Arts, Culture, & Entrepreneurship

DETROIT ACE CELEBRATES JUNETEENTH WITH AN ENCORE OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH ART AND JAZZ PROGRAM

  • To honor Juneteenth and the free expression of Detroit artists, the City Office of Arts, Culture and Entrepreneurship is doing an encore presentation of the 2021 Black History Month Art and Jazz program. Juneteenth is a federal holiday that celebrates the historic announcement made on June 19, 1865 that enslaved people across the country were free. This announcement reached enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation officially declared those who held slavery in Confederate states were free. 

“For many across this nation, Juneteenth signifies a momentous occasion that brings light to the sobering past of America,” said the President and CEO of the NAACP, Derrick Johnson.

Juneteenth was officially signed into law by President Biden on June 17, 2021, but the holiday has been celebrated by many since the late nineteenth century.

If you like great jazz, you can spend some time listening to the music in this program and perusing the art offered by many in our creative workforce. Note the name of the artist in the show. You can find them on the list below in case you want to collect some of their work. 

The artists;

 

Do you want to be a mural hunter?

  • Detroit ACE to host first session on how to become a mural hunter
  • Mural hunters will help document every mural in the City of Detroit
  • Register for the first information/training session at Mural Hunter information session

Detroit ACE has announced the first information session explaining how to join the team of amateur and professional photographers willing to take pictures of murals across the City as a part of the Detroit Mural City project. It will be held virtually at 5PM Tuesday, June 14. Detroit ACE announced the partnership with CANVS, an art technology company, last month. Launched in 2016 as a passion project, the CANVS Street Art app has expanded to more than 100 cities, with more than 2,000 murals identified. Detroit ACE will launch its presence on the CANVS Street Art app so that anyone can use a smartphone or mobile device to identify murals and artists wherever they find them.

At the same time, Detroit ACE will launch the Detroit Mural City Map on its website detroitmi.gov/ace (or detroitartsandculture.com) in July.

The site will feature:

  • Hundreds of murals already documented across the city
  • Collections of murals with similar styles and themes
  • An artist directory featuring the city's best muralists
  • A search function that makes it easy to find your favorite art and artists

Director of Arts and Culture Rochelle Riley said the initiative is part of Mayor Mike Duggan’s “Blight to Beauty” campaign promoting public art. She declared the upcoming season “the summer of Detroit murals.”

“Detroit ACE hopes to better connect residents with the talented artists who have created and will continue to create iconic murals.,” she said. “Residents and tourists will be able to create tours of murals, such as those featuring women, or all those created by their favorite artists. Imagine walking up to a mural and learning who the wonderful artist is who created it and more about the work.”

In the Tuesday information session, ACE and CANVS will share:

  • What it means to be a mural hunter on the CANVS platform,
  • What the best practices are for street art photography.
  • What the goals and rewards are for participating. The session will be held on Zoom at 5 PM Tuesday, June 14. It is free and open to the public.

Register for the session at https://cityofdetroit.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAucOmqpjkpHNbc8VRlVkwljrNOGndStrZ1 

For more information, visit www.detroitmi.gov/ACE 

The Office of Arts, Culture, and Entrepreneurship oversees the City of Detroit’s investment in the arts. Its missions are to use arts and culture as catalysts for neighborhood growth and improvement and elevate the City’s creative workforce.

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CITY OF DETROIT OFFICE OF ARTS, CULTURE AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP Detroit ACE PARTNERS WITH MOTOR CITY SINGS ON COMMUNITY SONGWRITING PROJECT

  • Efforts to address the need for improved mental health and suicide prevention among African Americans in Detroit

Detroit ACE is partnering on a new community initiative called Boa Me: A Community Songwriting Project.

The project is a five-month community project produced by Detroit native and culture creator Ben Will and Motor City Sings, a 501©3 nonprofit organization that uses music to remove the stigma from conversations about mental health and suicide prevention within Detroit’s African American communities.

Motor City Sings is currently searching for Detroit-based singer/songwriters, lyricists, and music producers who identify as Black/African American to join our summer artists collective for Boa Me: A Community Songwriting Project. Each artist collective will work with a research team to learn how Black Detroiters have navigated the last two years of the global pandemic. After observing community discussions, each collective will then work together to compose new original music inspired by the research findings.

“Boa Me” is an abbreviation of the West African adinkra symbol BOA ME NA ME MMOA WO, which translates to English as “Help Me, and Let Me Help You.” The symbol encompasses the principles of healthy interdependence, connection, and healing.

