• communities    places    spaces    leisure    history

  • Within Wheel
  • Niki Williams is a photographer known for his dreamlike depictions of everyday life. In his photos we encounter humans in their daily pursuits, their everyday rituals, daily routines, celebrations and with their loved ones. Within Wheel is Niki William’s first photo-book. Most of the images were taken while he was living in Detroit, Michigan. Here, we present an interview with the artist about this work and his experience as a photographer currently working between Michigan and California.

    A conversation with Niki Williams

    January 13, 2025

  • EchoesFromTheRust.KemuelBenyehudah.AshleyCook
  • Echoes from the Rust
  • Corrosion has come to define this place that was once the center of the Industrial Revolution in the US, with its metals now tarnished by extreme neglect and its communities plagued by disinvestment. Detroit, Michigan and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania flourished as engines of technical innovation in America before waves of economic abandonment left them jobless. Curator Kemuel Benyehudah’s newest exhibition Echoes from the Rust spotlights artists from these two cities, whose work touches on engineering, manual labor, and community as foundations of their blue-collar culture.

    Ashley Cook

    January 2, 2025

  • Hot Club Women (Detroit Edition)
  • The city is full of multi-talented ladies, and this photo series is dedicated to them all!

    tearyeyed

    December 30, 2024

  • AntiFascismAndTheTuskegeeAirmen.AshleyCook
  • Anti-Fascism and the Tuskegee Airmen
  • The Tuskegee Airmen earned the nickname as the Red Tail Angels for fighting fascists in the skies of World War II. They flew hundreds of patrol, escort and attack missions for the Twelfth and Fifteenth Air Forces, and were recorded as the fleet with one of the lowest casualty counts of all of the United States pilots. They were recognizable as a team because of the red tails of their planes, and because they were segregated from all of the other pilots for being primarily African American.

    Ashley Cook

    November 11, 2024

  • MrSpotless
  • Mr. Spotless is Haunted
  • Mr. Spotless celebrates it's fourth Halloween as Detroit's first haunted car wash. Here, Runner Magazine interviews Fathel Salha, who came up with the idea to start this spooky seasonal attraction at his family's buisness...

    An Interview with Fathel Salha

    October 23, 2024

  • Blood on the Brain
  • Ghanaian American author Esinam Bediako has been honored for her debut novel Blood on the Brain, set to launch in September of 2024 in Brooklyn, New York. Born and raised in Metro-Detroit, Bediako’s story of a young woman, Akosua, who is also a Ghanaian American from Detroit, highlights challenges of growing into adulthood in the United States...

    An interview with Esinam Bediako

    September 9, 2024

  • Porcelinen
  • Porcelinen
  • Hamtramck, Michigan is the home of a few different ceramic studios, with the newest one being Porcelinen. Vanessa Beard has been working as a ceramicist for many years, officially starting her business in 2019, and opening a storefront and studio in 2022...

    An interview with Vanessa Beard

    August 26, 2024

    business, culture

  • TheBarbershopInc.JacksonGifford
  • A Slightly Personal Introduction to The Barbershop Inc.
  • Setting foot into The Barbershop’s larval form on May 24th, I was met with the remnants of what once was, surely, a barbershop. The faded pink walls, floor-to-ceiling mirrors, and large basins of granite counter-top which served as pedestals for chemical innovations destined to become groundwater. Despite this tragic beauty, I knew it all had to go, as I was there to meet with founder Jack Jacket to discuss possibilities for the soon-to-be gallery’s first show...

    Jackson Gifford

    August 19, 2024

  • A Riveting Revival of Breaking the Waves at the Detroit Opera
  • Powerful emotional and musical undercurrents will draw audiences into this 21st century American opera by composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek. The production originated with director Tom Morris in Edinburgh in 2019. The 2024 version is an international co-production of Opera Ventures, Scottish Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Adelaide Festival, and Théatre National de l’Opéra Comique. Diana Wyenn directs this revival, which opened on Saturday, April 6th at the Detroit Opera House...

    Roopa Chauhan

    April 12, 2024

  • JohnCagesEuroperas3and4.RoopaChauhan
  • The Essence of Sound and Form in John Cage’s Europeras 3 & 4: Chance Encounters at the Gem Theater
  • Yuval Sharon directed the Detroit Opera’s production of John Cage’s avant-garde musical concept, Europera’s 3 & 4, which took place on March 8-10, 2024 at the iconic Gem Theater...

    Roopa Chauhan

    March 28, 2024

  • NightCity.DetroitTechnoAndCyberpunk.AshleyCook
  • Night City: The Shared Roots of Cyberpunk Literature and Detroit Techno Music
  • Social theorists around the world acknowledge Detroit as a complex place that was once built as a “utopian vision of the future” and now exists as utopia’s perfect antithesis. The city’s time-line has followed the devolution of many cities depicted in science-fiction tales, giving rise to cyberpunk, a subgenre of science fiction that focuses on a future of advanced technological and scientific accomplishments...

    Ashley Cook

    February 19, 2024

  • DelrayBeyondIsolation.Karpov
  • Delray Beyond Isolation
  • Delray Beyond Isolation is the story of the quiet loudness on the margins of total existence and economic chaos. A story that speaks of the indestructible spirit and the eternal search for inspiration that facilitates survival...

