Buzz

NYT: Late artist Mike Kelley's mobile homestead coming to MOCAD

New York Times Tuesday, April 23, 2013

We were saddened to hear of the death of Los Angeles-based Mike Kelley, an artist with Detroit roots. Kelley had been working with the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit on his mobile homestead project for several years prior to his passing.

We've been following the project, still in the works with a launch planned this spring, as has the New York Times.

An excerpt:

The New York The house is a faithful replica of the suburban Detroit childhood home of the artist Mike Kelley, who shepherded the details of its creation up to the final days of his life in January 2012, when he committed suicide at his home in South Pasadena, Calif. Kelley was one of the most influential artists of the last several decades. And though he made his name in the Los Angeles art world, much of the look and feel of his art came from his working-class, Irish Catholic upbringing here, in a city whose affliction he seemed to embody.

Read on here.

HuffPost Detroit: Filmmaker talks about how Highland Park became his muse

HuffPost Detroit Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Highland Park, once one of Detroit's most prosperous suburbs and home of the world's first assembly line, is the subject of a feature film starring Danny Glover and Parker Posey.

HuffPost Detroit talked to the film's director. An excerpt:

How did you first become interested in the city Highland Park?

The main thing I was looking for … was a prototypical rags-to-riches-to-rags-again community that highlighted the Rust Belt economy. I immediately hit on Highland Park as this ultimate symbol of everything that went right, and then everything that went wrong, at the same time. How a small community went from farmland, to the cradle of the American dream, back to almost farmland or prairie in only 100 years.

Good stuff. More here.

Ride It Sculpture Skate Park gets $30K from Tony Hawk

NPR Tuesday, April 09, 2013

More love, all of it deserved, for Gina Reichert and Mitch Cope's Power House project, which includes a skate park at the corner of Davison and Klinger St.

Now the world’s most famous skateboarder, Tony Hawk, is supporting this unique Ride It Sculpture Park, a non-profit and community-based skate-boarding project. It is receiving a $30-thousand dollar grant from the Tony Hawk Foundation. Well done.

Pete Whitley is the foundation’s programs director. He says Ride It is unlike any skate park he’s ever seen. Listen up: he tells WDET's Travis Wright how Tony Hawk went from kink flips to philanthropy.

MOCAD hires new director with local roots

Detroit Free Press Tuesday, April 02, 2013

Elysia Borowy-Reeder, 39, is the new executive director of Detroit’s Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, better known as MOCAD. She’ll take over the job, vacant since November 2011 when former director Luis Croquer left to take a job in Seattle, next week.

An excerpt:

Borowy-Reeder, who grew up in metro Detroit and East Lansing, has a bachelor’s degree in visual arts from Antioch College and master’s degrees in art education and art history from Michigan State University.

She recalls how childhood visits to the Detroit Institute of Arts helped inspire her love for her chosen field. “You’d be on the floor of the Diego Rivera mural room drawing. ... That’s what got me hooked on museums,” she says.

Read more here.

Feature film projects come to Detroit, Hamtramck

Michigan Film Office Tuesday, April 02, 2013

The Michigan Film Office says How to Catch a Monster, a feature film that marks actor Ryan Gosling’s writing and directing debut, was awarded an incentive of $1,750,909 on $6,238,922 of projected in-state expenditures. The project is expected to hire 104 Michigan workers with a full time equivalent of 30 jobs.

The film will shoot in Detroit and other metro locations and features Christina Hendricks (Mad Men), Saoirse Ronan (Atonement), Eva Mendes (The Place Beyond the Pines) and Matt Smith (Doctor Who).

Also approved for a state film encentive is Landlord, which shoots in Hamtramck, and follows the tale of Elvis Martini, a widowed landlord dealing with spiritual conflict and the abduction of his daughter.

Follow news from the Michigan Film Office here.

HatchArt group looks for show entries, increased membership

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

There's lots going on in the Hamtramck art scene, including a show seeking entries at HatchArt.

All entries must be received by by Monday, April 1. That's next Monday.

