts Fellows.
For more information on each artist, their featured project, and their collaborators, please visit
artxdetroit.com/artists

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Juan Atkins

JUAN ATKINS CELEBRATES 35 YEARS

OF TECHNO
Producer and musician Juan Atkins is widely credited as the originator
of Detroit techno music, along with Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson,
who were sometimes collectively referred to as the Belleville Three.
Celebrated radio host The Electrifyin Mojo was a major musical influence
on the development of Atkins unique sound, which has been honed for
over three decades.
This night of music will celebrate Atkins 35th anniversary as an electronic
musician and the 30th anniversary of his label, MetroPlex Records. Atkins
will present his 24-year-old daughter Milan Ariel, an urban alternative
vocalist who fuses electronic music with hip-hop and R&B. A live music
performance with Atkins providing techno sounds along with live
musicians will be followed by a dance party. The night will also feature
a screening of a new short documentary about Atkins and his long
history with Detroit techno.
Top Photo Credit: Corine Vermeulen

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metroplexrecordings.com

Ben Hall

WINDBAG FOR THIRTY-SIX SETS OF LUNGS

Sculptor and composer Ben Hall creates installations incorporating
durational performance, existing objects, and indeterminacy. He has
written for The Wire and BOMB and his practice includes curating
Bap-Tizum.com, the worlds largest Black American spiritual music
collection. As the co-owner of Russell St. Deli, Hall also works as an
advocate around issues of food system management, hunger and
obesity lobbying in Washington on food aid reform and increasing
the minimum wage.
Windbag for Thirty-Six Sets of Lungs is a performance installation
involving 36 supine volunteers whose passive breath will act as a
sound generator, interacting in conjunction with a hanging sculptural
installation of ferns and disco balls.
Reservations required for performance participants. Please visit the
Art X Detroit website to reserve a space.
seebenhall.com
Top Photo Credit: Corine Vermeulen

numbers correspond to the schedule on pages 47

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Jeedo

DIRT TECH DETROIT

Detroit-based DJ, producer, composer, and arranger Robert Waajeed
OBryant, aka Jeedo, celebrates his city with his music, using the insight
offered to him from his east side roots. Forged by the defiance of hip
hop, the resilience of the Nation of Islam, and the brilliance of his chosen
family, music offered him the opportunity to see the world over the last
fifteen years.
Dirt Tech Detroit is a collection of 12 streaming videos showcasing
Jeedos music and collaborations. Inspired by still photographs, this
series of videos offers a glimpse into the landscapes and people that
inspire his work.
dirttechreck.com

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Kisma Jordan

BEYOND CLASSICAL: CLASSICAL CROSSOVER

Acclaimed by the New York Times for her shimmering soprano voice,
Kisma Jordan is an opera singer and songwriter with a passion for
reinventing classical music conventions. A native of Detroit, Kismas
performances include appearances with Lyric Opera of Chicago, New
Jersey Opera, Lyric Opera of Baltimore, Omaha Symphony Orchestra,
and Mississippi Symphony Orchestra. Her top honors include awards
from the prestigious Metropolitan Opera National Council.
Anchored by a chamber orchestra, Beyond Classical: Classical Crossover
describes the genre of music that includes interpretations of pop music by
classically trained artists. The project pushes the limits of classical music
traditions, by integrating elements of classical music with radio music,
allowing for greater accessibility of classical music by modern audiences.

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DANCE/MUSIC FELLOWS
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54

Gayelynn McKinney

MCKINFOLK: THE NEW BEGINNING

Grammy-nominated Gayelynn McKinneys diverse drumming style has
afforded her many prestigious awards as well as given her the opportunity
to travel extensively and play at famous jazz festivals all over the world,
including Montreux-Switzerland, Lionel Hampton Jazz Fest, New Orleans
Jazz Fest, 1996 Olympics, and the Kennedy Center. Playing the drums
since age two, she comes from a lineage of Detroit musicians her father,
the legendary Harold McKinney, was a formidable jazz pianist, composer
and teacher, while her mother Gwendolyn McKinney was a fashion model
and renowned singer, singing in such productions as Carman and Porgy
and Bess.
McKinfolk, in the words of Harold McKinney, signified the blending of a
musical performance with family and friends. In keeping with the musical
community acting as his extended family, McKinFolk: The New Beginning
will feature vocalists and musicians that Harold McKinney mentored or
performed with during his life. Internationally-renowned jazz greats like
2009 Kresge Eminent Artist Marcus Belgrave, Geri Allen, Miche Braden,
Omelika Kuumba, Carlos McKinney, and others will gather on the stage
to celebrate and perform his music.
Through images and audio, Gayelynn McKinney will offer a glimpse into
her fathers philosophy and her life with him.
Reservations required for students wishing to participate in music
workshop. Please visit the Art X Detroit website to reserve a space.
Sponsor: WDET

