Detroit house guest and musician Dorit Chrysler. Courtesy of ADULT. The Knight Arts Challenge Detroit is accepting applications through 11:59 p.m. tonight, April 13, for the best local ideas for the arts. Here, writer Mary Chapman caught up with past winners of the electro band ADULT. Detroit, with its vast stretches of quietude, is decidedly unshowy. But looks, […]
Article · April 13, 2015 by Mary M. Chapman
Image courtesy of Andy Krieger. The Knight Arts Challenge Detroit is accepting applications through April 13 for the best local ideas for the arts. Here, writer Mary Chapman catches up with 2014 winner Andy Krieger. With the nation in recession, and Detroit all but broke, out-of-work carpenter and visual artist Andy Krieger read a magazine piece about […]
Article · April 7, 2015 by Mary M. Chapman
The Knight Arts Challenge Detroit is now accepting applications for the best local ideas for the arts. Here, writer Mary Chapman catches up with past winner Mitch McEwen. Many areas of Detroit, including downtown and Midtown, are flourishing. New eateries and other businesses are opening at a pace unseen in decades. Excitement is building. But, there is much […]
Article · March 26, 2015 by Mary M. Chapman
From video art that shines a light on darkened city streets to an arts incubator and Hip-Hop Mardi Gras Parade, Detroiters have dreamed big, submitting fresh ideas to the Knight Arts Challenge. With those projects taking shape in the city’s neighborhoods, the community-wide contest is now open for the third time – and seeking the […]
Article · March 16, 2015 by Mary M. Chapman
Detroit Institute of Arts illuminated as part of Dlectricity. Photo by Jon Deboer via Flickr. The epiphany came when Jonathan Lewald was enjoying a projected light installation at the nighttime arts festival Dlectricity. “Detroit’s coming back, baby,” he turned and yelled to no one in particular, his face flecked with dancing reflections. “This is what […]
Article · September 30, 2014 by Mary M. Chapman
Photo credit: Knight Foundation on Flickr. Growing up in a hardscrabble swath of Detroit’s west side, Haleem Rasul had a start in life that wasn’t all that auspicious. Dance was his escape. Rasul’s cousin got him into Breaking and Popping, dance forms popularized on the East and West coasts. But Rasul fell for the Jit, so much […]
Article · May 22, 2014 by Mary M. Chapman
The Sphinx Story, via YouTube Like many other urban centers, Detroit years ago pared arts from its public school budget, reducing the exposure of students to disciplines like classical musical. But Sphinx, a Detroit-based national nonprofit, is doing its part to change that. Since 1997 the organization has been working to diminish cultural stereotypes associated […]
Article · September 27, 2013 by Mary M. Chapman
Urban Innovation Exchange from Model D TV on Vimeo. Detroit is one of eight cities Knight Foundation considers “resident communities.” In the last five years, the foundation has committed more than $45 million to projects there. Below, freelancer Mary M. Chapman writes about the challenges and opportunities facing the city. Some news accounts of Detroit’s woes sound like postmortems. […]
Article · September 10, 2013 by Mary M. Chapman