5 Art Events In Detroit This Week is a roundup of some of the best artistic shindigs in the city, and this week we’re featuring our top 5 events for Nov. 18-24. Check back with us every week for the most interesting plugs in the city!
1. BRIDGE GALLERY OPENING: SPOOKY ART GIRL
Wednesday, November 20
BRIDGE GALLERY OPENING: SPOOKY GIRL
Bridge Lounge at Detroit Shipping Company (Image: Facebook Event)
Come join us in the Bridge Lounge to celebrate the opening of Spooky Girl Art, featured in our gallery from 11/20-12/31!
ARTIST BIO: ANDREA NANCY
Andrea is an illustrative artist who is inspired by pop culture, science fiction and fantasy. Andrea’s work explores themes of retro futurism, golden era SciFi, alien encounters and modern femininity. Studying art and English literature at Eastern Michigan University, Andrea hopes to one day create graphic novels and comics.
Growing up watching 80’s science fiction movies, Andrea has had a long relationship with science fiction and hopes to recreate the magic and mystery she experienced as a child though her art. Inspired by authors like Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury and Neil Gaiman, Andrea creates pop surrealist art that focuses on the unknown and the imaginary.
Follow Andrea’s artistic journey on instagram @spoOkygirlart
2. DETROIT TREE LIGHTING & LIGHT UP BEACON PARK
Friday, November 22
DETROIT TREE LIGHTING
Campus Martius Park (Image: Facebook Event)
This highly anticipated event at #CampusMartiusPark and Beacon Park Detroit is sure to be an unforgettable night for the entire family!
The Downtown Detroit Partnership, DTE Foundation and DTE Beacon Park Foundation are proud to present the 2019 #Detroit Tree Lighting and Light Up Beacon Park.
Headlining Detroit’s annual holiday celebration is Detroit’s own GRAMMY-nominated artist Mayer Hawthorne. Guests will also enjoy performances from the Detroit Youth Choir, World Champion Figure Skater and two-time Olympian Yuka Sato, and Olympian Mirai Nagasu, the first American figure skater to land a triple axel at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Kickoff the holiday season with spectacular live entertainment, from the Archdiocesan Chorus of Detroit, Beth Griffith-Manley, Carolyn Striho, Daniel Palmeri, and awarding-winning local figure skating clubs. The night will also feature horse-drawn carriage rides, food trucks and bars, Visits with Santa and the Channel 955 Official Rink Opening Party!
We’ve got you covered to ensure fabulous views of the show from anywhere, with several viewing screens throughout #CampusMartiusPark.
FREE shuttles will run between Campus Martius Park to Beacon Park from 4:30 p.m. to midnight with pick-up/drop-off locations at Michigan and Griswold and First and Plaza.
At Beacon Park, guests can watch a live stream of Detroit’s Tree Lighting and enjoy live performances by Steffanie Christi’an, SHIGETO, DJ iNViSiBLE, 313 LIVE Experience, and the Casali Holiday Dancers inside the heated Winter Lodge tent.
Santa will also make an appearance at Beacon Park, alongside the incredible, larger-than-life holiday lighting installments and the Detroit Children’s Tree, which all transforms the park into a winter wonderland!
An assortment of food and beverage will be available including food trucks, restaurants, bars, hot chocolate, and more.
Campus Martius Food Trucks:
High Octane Food Truck
Little Brothers Burgers
Rollin’ Stone Pizza
Pablo’s Tacos
Chick a Dee
Old World Almonds
Bavarian Inn Cluck Truck
Detroit Mini Donut
The Spot
44 Burrito
Eman’s Kitchen
Be sure to arrive early to experience all the beautiful winter lighting in #DowntownDetroit!
It’s the most wonderful time of the year and we can’t wait to celebrate with you in the parks! #WinterInTheParks #DetroitAglow
3. RESIDENT ARTIST EXHIBITION
Friday, November 22
RESIDENT ARTISTS EXHIBITION
Resident Artist Exhibition Opening (Image: Facebook Event)
Join us for the opening of an exhibition of new works completed during the three-month residency by Holly Bass, Hui-Ying Tsai, and Michael Polakowski. Open November 22 – January 19, Thursday – Sunday from 11am-4pm.