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Stephen Nawara

THE BEEHIVE RECORDING COMPANY

Stephen Nawara has performed and composed music in the city of Detroit
since the age of 13. He has toured the world and achieved critical success
with The Detroit Cobras and Electric Six. In 2011, Stephen Nawara founded
The Beehive Recording Company to give Detroit musicians a place to
have their music recorded, packaged, and distributed at no cost to either
the musician or the public, made possible through online distribution
and digital recording equipment. Since then, Stephen and Beehive have
recorded over 200 songs approaching over 1,000,000 downloads.
As part of the relaunch of its digital presence, Nawara will present a history
of The Beehive Recording Company, followed by a live music concert
featuring Beehive recording artists and Nawaras own band, Colorwheel.
beehiverecording.org

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45

New Music Detroit

NEW DETROIT SOUNDS

New Music Detroit (NMD) is a collective of musicians dedicated to
performing groundbreaking musical works from the late-20th century to
the present day. Designed as a highly flexible ensemble with a rotating
cast of core members and prominent guest artists, NMD performs new
& adventurous classical music in a wide variety of settings, for a wide
variety of people.
NMD will present a live performance of The Detroit Project, a collection
of new works for mixed ensemble by experimental Detroit composers.
Frank Pahl, known for designing his own instruments, will present an
expanded version of Imperfect Suite, featuring his clock-chime-rod-box.
Microtonal specialist, Clem Fortuna, premieres a new work for prepared
piano and ensemble. Internationally-recognized Detroit composer and
vocalist, Shara Worden, will perform one of her works specifically
arranged for NMD.
The audience is encouraged to attend a casual meet and greet after
the performance to discuss the composition process with the musicians
and composers.
newmusicdetroit.com

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Tracy Halloran Pearson

NASCENT TRANSFORMATION

Detroit-based dance artist Tracy Halloran Pearson examines themes

within human relationships in order to begin a dialogue regarding how
and why we interact with one another. She blurs the lines between dance
genres and styles by combining the movement techniques of modern,
hip-hop, jazz and contemporary, and she uses the dynamics of motion and
choreographic levels to create explosive and exciting movement phrases
that can contrast the delicacy of human emotion.
Nascent Transformation is an evenings length contemporary work that
explores ideas surrounding rebirth and renewal. It is the premiere and
launching performance of ConteXture dance Detroit, a contemporary
dance company founded by Tracy Halloran Pearson. The performance
is the artistic collaboration between her and performance artist and DJ
Joshua Harrison, who will be playing his original score live as part of the
Nascent Transformation performance. Immediately following the concert
there will be a talkback session with Pearson and Harrison, as well as a
question and answer section with the audience.
Sponsor: Marygrove College

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for details on each artist & project visit artxdetroit.com/artists

DANCE/MUSIC FELLOWS
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Britney Stoney
SAVE YOURSELF!

Britney Stoney is a singer, songwriter and guitarist whose performance

career began at open mic nights throughout the city. Born and raised in
the city of Detroit, she has been expanding a musical career and brand for
nearly three years from festivals to opening for Ziggy Marley.
Save Yourself! presents an original musical that looks into one creative
persons journey to discover the Self. Combining audio and visual, the
audience explores the perspective of an emerging artist. Relatable to both
young, and old, it delves into life lessons that reach beyond art, touching on
the experience shared by all human beings.
reverbnation.com/BritneyStoney

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Diane Cheklich

THE DOCTOR REDDY EXPERIENCE

Diane Cheklich is a Detroit-based, independent screenwriter, film director
and producer. Her desire to tell stories with a specific rhythm and sense
of humor resulted in the award-winning feature film Offshore, an IndoAmerican movie filmed in both the United States and India. Cheklich has
also written and directed several short films, including the award-winning
Doctor Reddy.

Top Photo Credit: Corine Vermeulen

Cheklich brings together three Doctor Reddy shorts with a live dance
performance. The Doctor Reddy Experience is a red-carpet celebration of
the strange and popular Doctor Reddy, star of the Indo-American short
film scene. It features a retrospective of Doctor Reddy films (Doctor Reddy
and Doctor Reddys Killer App) and the premiere of a brand new short,
Doctor Reddys Sleep Clinic. In addition, The Doctor Reddy Experience
includes a live Bollywood dance performance (from the karaoke biker bar
scene in Doctor Reddy) by the actor who plays Doctor Reddy, Haranath
Policherla. The event wraps up with an aftertalk by director Diane Cheklich,
creator of the Doctor Reddy franchise.
Audience members at The Doctor Reddy Experience will be treated to
free popcorn and special Doctor Reddy Art X swag. There will also be an
opportunity for Doctor Reddy autographs and photos following the show.
Reservations required. Please visit the Art X Detroit website to reserve
a space.
cheklich.com

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Tony DAnnunzio

LOUDER THAN LOVE

Tony DAnnunzios love of film and music got him into the broadcast
television & entertainment industry more than 25 years ago. Born and
raised in Detroit, DAnnunzios work has aired on virtually every network
worldwide. His passion for filmmaking, storytelling, music and Detroit
coalesced on the screen when he recently produced and directed his
critically-acclaimed first documentary, Louder than Love: The Grande
Ballroom Story.
Louder Than Love interlaces Tony DAnnunzios award-winning film with
incredible live music under the direction of Johnny Evans and Howling
Diablos. The show features a selection of Jenny Rishers critically
acclaimed HEARTSOULDETROIT photos, as well as a meet and greet
with all artists, musicians and foundation members included in the event.
Top Photo Credit: Corine Vermeulen