All media accepted and entries will be judged from digital files. Images should be about 800x600 pixels at 72 dpi. Include your name and deliver your digital images by email to schneider@hatchart.org. Include HATCHBACK 7 in the subject field. If you prefer, you can burn your images to a CD and mail the disc to HATCH, 3456 Evaline St., Hamtramck, MI 48212.

Entry fees can be paid online via HATCH’s PayPal account. Go to hatchart.org for information on paying online.

HATCH members: $10 for two entries, $5 each additional entry (no limit).

Non-HATCH members: $20 for two entries, $5 each additional entry (no limit).

You can become a HATCH member at the time of entry for $30.

You will be notified of the juror’s decisions by email by Saturday, April 13. If you’d like to be notified by mail, send a SASE.

Performing Arts: HATCH is looking for live, free performances of all sorts for the April 26 opening and the following Saturdays during the show’s run: April 27; May 4, 11, 18 and 25. To send us a demo of your act, please follow the entry procedure noted above (there is no entry fee for performers).

For more, including membership info, go here.

Soul of the city: Detroit School of Music emerges

Detroit Unspun Tuesday, March 19, 2013

We've heard good things about the newish (established in summer 2012) Detroit School of Music from our friends at D:hive and from an appearance on Channel 7's Detroit 20/20. Now a little more love from Detroit Unspun.

An excerpt:

The school is located in what was formerly the Malcolm X Academy, in a building that used to be a part of the public school system. Even though the system has left it, the outside of the School of Music reverberated with the hum of progress and potential that so many buildings in the area give off.

Music is important. I bet you didn’t know that individuals who study music demonstrate higher abilities in nearly all academic areas, a decrease in aggression and violent behavior, lower likelihood of abusing drugs and alcohol, and a lower instance of developing Alzheimer’s or other degenerative mental disorders. In short, music isn’t just about what your ears, but about your mind and soul.

Sounds good, yes? Read on here.

HuffPost Detroit: "The unknown going forward"

HuffPost Detroit Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Dig in and stay with this poetic blog entry in HuffPost Detroit by Nancy Kotting.

An excerpt:

Detroit is not broken. It has simply blown beyond conventional definition. It does not need to be 'fixed' by attempts to make it something it has already been. Detroit does not need to be re-tooled into some economically acceptable form that can continue to contribute to a long dead paradigm. Detroit needs to be recognized for what it is: a place where courageous, creative people can actively participate in the unknown going forward, carving the trail ahead.

Well said, Nancy. Read the rest here.

Camp Detroit calling for entries for Movement installations

Camp Detroit Tuesday, March 05, 2013

Here you go, artists and artisans: a message from the Community Arts Moving Projects (aka CAMP) people to let you know they are now accepting proposals for projects to be displayed at this year's Movement Festival, held during Memorial Day weekend.

An excerpt:

We believe that the continued progress of Detroit may be augmented through the exhibition of the region’s exemplary creative talent on the global stage. The CAMP (Community Arts Moving Projects) program aims to facilitate this by giving Detroit artists, makers and thinkers the opportunity to create beautiful and inspired projects that will be displayed at Detroit’s Movement Electronic Music Festival before they are relocated into our neighborhoods.

We are challenging creators to make pieces that will reflect the heart and future of Detroit while taking advantage of the unique resources available to the city.

Read more here.

HuffPost Detroit: North End Photographer lives father's legacy

HuffPost Detroit Tuesday, March 05, 2013

Many of us knew Ameen Howrani, a pioneering photographer whose studio on E. Grand Blvd. was (and still is) a beacon of creativity. He died in 2010, but his son Ara was there to take over this unique Detroit family business.

An excerpt:

Ara Howrani had some big shoes to fill. After a stint in Los Angeles, the young photographer and videographer returned home in 2005 to take over Howrani Studios in the North End neighborhood of the city, carrying on the studio's legacy with a style that is truly his own.

Read more here.