About the artists:
HOLLY BASS is a multidisciplinary performance and visual artist, writer and director. Her work has been presented at spaces such as the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian Museums, the Seattle Art Museum, Art Basel Miami Beach (Project Miami Fair) and the South African State Theatre. Her visual art work spans photography, installation, video and performance and can be found in the collections of the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the DC Art Bank, as well as private collections.
A Cave Canem fellow, she has published poems in numerous journals and anthologies. She studied modern dance (under Viola Farber) and creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College before earning her Master’s from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. As an arts journalist early in her career, she was the first to put the term “hip hop theater” into print in American Theatre magazine.
She has received numerous grants from the DC Arts Commission and is a 2019 Red Bull Detroit artist-in-residence and a 2019 Dance/USA Artist Fellow. A gifted and dedicated teaching artist, for four years she directed a year-round creative writing and performance program for adjudicated youth in DC’s Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services as well as facilitating workshops nationally and internationally. She is currently the national director for Turnaround Arts at the Kennedy Center, a program which uses the arts strategically to transform schools facing severe inequities.
HUI-YING TSAI is an interdisciplinary artist based in New York and Taipei. She received her BFA from National Kaohsiung Normal University and the MFA in New Genres from San Francisco Art Institute.
She works internationally as a creative professional. Her recent projects are large scale sculptures, and installations involve collaboration across disciplines and non-profit organizations primarily focus on sustainable living and human relation with nature.
She is the fellow of Joan Mitchell Foundation, MacDowell Colony, MASS MoCA Studio, I-Park Foundation, The Millay Colony, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, The Vermont Studio Center, Cheng Long Wetlands International Art Project, the Antenna: Spillways Residency. Most recently, she was the Excellent Award winner of the 2018 Austronesian International Arts Award.
Her public collections include the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, and Taitung Art Museum. Hui-Ying was featured in the books of An Illustrated History of Taiwan Art, and History of Fine Art in Postwar Taiwan authored by Professor Qiong-Rui Xiao in 2013 and 2016 respectively.
MICHAEL POLAKOWSKI’S practice rests on the intersection between gallery painting and large-scale murals. He draws heavily on his upbringing in the Midwest in order to create work that reflects the social climate of his home. To date, his body of work juxtaposes the real and unreal to tell stories that are as absurd as they are familiar. Often, his work draws upon his sketchbook practice – diligently observing and documenting his environment with surreal juxtapositions which insinuate that “not everything is quite right here.” His work consists of graphic shapes, textures, bold color, and symbolic iconography. The results are vibrant paintings and murals that are equal parts narrative, decorative and conceptual.
4. ROUND MIDNIGHT DETROIT AFTER DARK
Saturday, November 23
CASS CAFE ART EVENTS
Cass Cafe (Image: Facebook Event)
Opening Reception with the artists 7-10 pm.
Celebrate Detroit at night with the new exhibit ‘Round Midnight/Detroit After Dark featuring work by Detroit photographers Ralph Jones and Jon DeBoer.
See the city in a new light, meet the artists, and enjoy the gallery exhibition. These two photographers combine their unique visions of Detroit, its people, and its environs in this amazing exhibition.
Complimentary light fare, cash bar, and good times.
Exhibition continues through January 11, 2020
5. RICKY RAT CONCERT, LIVIA COCCHI ART
Saturday, November 23
RICKY RAT CONCERT / SOLO ART SHOW
Spread Art (Image: Facebook Event)
Songs and stories from Trash Brat Ricky Rat wsg The Brown Thrasher. Solo Art show new hand lino-prints by Livia Cocchi. Intimate setting. Meet the artists.
Check back with us every week for the most interesting artistic events in the city! Have a show tip, events to share? Hit up Detroitsit on Social Media!