Immediately following this, attendees will be directed into the Detroit Film
Theatre to witness the sights and sounds of LOUDER LIVE/Jail Guitar
Doors Call to Action, in which all-star band members of the MC5,
Howling Diablos, and Sponge perform live.
The evening will culminate with the introduction of special guest Wayne
Kramer and Jail Guitar Doors with the help of University of Michigans
Prison Creative Arts Project. These two groups that work to collaborate
within the prison system to strengthen our community through creative
expression will explore the importance of using music for prisoner
rehabilitation within the Michigan prison system.
Reservations required. Please visit the Art X Detroit website to reserve
a space.
thegrandeballroomstory.com
Sponsors: Prison Creative Arts Project,
Jail Guitar Doors

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Donavan Glover

YOU WANT POEMS: THE WORKS OF JESSICA

CARE MOORE
Donavan Glover is a film director based in downtown Detroit. In
2010, Glover returned to Detroit from Eastern Michigan University
and discovered his passion for visual storytelling, at which point he
took initiative to learn the fundamentals of directing, film editing and
photography. Since then, Glover has worked with respected musicians
and performers such as Slum Village, Karriem Riggins, Obie Trice, Elzhi
and jessica Care moore. Glovers natural ability to bring ideas to life is
reflected in his short films, music videos and mini-documentary series.

Top Photo Credit: Corine Vermeulen

In his insightful short documentary-style film You Want Poems: The

Works of Jessica Care Moore, Glover takes viewers on a tasteful behindthe-scenes journey, as he gets up close and personal and travels on tour
with the legendary poet jessica Care moore. One of the most iconic and
influential poets, self-published authors, and activist in recent history,
moore became legendary for her record-breaking appearance on
Showtime at the Apollo, winning five times in a row and becoming the
first poet to win on the show. Glover chronicles backstories from jessicas
memorable past, encounters with fans and friends, tour performances, and
personal stories shared by close friends like Dave Chappelle, Saul Williams,
Katt Dyson, Shades Agee, KaRamuu Kush, Tony Medina, Cody ChestnuTT
and more.
DonavanGlover.tumblr.com

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FILM/THEATRE FELLOWS
52

Dream HaMpton

A LIVE SCORED CONVERSATION WITH DETROIT

LEGEND ED LOVE
dream hampton is a writer, award-winning filmmaker, director, organizer,
and cultural producer. hampton has written about music, culture and
politics since 1990; among other magazines, she was a contributor to
Vibe magazine for its first 15 years, while her essays have been included in
more than a dozen anthologies. She is currently the 2015 Visiting Artist at
Stanford Universitys Institute for Diversity in the Arts where she teaches
From Moments to Movements, a course on 21st century activism, new
media and new narratives.
In an ongoing effort to honor our storytellers and history keepers,
particularly those who work in the sacred, oral tradition, hampton will film
an onsite live conversation between journalist Kim Heron and legendary
Detroit jazz musician Ed Love. This interview will be scored by 5-piece
ensemble McKinney Zone, and musically directed by Gayelynn McKinney.
dreamhampton.com
Top Photo Credit: Corine Vermeulen

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Sponsor: WDET

Leon Johnson

VESTIGIAL ENCLAVES / SACRAL ENCLOSURES:

THE FOX CREEK BIOME
Leon Johnson will release, over three nights and locations, a limited
edition book produced by Salt & Cedar Press in Eastern Market (a space
he co-evolved with his wife Margaret OConnell). The book drifts and
celebrates the Fox Creek canal area of Detroit, a transport corridor
in use since the early history of Detroit, and the site of a permanent
research location to be imagined, built, and led by The Estuary Collective.
The publication will include a new commissioned poem by Bill Harris,
almanac notes by Norman Douglas, photography by Leander Johnson,
a commissioned composition by Joel Peterson, also performed live, six
maps by Paul Bartow, and six new works by the artist. The project is
designed, typeset, and printed by OConnell and handbound by Johnson.
The projects Ashland site, by proximity and purpose, is inextricably
linked to the creek and inflected by its articulation as a canal. The
geography surrounding Fox Creek has been transforming over the past
120 years, from marshland to suburban geography. It is a vector of
movement, as well as a destination. From the time of its inception, the
Canals geographical footprint has been a generous biome for exploration
and experimentation. The new stewards (The Estuary Collective) of 256
Ashland will present the site as a localized biome, acting in a symbiotic
and mutualistic relationship with the human/nonhuman community
at large. The site, inflected by the attributes of The Fox Creek Canal,
will direct flows of thought, history, and practice associated with
understanding, transforming, and the invention of another future.
Projects to follow include performances, film, convivial gatherings,
seminars and symposia.
leonjohnson.org