Short film shows glimpse of current Detroit music scene

New American Noise Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Detroit, music city. Yeah man, we're all over that plain but huge matter of fact. This is the original (and only) home of Motown (c'mon L.A., stand down, please); the birthplace of the sickest garage rock (Stooges, MC5, Gories) and electro (Adult., Drexciya, Dopplereffekt) ever made, trailblazing hip hop (foremost Slum Village, James Dewitt Yancey aka J Dilla) and, of course, techno (Cooley High peeps alone -- notably Carl Craig, Mike Huckaby, Anthony "Shake" Shakir -- produced more talent than most Johnny-come-lately "dance music capitals" anywhere in the world, baby).

So, yes, we're well aware of our innovative sound heritage. This short film helps us understand part of what's happening now, in Midtown, Hamtown and other bars, and especially at next gen private house parties.

Check it out here.

MOCAD renovation winning awards even before construction begins

HuffPost Detroit Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Great news from the Museum of Contempory Art Detroit last week about MOCAD's upcoming redesign by Rice+Lipka Architects and urban design/landscape architects James Corner Field Operations.

This excerpt from HuffPost Detroit:

The design won the Architectural Review's 2013 Future Project award in the "Old and New" category.

The judges hailed the MOCAD design as "an inspirational project that combines past and present in a well resolved and convincing manner. It creates new space for new creativity in a post-industrial city."

The two firms will work to make the interior more energy-efficient. They'll also reconfigure exhibit, event and storage area. Exterior changes will also create a brand-new outdoor event space.

Read more here.

Kresge's Art X reloads for April Midtown return

Detroit Free Press Tuesday, February 12, 2013

The second edition of Art X Detroit: Kresge Arts Experience will take over Midtown for five days starting April 10. The event, to be held in multiple locations, is free.

The Detroit Free Press has the scoop. An excerpt:

Event producer Midtown Detroit Inc., announced today that the cultural celebration, funded by the Kresge Foundation, will be held at more than two dozen venues. The inaugural Art X event was in 2011.

There will be visual artworks created by the 38 Kresge Eminent Artists and recipients of Kresge Artist Fellowships. A special visual arts exhibition will be on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Detroit. This year’s programming will also feature dance, musical and theatrical performances, literature readings, workshops and panel discussions.

The complete schedule of Art X events will be announced soon, organizers said. To learn more about the event, go here.

CCS photo show features Detroit entertainment icons

HuffPost Detroit Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Fashion photographer Jenny Risher, who graduated from College for Creative Studies in the late 1990s, has a show up now at CCS of her pictures of Detroit popular culture figures. It will be up there until March 2, before moving to the Detroit Historical Museum in July.

An excerpt:

Risher started working on the project in 2010. Talking to her friend and model Veronica Webb, who hails from Detroit, Risher started thinking about the many famous and interesting individuals who come from the city.

"I said to her, wouldn't it be cool if someone did a book of all the amazing people who have came out of Detroit," Risher said. "For three months the idea just kept bugging me and I couldn't let it go so I thought I would make a list of all the people I would love to photograph from the area and reach out to them, reach out to five and if they said no, leave it, but all those five said yes."

It snowballed from there. From Eminem to Lee Iacocca, Risher was pleased to see how many of the illustrious Detroiters agreed to participate in her project.

Read more here.

ArtHopper digs current show at Public Pool

ArtHopper.org Tuesday, February 05, 2013

Every six to eight weeks we can't help but say something nice about Hamtramck's Public Pool. The storefront art space has too many damn fine shows by Detroit (and soon to showcase out-of-town) artists.

The blog ArtHopper recently popped in to see Contorted, an all female show curated by Jessica Frelinghuysen.

An excerpt:

Having peeked at what I guessed I was not meant to see, I realized all the work in Contorted keeps the inner workings under wraps. Experiencing women retreating into mystery with a humorous wink, demands that the viewer look closer for the kernel of conflict. In Nicola Kuperus’ photographs, all titled Fools, uncomfortably tight cropping cutting off portions of extremities, and nightmarish crimson bags covering the figures’ heads quickly counter the somewhat clownish poses of the unitard-wearing ballerinas. The work echoes documentary photographs of prisoners of war, as well as Picasso’s eyeless woman husks.

Read on here.

Arts : Buzz