Join us to celebrate the opening of Art Mile Detroit with a special DJ set from the self-proclaimed “Grandson of Detroit Techno,” shot at the Conant Gardens Party Store. The Conant Gardens Party Store is both the mom and pop store run by Omar-S’ grandparents where Omar-S spent his formative years, and the current home of FXHE Records.

Art Mile is pleased to present Between Labor and Love, a keynote panel discussion held in conjunction with ARTWORK, a special exhibition hosted by Art Mile showcasing works of art made by Detroit’s art workers. We invite you to join curators Jova Lynne and Tizziana Baldenebro in conversation with exhibiting artists Sabrina Nelson and Graem Whyte as they consider the role of the art worker in Detroit and beyond, and explore new models of art production and labor.

Art Mile will present three films from Maya Stovall’s staged Liquor Store Theatre, a conceptual art and anthropology video project in which she danced near the liquor stores in her Detroit neighborhood as a way to start conversations with her neighbors. Stovall uses the project as a point of departure for understanding everyday life in Detroit and the possibilities for ethnographic research, art, and knowledge creation.

Red Bull Arts invited independent curator Lucy Mensah to present a selection of films and video artworks as part of Art Mile's inaugural programming. Titled In Media Res: Detroit Artists in Motion, Mensah's screening will include the pilot episode of Ahya Simone's Femme Queen Chronicles—an award-winning comedic webseries about the lives of four black trans women as they navigate through life in Detroit—as well as works by Bree Gant, Melanie Manos, Empress Nikoleta and Troy Ramos.

The Freep Film Festival is pleased to present a free, one-time screening of the documentary 12th and Clairmount, as part of the festival's participation in Art Mile's inaugural programming. Streamed live on Art Mile with an introduction by Brian Kaufman, the Free Press-produced documentary about the Detroit riot/rebellion of 1967 provides an immersive look at that tumultuous summer through the use of Detroiters' home movies and other archival video and photos. Using more than 400 reels of home movies donated by Detroiters — along with a tapestry of archival materials, including footage from WXYZ-TV's vaults — 12th and Clairmount transports viewers back in time to explore the causes and aftermath of perhaps the most pivotal moment in Detroit's history.

Art Mile is pleased to present a keynote panel discussion on prioritizing black collectors, moderated by art collector and MOCAD Board Member Dr. Charles Boyd. Boyd will be joined by a panel of artists, curators, dealers and collectors including curator Allison M. Glenn, who currently serves as an Associate Curator of Contemporary Art at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art; private art dealer, consultant and collector Gardy St. Fleur, who has been described by the New York Times as “a liaison to the art world” for the NBA’s aspiring collectors; and Tylonn J. Sawyer, a Detroit-based figurative artist and educator whose work centers around themes of individual and collective identity, race, history, and pop culture.

Red Bull Arts is pleased to present LOCAL AXIS, an abstract study in movement, sound, and time. The video series connects three Detroit artists with thee of the city’s most influential cultural spaces, curators, and artists to explore these spaces through an intimate, experimental lens that weaves together artistic practice, ancestry, and Detroit history. The pilot episode will feature multidisciplinary artist and dancer Bree Gant in conversation with curator Olayami Dabls in a moving exploration of the Dabls Mbad African Bead Museum, an expansive collection of outdoor installations encompassing almost an entire city block.

In Episode 2 of Local Axis, two staples of Detroit’s music scene come together as DJ Father Dukes joins electronic musician and drummer Shigeto at Portage Garage Sounds—a multi-disciplinary creative space that includes a recording studio, ceramics practice, and more. Together, they explore ideas of community, collaboration and interconnectedness, considering how Detroit’s history, legacy and icons have uniquely shaped a creative cohort that defies the status quo.

Episode 3 of Local Axis brings brothers and spoken word-artists Aaron Mahone and Eldric Laron to the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History—a museum dedicated to exploring and celebrating the rich cultural legacy of African Americans. Joined by Yolanda Jack, Director, Actress, and Coordinator of Youth Programs at The Wright, they explore ideas of history, diaspora, and iconography, in what it means for a monument of Black culture to be built right here in the city of Detroit.

A panel discussion with Art Mile’s Inaugural Curatorial Fellow, Juana Williams, in conversation with Detroit-based multidisciplinary artist, Ellen Rutt. The two will discuss the symbiotic relationship of humans and their natural environments, healing properties of collaborative creation and immersing oneself in nature—key themes that are presented in William’s exhibition, Breathe.

A conversation on collecting with Stephanie James (Curator, Mott-Warsh Collection) and Detroit-based artist Mario Moore, moderated by Neil A. Barclay (President & CEO of The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History).

Becoming Dion (Shea Buttered Baby) {Iteration #3}, a live-streamed performative transformation by artist Darryl DeAngelo Terrell exploring self-care and self-desire as a form of healing for Femme-identifying, fat, Black, queer folk.

Red Bull Arts will present AMANECER de ACUARIO, a screening series of contemporary Puerto Rican video works curated by Red Bull Arts Detroit Resident Artist Cristina Tufiño. Taking its name from the legendary queer icon Walter Mercado’s work, the videos explore shared themes of pleasure and precariousness on the island.

ICI presents a conversation between curator Elena Ketelsen González (MoMA PS1) and Detroit-based artist and community advocate, Halima Cassells, on the importance of care and in sustaining community engagement in their respective communities.

Red Bull Arts and MOCAD are pleased to present a conversation between art historian Samantha Noël, artist Akeem Smith, and artist Damon Davis about the artistic practice of collecting expressions of Black identity, moderated by artist and MOCAD Senior Curator Jova Lynne.

ICI is pleased to present The Political Roots of Detroit Techno, a conversation exploring the genius of Techno music pioneers informed by cultural experiences at the intersection of race, gender, sexuality, class and Detroit’s socio-political climate. Curators Sadie Woods and Monica Marin join John ‘Jammin’ Collins, Alan ‘DJ T-1000’ Oldham and Jani Anderson to explore a historical genealogy of club culture, electronic music, visual art and AfroFuturism reimagining Black futures.

ICI is pleased to present a conversation between Allison Glenn (Curator & Dir. Public Art, CAM Houston), Toya Northington (Community Engagement, Speed Art Museum), and Detroit-based artist Chelsea Flowers on Glenn’s exhibition at the Speed Art Museum, Promise, Witness, Remembrance, and the parallels reflected in the Detroit art community.