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Daniel Land

WORLD SPACE PARTY

The Space Race is over, the Shuttles have all landed, but a New Space
Age is well underway. Detroits official entry into the World Space Party
also known as Yuris Night, for the April 12th, 1961 anniversary of the
first man in space celebrates the past, present, and future of humans
working together to defy gravity. Daniel Lands multimedia exploration
of the human reach beyond the Earth is linked to hundreds of nearly
simultaneous events spanning all seven continents in dozens of countries.
This immersive, educational, all-ages party experience presents cuttingedge narrative visuals, interactive exhibits, themed cocktails, live weblink
to events in other cities, and an experimental musical set featuring
Audra Kubat. The two-story Saturn V rocket and Space Shuttle models
will rumble to life and launch via projection-mapped animation by New
D Media Arts, while the centerpiece of the evening will be Planetarium
preview screenings of an original narrative short film depicting life on a
new frontier. This hard sci-fi vision of survival in the first sustainable city
on Mars is meticulously researched and shot on location in the deserts
of the American West.
WHY WE GO: 54 Years of Humans in Space will be an all-ages multimedia
presentation on the 54th Anniversary of the day Yuri Gagarin became
the first person in space. Through a walking tour, a special Yuris Night
message recorded by astronauts currently in space, and film screenings,
the event studies and explores space in the past, present, and future.
What might life on Mars be like? Who would go? What would they build,
and how? BRAVE RED WORLD delves into the personal, political,
economic, social, and existential implications of these questions. This
presentation will involve a behind-the-scenes filmmaking process exploring
the research and development of a Martian cinematic odyssey. Daniel Land
will chronicle the experience of living at the Mars Desert Research Station
in Utah on a simulated Mars mission, culminating in a special preview
screening of the resulting short film project.
dland.tv

Sponsor: Cinetopia

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for details on each artist & project visit artxdetroit.com/artists

FILM/THEATRE FELLOWS
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Rola Nashef

ROLA NASHEF, THE DIRECTORS CUT

Born in Sidon, Lebanon and raised in Michigan, Rola Nashef is a
screenwriter, director and producer. She uses her experience in the
arts and involvement in Detroits diverse communities as a catalyst for
creative expression and social movement. In 2011, Nashef wrote, directed,
and produced her award-winning short and debut feature film Detroit
Unleaded, a slice-of-life romantic dramedy that centers around an Arabowned 24-hour gas station in Detroit.
In Rola Nashef, The Directors Cut, the artist and filmmaker takes us from
her early years of arriving to Lansing, Michigan, as a Lebanese immigrant
and ESL child, to her outer life as an imaginative and engaged kid with
friends and relationships that crossed highly diverse and often segregated
communities in Michigan. Through powerful and lively storytelling, Nashef
reflects on her own life experiences and introduces audiences to an entire
cast of characters who would later become the inspiration for Detroit
Unleaded. A lifetime in the making, Rola Nashef, The Directors Cut is a
unique and emotionally provocative performance that moves back and
forth between personal memoir and directors commentary, featuring
never-before-seen clips from her short and feature films, behind-thescenes footage, family photos, and personal stories about life growing
up Arab in America.
detroitunleaded.com
Sponsor: ARAB AMERICAN NATIONAL MUSEUM

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Jasmine Rivera

VOICES OF DETROIT:
THE MUSIC OF AMERICAN PROPHET
Jasmine is a director, writer, producer, and actor from Detroit, Michigan.
She founded the production company Anawim Productions as a
professional artistic collective with a mission to produce advocacy media
for non-profit and community organizations dedicated to social justice.
Voices of Detroit: The Music of American Prophet is a collaborative project
set against the backdrop of Jasmine Riveras newest film American
Prophet, in which eminent Detroit-based choirs and musicians will perform
excerpts from the films score in addition to the songs that inspired the
writing of the films story.

Top Photo Credit: Corine Vermeulen

Set in 1968 Detroit, American Prophet tells the true story of Thomas
Gumbleton, a young man suddenly appointed to a position of great
authority in a time of upheaval and change. As the United States newest
and youngest Roman Catholic bishop, Thomas is faced with a city
filled with uncertainty and a community divided by anger. When the
Archdiocese begins to desegregate the Detroit parochial schools, backlash
from the churches turns into angry protests, forcing Thomas to stand his
ground despite opposition from parishioners and fellow priests.
Audiences will experience a preview trailer of the film, view behind the
scenes glimpses of principal photography shot in December of 2014,
and watch a live concert recording of the films soundtrack and 1968-era
hymns and spirituals from the rich songbook of the American gospel
music tradition. Collaborators include Steve Sholtes, The Motown Legends
Gospel Choir, Mosaic Youth Theater of Detroit Singers, and Black Catholic
Ministries Gospel Choir.
anawimproductions.com

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50

Sherina Rodriguez Sharpe

ON BECOMING [Unfukwitable]

