Arts

CULTURE

From a park dedicated to Charles McGee to the return of BLKOUT Walls, the new year is looking pretty sweet already.

Artist of the week

Justin W. Milhouse

Five art happenings in Detroit we’re stoked to see in 2023

By Randiah C amille G reen

his eature usually hi hli hts a differ ent artist each w eek, but this time w e’re thinking of all the exciting projects Detroit artists have brew ing for 2023. hese are fi e thin s we’re stoked to see come to life in Detroit’s arts scene next year. (G ot an artist in mind you think deserves the spotlight next time? Hit us up at arts@ metrotimes.com.)

MARS Marshall’s debut poetry chapbook

W riter and cultural organizer MA R S Marshall has a debut poetry chapbook, Flow er B oi, on the w ay in January 2023. T he D etroit-born poet’s w ork investigates reclaiming the Black trans body through desire and longing. W e once heard MA R S read at a summer back yard party and w ere struck by their ability to e ortlessly wea e emotion w ith humor and imagery that makes the poem live before you. MA R S is a 2021 K resge Literary A rts Fellow , 2019 Lambda Literary A rt Emerging W riters Fellow in Poetry, and director of the A llied Media C onference. T heir w ork has been published in Obsidian Literature & A rts for the A frican Dias pora, M ichigan Q uarterly Review : The M ixtape, Foglifter Journal , and more. Flow er B oi is available for pre-order through G old Line Press.

Charles McGee Legacy Park opening

Library Street C ollective has several things planned for 2023, including the opening of the Shepherd, an art campus centered around a former church; a skatepark designed by Tony H aw k; and a mixed-use building centering artists w ith disabilities called LA N T ER N in D etroit’s East V illage N eighborhood. But w e’re most interested in the unveiling of the adjacent C harles McG ee Legacy Park. c ee is one o Detroit’s most prolific and heralded artists, w hose w ork is on display at the D etroit Institute of A rts, C harles H . W right Museum of A frican A merican H istory, and beyond. A fter his passing in 2021 at the age of 96, A nthony and JJ C uris of Library Street C ollective took over representation of McG ee’s estate, and have w orked alongside his daughter Lyndsay McG ee to continue sharing his w ork. T he C harles McG ee Legacy Park w ill include several sculptural playscapes alongside a retrospective of the late artist’s w ork that w ill be on display at the Shepherd. It’s set to open in the spring of 2023.

Michigan Central Art Program at Bagley Mobility Hub

T he Bagley Mobility H ub is one of several structures being developed around Michigan C entral Station. It’s really just a shiny new parking structure, but the part that excites us is the three D etroit-based artists w ho w ere chosen to display mixed media installations at various locations throughout the hub: Senghor R eid, Patrick Ethen, and G arage C ultural. R eid’s massive installation is w rapped around three w ater cisterns facing the Southw est G reenw ay, w hich should also be opening sometime next year. W e caught a glimpse of them during a sneak peek of progress along the Southw est G reenw ay earlier this w inter. T he w himsical paintings of w ater fittingly loo o er the Detroit i er W hile R eid’s w ork is already on display, a light installation by Ethen and w ork by G arage C ultural in collaboration w ith D etroit-based artist D eMaciiio and W ashington D .C .-based MasPaz w ill be unveiled w hen the mobility hub eventually opens in 2023.

Sydney James’s solo show at MOCAD and the return of BLKOUT Walls

O K , so w e kinda cheated and are giving you a tw o-for-one deal here, but Sydney James deserves it. James is the girl w ith the D etroit earring. N ot only did she paint the unmistakable mural “G irl w ith the D Earring,” in the city’s N orth End neighborhood, but she reps the actual O lde English D earrings popularized by local artist Yoland N ichelle urry I pretty much e erywhere she goes. James is alw ays putting Black w omen front and center in her w ork, painting them in vivid hues in moments of joy, contemplation, and natural beauty. In 2021, James brought us the first alls mural esti al eaturing primarily painters of color. She had big plans to host the groundbreak ing festival in O akland, C alifornia, in 2022, but it w as canceled due to a lack o sponsorship ow alls is set to make a triumphant return to D etroit from Sept.7-17, 2023. Before that, James w ill grace us w ith a solo show at the Museum of C ontemporary A rt D etroit D that opens on pril nsurprisingly the solo show is called G irl Raised in Detroit.