    Karpov

    November 6, 2023

  • Decolonizing Giacomo Puccini’s Madame Butterfly?
  • The Detroit Opera House opened its season on October 7, 2023 with an original co-production of Giacomo Puccini’s Madame Butterfly bringing fresh voices and viewpoints to a timeless classic...

    Roopa Chauhan

    October 30, 2023

  • Arnold's Auto Electric Sales
  • In Beatrice’s time stewarding Arnold’s, the city of Detroit was re-narrativized at least 10 times, from all sides. It was a wild time to be alive in the world, and a wild world to be trying to make sense within, especially as a young artist...

    Beatrice Von Rague Schleyer and Mïï Gunn

    October 16, 2023

  • TheConeyIsAPartyForTheWorkingClass.AmeliaGillis
  • The Coney is a Party for the Working Class
  • August 11 marked the world premiere of ‘round midnight // i got it bad (and that ain’t good) by Detroit-based playwright and poet will street. The production is a semi-autobiographical semi-love-story told eagerly by the main character and narrator whose name is Elijah Eddleman...

    Ashley Cook

    August 23, 2023

  • RoundMidnight.WillStreet.AshleyCook
  • ‘round midnight // i got it bad (and that ain’t good)
  • August 11 marked the world premiere of ‘round midnight // i got it bad (and that ain’t good) by Detroit-based playwright and poet will street. The production is a semi-autobiographical semi-love-story told eagerly by the main character and narrator whose name is Elijah Eddleman...

    Ashley Cook

    August 23, 2023

  • Florescence.MarissaJezak
  • Florescence
  • A series of photographs taken at Hart Plaza during Movement 2023

    Marissa Jezak

    June 5, 2023

  • FigureClub.HeatherAnger.RichRiquist
  • Figure Club
  • The Figure Club of Detroit provides the opportunity to sculpt from life...

    An interview with Heather Anger and Rich Wiquist

    January 30, 2023

  • RiverRouge.SamuelGulliver
  • River Rouge
  • The suburbs of River Rouge are situated between the Marathon oil refinery and the highly industrialized Zug Island located on the Detroit River; this makes the area one of the most polluted zip codes in the country...

    Samuel Gulliver

    November 21, 2022

  • WithAFlickOfATale.LindaVoorwine.AshleyCook.Loner
  • With a Flick of a Tale
  • On September 23, 2022, the exhibition With a Flick of a Tale opened at Loner, an unconventional exhibition space in Paris located in the attic above the apartment of Gilles Jacot, who directs and curates for the space. As a collaborative project between Linda Voorwinde and Ashley Cook, the show served as a recollection of a series of chaotic events in Detroit and Hamtramck that happened 5 years ago in 2017...

    Linda Voorwinde and Ashley Cook

    October 27, 2022

    culture

  • HearseFest.NikiWilliams
  • Hearse Fest
  • At Hearse Fest, one of the largest gatherings of funeral car aficionados in the country, one thing is clear, death is coming for us all. When it shows up, with its cold glare and hungry scythe, you might finally get to catch a ride...

    Niki Williams

    October 17, 2022

  • DetroitKiteFestival.DanielRibar
  • Detroit Kite Festival
  • A series of photographs taken on Belle Isle during the Detroit Kite Festival...

    Daniel Ribar

    September 12, 2022

  • Movement.DanielRibar
  • Movement 2022
  • A series of photographs taken at Hart Plaza in Detroit during Movement Electronic Music Festival 2022

    Daniel Ribar

    July 18, 2022

  • CPop.RickManore.MichaelLask.AshleyCook
  • C-Pop
  • The history of art in Detroit encompasses the story of C-Pop, an exhibition space that started when Michael Lask responded to Rick Manore's ad in The Metro Times about old concert posters...

    Michael Lask and Rick Manore, narrated by Ashley Cook

    April 18, 2022

  • FromFordismToDetroitism.KatarinaDačić,
  • From Fordism To Detroitism
  • The heydays of the auto industry certainly led to Detroit being recognized as the Motor City. At that point, a new term called Fordism took over the world, which eventually led to the most recent one, which may not yet be completely known and defined - Detroitism...

    Katarina Dačić

    December 13, 2021

    business, culture

  • TheAntEndures.MatthewCopeland
  • The Ant Endures
  • Planet Ant Theatre is a true survivor and no stranger to the many obstacles that face a non-profit community of creatives striving toward a common goal. After more than 25 years in operation, the Ant boasts the longest running improv comedy show in the Detroit area...

    Matthew Copeland

    November 8, 2021

  • DrivingOnTheEastSide.AmeliaGillis
  • Driving on the East Side
  • After a cloudy day of avoiding potholes, driving at sunset while everything glows orange is a necessary meditation. Driving around in a city this big introduces techniques and etiquette specific to the neighborhoods—learning when to roll through the lights or maintain speed while someone is stood in the turning lane is part of demonstrating respect for the areas passed through. Detroiters made the cars, and they make the rules too. Enjoy the view while it lasts and stay reckless...

    Amelia Gillis

    January 11, 2021