Art Mile launched in Detroit, MI yesterday, taking over the city with digital arts programming. Live through August 5, the week-long initiative offers online events from nearly 60 local art spaces, including digital exhibitions, virtual museum tours, artwork sales, panel discussions, and film screenings.
Organized by Reyes | Finn and Cultural Counsel, Art Mile provides a forum to enhance engagement within the city’s cultural landscape. Support of Red Bull Arts provides access to the exhibition platform and point of sales system, free of charge for all museums, galleries, and other participating organizations.
Damien Davis, “No Duty to Retreat (Blackamoors Collage #331)”, 2020, 15 x 21 inches, laser-cut acrylic and stainless steel hardware; © Damien Davis, courtesy of Charlie James Gallery.
“Art Mile aims to continue our city’s long tradition of banding together in resilience, recovery, and collective dreaming, whether in periods of economic crisis or prosperity,” said Founding Partner Terese Reyes. “Detroit’s arts community has become the heart of a city bursting with creativity—that’s something worth protecting.”
For the opening night celebration, Art Mile kicked off with a live-streamed DJ set by local legend Omar-S at the Conant Gardens Party Store (run by his grandparents), along with special presentations like “ArtWork,” and a tour of the Dabls Mbad African Bead Museum, which is currently closed to the public.
Damien Davis, “All About the Benjamins (Blackamoors Collage #334)”, August 2020, 15 x 21 inches, laser-cut acrylic and stainless steel hardware; © Damien Davis, courtesy of Charlie James Gallery.
Highlights include keynote panel between “ArtWork” curators Jova Lynne and Tizziana Baldenebro, screenings of Maya Stovall’s Liquor Store Theatre, online exhibitions, and tours of the city’s top cultural institutions. Other participants include names like Anton Art Center, Light Box, K.O. Gallery, CAVE Gallery, Cinema Detroit, Norwest Gallery, Galerie Camille, Heritage Works, Fringe Society, Playground Detroit, Cranbrook Art Museum, and Scarab Club.
Art Mile is accompanied by a fundraising campaign in support of 482Forward, Inside Out Detroit, and Living Arts—local non-profits who provide access to the arts for Detroit’s youth.
Photo by Marissa Gawe, courtesy of the Dabls Mbad African Bead Museum.