Sherina Rodriguez Sharpe is a writer, editor, performer and executive

director of Obsidian Blues, an organization that uses art to transform,
heal and forge new ground. She brings her gifts for inspiring others
to Shetroit.com where she serves as convener and publisher for an
organization that creates an enriching space for women of Detroit to
weave community. Her work draws from the profound healing shes
experienced through writing and investigates cultural intersections,
specifically in the patterns that emerge when class, gender, race and
religion overlap.
On Becoming [Unfukwitable] is Sherina Rodriguez Sharpes one-woman
show examining her molestation through the lens of each family member
involved. Set to an explosive, live jazz score that blends jazz, opera, and
Filipino folk music, Sharpe will serve as the actor leading the audience
through an exploration of these characters. Her mission is to demonstrate
the beauty and brilliance of the healing journey, showing that one does
not have to be a sexual assault survivor to feel the effects.
The audience is invited to come dressed as theyd like to be seen five
years in the future.
There is a tradition in my family: the women protect the men, even
when these men have hurt us. And so I heard, Your father was
wrong. But, you must respect him.
I am a blend of my parents, Moms hair hanging like ropes down
my back, Papas mouth bowed into constant question marks, her
almond eyes and his mothers hips that curve into bass-clefs singing
trouble. My grandmother told me that this combination would be
my undoing that men would try to undo me. No one seemed
surprised that the first was my father.
My father is a conquistador. He takes what he wants.
I am a teller. Really, all writers are.
And so we each have our own power.
On Becoming [Unfukwitable] is my one woman show about
transformation.
Each narrative is distinct. Ning, our narrator, leads us through the
journey. Papa is a jazz connoisseur and a lawyer. His monologues
are crafted to look like sheet music. When he is truly defensive, his
monologues appear in the form of legal documents.
Ning, on the other hand, is a poet and a storyteller. Her monologues
are poems in ever-changing forms. She moves through ghazals,
spells, sonnets, limericks, and elegies in an effort to heal and defend
herself. Grammy speaks in blues poems. Nings little brother, Boyboy, describes his memories as various games and Nanays (Filipino
for Mothers) monologues are recipes. Nanay relays her memories
through sharing recipes and demonstrating folk dances. These
forms weave themselves into deep, rich stories.
The mission is to become whole.
We only become whole by taking the opposite action of what
we did to survive. I was sitting on my fathers lap, so now it is
time to stand.
This process is a testimony for Obsidian Blues, the young writers
that I mentor: we walk through swamps, through fire. We define
who we are for ourselves.
If you want to be free, you have to steal ALL OF YOURSELF back.
Embrace every shadow and find survival is a gorgeous art.
shetroit.com obsidianblues.com

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Terry Blackhawk

THE PROTEA CURRENCY

In Protea Currency, author and founder of InsideOut Literary Arts Project
Terry Blackhawk uses the persona of Protea to comment on the passage
of time and passages of self. The show presents film, live music, and
spoken word connected by and through themes of water, shorelines,
and identity. At the end of the show, Blackhawk will be introduced and
interviewed.
Collaborators include Carol Ambrogio-Wood, Scott Boberg, Dennis Carter,
Mariah Mlynarek, Oren Goldenberg, Marilyn Perkins-Biery, Lisa Raschiatore,
Leslie Reese, and Nancy J. Rodwan.
Reservations required. Please visit the Art X Detroit website to
reserve a space.
terrymblackhawk.com

Sponsor: Wayne State University Press

Top Photo Credit: Marvin Shaouni

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adrienne maree brown

DETROIT VISIONARY FICTION GENERATOR

Science fiction writer adrienne maree browns work evolves at the
intersection of emergence and complex sciences, science fiction and
social justice. Her work is an ongoing effort to understand how to
collaborate at the most intimate level, as a political act.
Detroit Visionary Fiction Generator will bring together several aspects
of adriennes collaborative work, starting with a Science Fiction and
Social Multimedia Presentation that will feature writers from Octavias
Brood: Science Fiction from Social Justice Movements, the recentlypublished anthology that adrienne co-edited with Walidah Imarisha.
This anthology features the works of prominent science fiction writers
alongside writing from social justice organizers and thinkers. These writers
will be joined by artists and activists who participated in the Detroit
Sci-Fi Generator Writing Salons that adrienne hosted in 2014, as well as
youth from the James and Grace Lee Boggs School, who have created a
sci-fi comic Future of Detroit project with adrienne as one of their 2015
school projects. Amongst others, Detroit Visionary Fiction Generator will
showcase Autumn Brown, Oren Goldenberg, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Dream
Hampton, Walidah Imarisha, Dani McClain, and Gabriel Teodros.
Following this will be the official Detroit release party for Octavias Brood,
featuring local DJs and a host of micro-performances from anthology
writers and local artists such as Mike Medow, Tunde Olaniran, and others.
adriennemareebrown.net/blog

Sponsor: ALLIED MEDIA PROJECTS

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15

Arthur R. Labrew

AFRICLASSICAL MUSICOLOGIST
Arthur R. LaBrew, a music scholar, was born in Detroit and studied at the
Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he graduated in 1952 with a major
in piano. He then studied under the noted Renaissance expert, Gustave
Reese, at the Manhattan School of Music, where he graduated in 1955 with
a major in musicology. He pursued further music study at the Mozarteum
in Salzburg, Austria. Upon returning to Detroit, he became a teacher at the
Detroit Settlement Music School and Wayne County Community College.
He began a serious study of musicians of color throughout the world,
including Elizabeth T. Greenfield and Francis Johnson. Professor LaBrew
passed on February 19, 2015.
Arthur R. LaBrew AfriClassical Musicologist will consist of a display of
artifacts, historic prints, and published books by the artist, as well as a
facilitated conversation celebrating Professor LaBrews life and legacy.

