NOW:FUTURE

NOW:FUTURE ARTIST SUMMIT: UNPACKING MUTUAL AID AND ALTERNATIVE ECONOMIES FOR DETROIT ARTISTS.

Kresge Arts in Detroit and Sidewalk Detroit have partnered to present a public, 3-day, interactive summit that will explore existing opportunities and new possibilities related to alternative economies and community-based resource creation and sharing within Detroit’s artist community. Participants will engage with presenters and peers with knowledge and experience spanning mutual aid, intentional communities and land use. Attendees will have opportunities to define and share their vision, ideas, and experience, while connecting and learning from other artists who are interested in alternative economies.

Occurring June 15, 16 &17, 2021, 10am-4pm

This program is free and open to the public. Space is limited. Reserve your spot!

A VIRTUAL AND SOCIALLY-DISTANCED PERFORMANCE SERIES
Featuring KRESGE ARTS FELLOWS AND GILDA AWARD RECIPIENTS

The theme, NOW:FUTURE asks artists to reflect on their experiences and the world around them as it relates to our current cultural, political, and personal landscape.

NOW:FUTURE kicks off with a mobile, neighborhood concert series happening every Friday from July 24 to August 20th, featuring Rick Robinson, Thornetta Davis, Britney Stoney, and Marion Hayden. Each concert will be held in a different neighborhood and will feature a different artist. These pop-up, mobile concerts bring the artist directly to Detroit neighborhoods and are meant to be intimate, viewed from the porch, the front yard, or from the comfort and safety of one’s home.

Sidewalk Detroit is encouraging artists to explore what it means to shape their narrative, presently and for the future. Original online film premiers will debut over the next month featuring performance art and theatre group, A Host of People in a performance focusing on care and employing their own take on "unboxing". Erika “Red” Stowall's dance on film, Quarantine Chronicle is centered in the home, domesticity, caring for her father, and how the pandemic has affected her daily routines. Gilda Award Recipient and dancer, Marsae Mitchell layers original dance choreography and poetry with samples from Nina Simone songs and interviews in her piece Reflect.Black.Times. Both Stowall and Mitchell are collaborating with filmmaker Julia Yezbick. These original works will be premiered online the following Thursdays, July 30th and 13th at 7pm.

A dedicated group of artists to lead in a two-part panel program, one focusing on a younger generation of artists and the other highlighting some of Detroit’s great elders, both will be diving into the grit of the matter, What is the story of Detroit Artist(s) Today, and what is the future we want for our community?