Press Releases

The School of Art & Design Launches New Exhibitions Gallery in Detroit!

August 24, 2007

This September, Work : Detroit, the School of Art & Design's newest gallery space opens its doors at the UM Detroit Center in the heart of Detroit's cultural center. Established in 2005, the UM Detroit Center reaffirms and expands the University of Michigan's commitment to the people and the city of Detroit. With the opening of Work : Detroit, that commitment extends to promoting an ongoing dialogue with its creative communities.

Through exhibitions and related programming, Work : Detroit will serve as an intersection for people and creative work from Detroit to Ann Arbor and beyond. It is in this fertile terrain that ideas collide and new perspectives emerge.

"Intersection", Work: Detroit's inaugural exhibition, embraces this mission. A site-specific and collaborative show, Intersection, brings together A&D faculty and Detroit's arts community to share their responses to the gallery's literal location, the intersection of Woodward & Martin Luther King/Mack.

From this single point, participating artists and designers have generated a rich and diverse field of responses, drawing from each participant's experience, methodology, and creative process. Some works document the life of this intersection from audio interviews with those possessing intimate knowledge of its history to photographs then and now of the its changing architectural face - even people's trash tell a tale to the diligent observer. Other works draw on the site's history, from a computer-based audio-visual investigation describing the northward flow of Detroit's population from 1701 to 1967, to the more lighthearted, animated adventures of Judge Woodward, the architect behind Detroit's street plan. The show even spreads out onto the street corner itself with outdoor sculptural installations paying tribute to native peoples who once inhabited Detroit, a mural installation on the building's windows, and an interactive performance with the public at a moveable bus stop.

This vital convergence of people and ideas from Detroit and Ann Arbor showcases the works of: Alana Bartol, Lowell Boileau, Jim Cogswell, Miroslav Cukovic, Pat Duff, Tirtza Even, Anne Fracassa, Scott Hocking, Jack Johnson, Deb King, Emily Linn, Jacque Liu, Andy Malone, Thylias Moss, Ansted Moss, Dan Price, Jocelyn Rainey, Ted Ramsay, Senghor Reid, Stephanie Rowden, John Sauve, Stephen Schudlich, Gary Schwartz, Hannah Smotrich, Rachel Timlin, Nick Tobier, Vito Valdez, Ron Watters, and Marilyn Zimmerman.

Intersection opens Saturday, September 22, with a reception open to the public from 6pm to 9pm. At 7:30pm there will be a brief dedication ceremony. For more details, information about the individual artists, or images, contact Nick Sousanis, Director of Exhibitions. nicksous@umich.edu, 313 593-0940.

Work : Detroit a cultural nerve center where people, places, and creative work intersect

Exhibition: Intersection UM/Detroit
22 September - November 2 2007
Opening Reception Saturday September 22, 6-9pm
Work : Detroit Gallery, 3663 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI 48201
http://www.art-design.umich.edu/workdetroit/

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