Sponsor: Detroit Public Library

Top Photo Credit: Marvin Shaouni

Cary Loren & Michael Zadoorian

BOOFLAND BABYLON

Boofland Babylon is a multi-media installation and collaboration between

Cary Loren and Michael Zadoorian, based on a photograph of Zadoorians
childhood in which he met many local Detroit childrens TV hosts on a float
during the Hudsons Thanksgiving Day parade in 1963. The installation is
comprised of a large altar piece of pop-culture memories, a life-sized
sculpture on stage, stand up figures, inspirational objects, a monitor
showing a short film will be contained on the stage, two vitrines containing
additional archives from Loren and Zadoorian, and a small retrospective of
rarely seen photographs by Norman Zadoorian (Michael Zadoorians father,
a professional photographer working in Detroit mid-century).

Photo Credit: Sue Rynski

Boofland Babylon explores autobiographic material thematically connected

to Lorens and Zadoorians youth, pop-culture and Detroit history. During
weekly meetings and self-interviews, theyve collected stories, experiences
and objects reflected in the display, which will also be presented in a small
pamphlet to be given away at the event. Covering experience and culture
commonly felt and witnessed by baby boomers who grew up during the
50s and 60s in Detroit, Boofland Babylon is about time, memory, humor,
symbolism and a very specific regional history of Detroit.
thebookbeat.com michaelzadoorian.com

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for details on each artist & project visit artxdetroit.com/artists

LITERARY ARTS FELLOWS

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Dunya Mikhail

POETRY & MUSIC FROM IRAQ

Iraqi-American poet Dunya Mikhail has six books in Arabic, three in English,
and one in Italian. She left her country and arrived in Detroit in 1996 in
order to write freely. Through writing poetry, she seeks to open a space
of discovery for herself that expands into the meanings added by readers
and becomes a space that offers the possibility of survival. She likens this
process to immigration, as readers immigrate to poetry and then, gradually,
associate it with some semantic experience, a familiar or unfamiliar one.
Her multi-media presentation combines reading, traditional Iraqi songs,
images, and short film. A question and answer session, book signing,
reception, and oud playing will follow.
dunyamikhail.com

Sponsors: Arab American National Museum,

Mesopotamian Forum

Top Photo Credit: Cary Loren

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Chace Mic Write Morris

YOURE COMING WITH ME

As a life-long resident of the city of Detroit, poet and emcee Chace

Morris is deeply invested in contributing to the tapestry of what Detroit
is becoming, ensuring he establishes some force that maintains the citys
existing culture and rawness while seeking to push himself beyond his
comfort zone. Having read alongside such artists as U.S. Poet Laureate
Natasha Tretheway, Saul Williams & Talib Kweli, Mic Write is also a member
of the successful hip-hop collective Cold Men Young, as well as a writer-inresidence with the InsideOut Literary Arts Program.
This event blends an ambitious hybrid of poetry, hip-hop and live
instrumentation as a vehicle to navigate the increasingly complex
relationship between Detroit, its fluid future and its citizensall within
the context of Robocop. Yes, Robocop. Youre Coming With Me will
examine the stunning parallels between the cult science fiction of the
80s and the current reality for Detroit residents. It will move through
the pros and cons of renewal versus deep-rooted history, and the tear
between staying to etch out a part in this dramatically changing organism
Morris calls home versus adhering the call of the body for new places
and spaces; the joy of the energy in the evolution versus the fear of
erasure and exclusion in the process.

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Peregrine Workshop

THE CITY IS MADE OF STORIES

Peregrine Workshop (Andrea + Gary Urbiel Goldner) presents a playful
exploration of cities and how they are made. The City is Made of Stories
presents a series of books for explorers of all ages, with children as a
primary audience. The first book in the series follows the ordinary and
adventurous interactions of neighbors making their way to and from two
neighborhood ovens in North Africa. That city is made of fresh bread, kids,
grandmas, roosters, salt and cumin shaken over chickpea custard, and
peanuts rolled into cones of math homework.
Visitors are invited to contribute to the series by telling Peregrine
Workshop about your city. Find a postcard (available throughout the
event), use words and images to complete the sentence My city is made
of___________, and pin it to the wall as part of the exhibit at MOCAD. Join
the artists at a workshop for families to think, write, draw, and talk about
what the city is made of.
Peregrine Workshop believes that every story emerges from place and that
every place is built from stories, as certainly asbut often more magically
and fundamentally thanit is made of buildings, streets, and ecological
structure. Patiently explored places, their centers of story and resilience,
and Peregrine Workshops methodology of finding and understanding
these special places form the center of their work together.

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Carolyn Walker

WRITING IT OUT: USING THE ARTS TO HEAL

Memoirist, essayist, poet, and instructor Carolyn Walkers creative
nonfiction has appeared in literary journals such as The Southern Review,
Crazyhorse, Hunger Mountain, The Writers Chronicle, and Columbia:
A Journal of Letters and Arts. Her essay Christian Becomes a Blur
was nominated by the editors of Crazyhorse for a Pushcart Prize.
Walker is currently a creative writing instructor for The Writers
Digest and Springfed Arts.
Walker is the mother of two children with special needs and through
her writing hopes to enlighten people about the realities of living with
disabilities, as well as to sensitize others regarding their responses and
interactions to people with disabilities. In Writing It Out: Using the Arts
to Heal, she will read from her latest works and be joined in conversation
revolving around the use of the arts to transform and to heal.