All roles will be compensated. The application closes on June 17. Interested applicants can apply and learn more at www.motorcitysings.com. Questions can be sent to [email protected] Subject Line: BOA ME QUESTION.

The project, originally scheduled for May 21 but canceled due to rain, will launch at 1:30PM Friday, July 1, 2022, features the Motor City Singers' Space Unplugged: Boa Me at the Dequindre Cut Freight Yard at Dequindre Cut Greenway near the intersection of Wilkins and Orleans streets behind Shed 6 at Eastern Market.

“The overall goal of this project is to help Detroiters, (and specifically Black Detroiters) reconnect and create agency while developing new music that encompasses the shared sentiments, stories, and emotions of surviving a global pandemic,” said curator Ben Will.

More than 50% of mental illness goes untreated in America and Black people are 20% more likely to experience mental health challenges, such as depression, suicidal ideation, and post-traumatic stress disorder than other race/ethnic groups, according to the 2019 National Alliance on Mental Illness report, produced with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health.

Founded in 2018, Motor City Sings has an established history of partnering with local artists, community organizations and mental health professionals to creatively and without judgment provide psycho-education and mental health resources to the greater Detroit community.

Rochelle Riley, the city’s director of arts and culture lauded the group for working in a space and with a challenge that sometimes isn’t talked about in Black communities.

“A big part of recognizing all of the culture that exists in Detroit is to remember that much of our creative excellence also can help emotionally, physically, and spiritually,” she said.

The launch concert is the first in-person event for Motor City Sings in nearly two years. The concert will feature acoustic musical performances by several Motor City Singers’ Space favorite artists and special guests. The talent lineup includes Johdi, Kenny Watson, KeeBie Mitchell, Trey Simon, Ben Will, la Shaun Phoenix Moore, Natasha T. Miller, and Charity. This event also will feature the infamous Motor City Singers’ Space audience interaction and provide details on how musical artists, producers, and community members can both volunteer and apply for paid positions to join this musical mental health initiative.

Admission is free, but guests must register to enter the event at www.motorcitysings.com 

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Founded in 2018, Motor City Sings is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with an established history of partnering with local artists, community organizations, and mental health professionals to promote positive mental health and remove the stigma from the subject of suicide prevention in the Black/African American community of Detroit through musical performance.

Ben Will is a singer/songwriter/poet, mental health advocate, and cultural curator native to Detroit, MI. He is also the executive director of Motor City Sings, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that utilizes musical performance to remove the stigma from the topics of mental health and suicide prevention within the Black/African American community of Detroit. An alum of the Mosaic Youth Theatre and Renaissance High School Varsity Chorus, Ben produces music and cultural events such as The Motor City Singers’ Space, The HAM Slam, WordPlay, and Boa Me: A Community Songwriting Project. Ben was also recently lauded as the 2022 Motown Mic Spoken Word Artist of the Year.

The Office of Arts, Culture, and Entrepreneurship, established in 2019, oversees the City of Detroit’s investment in the arts. Its missions are to use arts and culture as catalysts for neighborhood growth and improvement and to elevate the City’s creative workforce.

 

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Detroit ACE joins CANVS to host first session on how to become a mural hunter

 


The City of Detroit's Office of Arts, Culture, and Entrepreneurship (Detroit ACE) and CANVS invites the public to an information session on how to become a Detroit mural hunter!

Mural hunters are those who will join the team of amateur and professional photographers willing to take pictures of murals across the City as a part of the Mural City project.

Detroit ACE announced the partnership with CANVS, an art technology company, last month. Launched in 2016 as a passion project, the CANVS Street Art app has expanded to more than 100 cities, with more than 2,000 murals aggregated. The Detroit ACE Mural Map will launch in July featuring hundreds of murals already documented across the city, collections of murals with similar styles and themes, an artist directory of the city's best muralists, and a search function that makes it easy to find your favorite art and artists. At that time, the CANVS Street Art app will be updated to include all of the Detroit murals available on the Detroit ACE Mural Map, making it easy for anyone to use their smartphones and devices to identify murals and artists wherever they find them.

Director of Arts and Culture Rochelle Riley said the initiative is part of Mayor Mike Duggan’s “Blight to Beauty” campaign promoting public art. She declared the upcoming season “the summer of Detroit murals.”

Detroit ACE hopes to better connect residents with the talented artists who have created and will continue to create iconic murals. CANVS is developing a digital map on the ACE webpage that will allow users to get information about murals and create tours of murals that have similar themes. People will be able to walk up to any mural and use their smartphones to learn about the artist and the origin of the art.