Top Photo Credit: Marvin Shaouni

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for details on each artist & project visit artxdetroit.com/artists

VISUAL ARTS FELLOWS

1

Jon Brumit

ESCAPE FROM WEED MOUNTAIN

Escape From Weed Mountain is a 50 channel sound installation with
accompanying vinyl record by the same title. The installation is a largescale diorama based on a makeshift semi-rural campground that is in
turns backcountry paradise, tourist attraction, smoking den, meditation
center, workspace, death metal rainbow gathering, and utopian
development. Each of the tents, huts, grow rooms, or other structures
emits its own soundtrack.
While Escape From Weed Mountain both celebrates and condemns
new technology, white trash culture, back-to-the-land movements, basic
entrepreneurial drive, artist colonies, and the use of narcotics, the overall
narrative is a conflicted response to self-discovery in multiform. The
piece, although largely autobiographical, is inspired and informed by John
Carpenters unfinished Escape from series, Deleuzes Philosophy of
the AND, and attempts, through made and found objects and hand-cut
records, to recreate a select few vivid and transformative memories of
campgrounds, parties, or art festivals with so much healing going on
that one could only hope to pass out, black out, or otherwise escape.
Top Photo Credit: Marvin Shaouni

jonbrumit.com

Coco Bruner
NORMAL SHIFT

A typical floor offers an idealized version of the ground, flattened and

smoothed out, a form of spatial background noise that we often ignore.
Normal Shift upends that notion of a floor. Conceptually located at a
meeting point between sculptural object, three-dimensional drawing,
and architectural intervention, the piece invites participants to confront
assumptions that underlie everyday experience. As visitors make their own
way across the alternative floor, they are invited to experience choice, mild
risk, the nature of balance as a process, and the necessity of consciously
considering what we usually take for granted.

Top Photo Credit: Marvin Shaouni

In drawing attention to the floor, Normal Shift focuses awareness on what

we take for granted as fundamental, especially where that is unexamined
or rapidly changing, and not what we assumed. Growing out of the artists
work in drawing, it extends concerns with physical process, personal
history, and questions about perception, illusion, and relationship into
four dimensions and viewer participation.

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1

Jason E. Carter
#USONIANFOCUS

In the 1930s, Frank Lloyd Wright reassessed the design of the American
home, leading him to create the Usonian house. For Wright, the fireplace
was the geometric, spiritual, and symbolic focal point of the house,
despite it no longer having an essential function for the home. Frank Lloyd
Wrights philosophy on the hearth is the catalyst for #UsonianFocus.
Jason E. Carter explores digital screens as a modern point of center inside
Wrights Affleck House, as we enter a new age of light in which we gather
in isolation around the glow of a screen and meet up communally in a
virtual space.
Carters paintings meditate on this new perception of light, recognizing
that the light we live by today is not what others experienced in the past.
The sole light source for the paintings come from a screen (laptop, tablet,
smartphone), which, with its digital flicker, manipulates and redefines
the space.
jecart.com
Top Photo Credit: Marvin Shaouni

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Kate Daughdrill

FROM HERE TO THERE

In 2011, Kate Daughdrill bought a house on the east side of Detroit for
$600. She began working to make the house livable and cultivating the
land around her home with her neighbors. She soon discovered the power
of plants, food, fire, pigs, and weekly gatherings with neighbors around a
cinder block grill. She came to know the healing of working with the earth
of Detroit and the pleasure of cultivating beauty where she lives.
From Here to There involves an installation, a series of intimate activities,
a publication, and a value-making ceremony. Created in collaboration with
Patrick Costello, the installation is the central hub from which the rest of
the project grows. Shelves of canned food arranged in a color spectrum
surround tables for gathering and sharing artist-made food and teas.
The installation is an immersive space for quiet engagement with a holy
water station, a station for letting go, plants, jars of food, herbal medicine,
ceremonial objects, and a publication exploring the life and values of
Burnside Farm, Daughdrills 8-lot urban farm on the east side of Detroit.
During the show, the installation will be activated with a series of intimate
activitiesa medicinal food and tea pairing, an aromatic encounter, an
elixir making experience with students from the Boggs School, and a
discussion about food sovereignty and urban farming in Detroit.
The project will culminate with a value-making ceremony, which will bring
together 150 diverse Detroiters for conversation and a series of rituals to
explore what we truly value and how it is embodied in our daily lives. Food,
objects, smells, facilitators, and fire will be involved. The value-making
ceremony is being cultivated with Phreddy Wischusen and 15 other
soulful Detroiters.
kdaughdrill.com

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for details on each artist & project visit artxdetroit.com/artists

VISUAL ARTS FELLOWS

1

Oren Goldenberg

A REQUIEM FOR DOUGLASS

After documenting the drastic dismantlement of Detroit Public Schools
and Detroit Public Housing, Oren Goldenberg created the series The Future
is Changing: Rituals for Spatial Change to publicly explore the possibilities
of catharsis for the ever-changing city. A Requiem for Douglass is the final
iteration of this series.
The interactive installation attempts to bring not only the documentation of ritual to the viewer, but the act of ritual as well, by inviting
participants to perform the rite of removing a brick salvaged from the
late Brewster-Douglass housing project. Arranged in the form of one
of the iconic Douglass Towers, a sculpture of bricks initiates a series
of videos when touched. The participant-activated videos present an
interwoven display of seven rituals performed at the Douglass Towers
during their demolition, as well as the demolition itself. The installation
lasts as long as there are bricks remaining.
Goldenbergs collaborators for A Requiem for Douglass include Katie
Barkel, Halima Cassells, Jessie Doan, Ben Friedman, Gabriel Brass Band,
Geoff George, Yoni Goldstein, Mark Haygen, Bianca Ibarloucea, Joori Jung,
Chace Mic Write Morris, Charlie OGeen, OS.4, Rowe Niodior African
Dance Company, St. Augustine & St. Monica Choir, Senthil Seveelavanan,
Zach Takenaga, Greg Tom, and Ben Wolf.
casscorridorfilms.com detroitblankcity.com

Marie T. Hermann
BIRDS IN MY HAIR

Originally from Copenhagen, Denmark, Marie Torbensdatter Hermanns

internationally-acclaimed work with ceramics has been represented in
collections all over the world. She uses fictional scenarios and openended scenes from domestic environments to create new relationships
in the liminal space that exists between an easily recognizable everyday
object that evokes familiar sensations, and a suddenly ambiguous form
that requires a new interpretation. In the groupings of objects that make
up Hermanns scenes, function is almost always denied, which induces
a reflection towards the subtleties of the forms she presents and the
relationships we have developed with them.
The installation B
irds in My Hair is a new group of sculptures Hermann
has been working on over the last year. Through the interactive installation
Yours , Mine, Ours, visitors bring a cup from their personal collection to
a location to exchange with functional handmade porcelain cups created
and numbered by Hermann. Over the duration of the exhibition, the
collection of 100 cups slowly changes in its entirety, commenting on
the creation of new relationships between an audience and previously
recognizable objects.
mariehermann.dk

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2

Charlie OGeen

4620 CASS AVENUE

Charlie OGeens work involves site specific, architectural investigations
that respond directly to the conditions of a specific site and often utilize
found objects as building materials. Currently living in Detroit, OGeen
works on full-scale architectural and building experiments.
4620 Cass Avenue began as an informal partnership with Cass Caf.
OGeen and his collaborator, Steph Vito, started by examining the simple
vocabulary of the building and thought about how to extend this in the
program and city of Detroit. This vocabulary is based on the building
principles and materials developed by Albert Kahn and Henry Ford
in Detroit in the early 20th century. Keeping this in mind, OGeen and
Vito experiment with advanced concrete and alternative construction
processes, respecting the honesty of the materials used at Cass Caf
and listening to the site and building for their inherent potentials.
youtube.com/user/cjogeen

Sponsor: Cass Caf

Bryant Tillman

Work from alexandrine

bryant tillman has painted for 30 years. A field trip to the Impressionists
wing at the Detroit Institute of Arts in 1983 forever changed this Detroiters
destiny. Starting with modest exhibits in artists venues like the Detroit
Artist Market, hipster spaces and backyard soirees, tillman developed a
parallel interest in curatorial aspects of art presentation and soon became
the go-to guy for guerilla venues in the 80s and gallery management
over the past decade.
tillmans work from alexandrine presents a handful of Impressionist
paintings to showcase the end result of several years of diligent
progression, showing the summation of tillmans current pathway in
painting. He explores the mutual exclusivity of the objectivity of realism
versus emotional expressionism, searching for the balance between
delighting the eye and mind as well as gratifying the viewer with the
usual qualities of realism. tillman finds realism, being either over-rated
or functionally redundant, should diminish in favor of a greater role
for license and creativity.
bryanttillman.com

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VISUAL ARTS FELLOWS

1

Carl Wilson

THE FLOW OF WATER

Decades spent as an inactive artist, autoworker, and repressed religious
cult member are at the root of Carl Wilsons creations. Carl Wilson says
all of his work is deeply personal and springs from a rebellious need to
be heard.
Traditionally a print artist, Wilson steps out of his comfort zone with the
creation of a 2D animated short film, The Flow of Water. As a mixture of
animation techniques including cut out, traditional, and digital, the film
is intercut with live action and told in a surreal style with a non-linear
narrative. The film plays on a large video monitor at the center of an
abstract installation, allowing viewers to step into the world of the
films protagonist, Marty.
The Flow of Water is a dark allegorical tale depicting the voyage of selfdiscovery Wilsons wife Mariuca embarked on, endured, and conquered.
Raised in a harsh, cult-like religion, she determined she would reject the
demand for submission to a husband and religion. She would become
the ruler of her own life.
Shunned by friends and disowned by her family for rejecting the chauvinist
teachings of their religion, the films heroine, Marty, a middle-aged woman,
dares to leave the only world she has ever known to create a whole new
life for herself. Marty must conquer her own personal demons, her fear
of the unknown, and fear of a world that she has been told was
inherently evil.
carlwilsonart.com

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