 In the information session, ACE and CANVS will share:

What it means to be a mural hunter on the CANVS platform, 
What the best practices are for street art photography,
What the goals and rewards are for participating. 
The session will be held over Zoom at 5PM Tuesday, June 7. It is free and open to the public.

Register for the session at https://cityofdetroit.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAucOmqpjkpHNbc8VRlVkwljrNOGndStrZ1 

For more information, visit www.detroitmi.gov/ACE


Join Detroit ACE and Artspace for a community meeting on affordable artist spaces in Detroit
RSVP TO ATTEND AT: https://artspacemeeting.eventbrite.com/ 

Community Meeting on Affordable Artist Spaces

May 24, 2022 - City of Detroit's Office of Arts, Culture and Entrepreneurship (ACE) and Artspace invite you to a community meeting on affordable artist spaces in Detroit. The event will take place at 5PM on Tuesday, May 24th at the Charles H. Wright Museum and be live-streamed on the City of Detroit Facebook page, YouTube channel, and City Channel 22. 

 

Detroit ACE announces new app to track and identify murals across the city

WANT TO BECOME A MURAL HUNTER? REGISTER AT: https://www.canvsart.com/join

May 11, 2022 - Detroit ACE announced it is partnering with CANVS, an art technology company, to identify all the art on the city’s walls.

Director of Arts and Culture Rochelle Riley announced the launch of the collaboration, part of ACE’s contribution to Mayor Duggan’s Blight to Beauty campaign. She also discussed how ACE will begin enlisting “mural hunters,” supporters who want to help the city honor our muralists. To better connect residents to murals, CANVS will create a digital map on the ACE web page to allow users to create tours of similar murals or find murals they have seen, but do not remember where. 

Lorren Cargill, co-founder of the start-up, said that one of his company’s missions is to better connect community to art.

“When art becomes more accessible, it allows people to better connect with the city,” he said. “The Girl with the D earring – people know that now. We’re all a part of that context-setting. Once people find the murals and learn about the artists, they’re able to connect with different parts of the city and know Detroit’s artists. Cargill said he visited the North End, where CANVS loaded the murals from Sydney James’ BlkOutWalls Festival. “I had a good time there with all those murals. That place is in my mind now. I have stories there. I met people who live there. Street art allows you to do that across Detroit.”

Riley said she has many duties, “but one of them is to help Detroiters rediscover our pride and embrace centuries of achievement by celebrating those among us who are excellent. That includes some of the nation’s best muralists.”

The CANVS initiative is co-sponsored by the Ford Foundation.

 

Che Pope Workshop

 

Detroit ACE hosted a conversation between Che Pope and the local artists he wants to reach with his new company WRKSHP. Pope and Dan Gilbert are launching the company to offer comprehensive services for artists to launch their careers, develop spinoff passion projects, create art with transparency, and be a part of something bigger than just music. “Instead of signing artists to these ‘360-degree’ deals, WRKSHP will partner with and educate creatives so they profit share from revenues derived from their intellectual property and most effectively monetize their art,” Pope said in news reports. Pope said he wants to disrupt the music industry. WRKSHP plans to treat artists as more than performers by helping them establish themselves as brands. The event aired Monday, February 21st. 

Watch the full conversation here 

 

Detroit ACE Artist Professional Development Workshops are continuing


The Detroit ACE office, in partnership with ArtOps, will continue entrepreneurship and marketing training for artists in January, thanks to the support of the Kresge Foundation.  

The seminars, which began last fall, will continue on the third Tuesday of the month from 6PM to 7PM. Attendees will learn how to:

  • Run their art practices as successful small businesses
  • Join the ever-expanding network of creative entrepreneurs in Detroit
  • Improve their presence on the internet

The workshops will be led by primarily Attorney Michael Hall with guest appearances from Consultant Jennifer Montgomery and others.

The schedule of workshops is below with links to previously recorded sessions. For upcoming workshops register below the event date.

Aug 17, 2021
Optimizing your Digital Presence


Sept 21, 2021
Do you need a manager?


Oct 19, 2021
Copyright and trademarks


Nov 16, 2021
Partnerships


Jan 18, 2022
Art of Finance Pt. 1


Feb 15, 2022
Art of Finance Pt. 2


Mar 15, 2022
Management Q&A


April 19, 2022
How to Social Butterfly


May 17, 2022
Protecting your Brand Q&A


June 21, 2022
Group Projects: Navigating Art Collectives


July 19, 2022
Brand Wellness
 

 
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