Matthew Olzmann is one of a handful of poets I know that can win over those who think they hate poetry. He wins over the haters because he is funny, but also because the poems have doors that open and invite you inside.
Just one block away on Trumbull stands an all too typical boarded up, burned out example of Detroit's abandonment and decay. But walk a few more steps and you'll find a building of the same vintage, transformed into a beautiful, living testimony to the arts.
Beethoven's symphonies are iconic and timeless. It is with some wonder, then, that the great one only penned one opera, Fidelio. It is one of the truly classic operas performed for the last two centuries. It's about time it made its way to Detroit.
As we continue to explore the transformative power of art and creativity, I am reminded of the city of Detroit's latest woes. I'll be brief. They ar...
You will keep reading about the blight of the city, another corrupt politician, leadership changes and the like. But I am here to tell you that this is a thriving cultural metropolis. It is a testament to the resilience of Detroiters. It is why the city will overcome its many obstacles.
Tyree Guyton's urban interventions have opened up dialogue on many of the hard questions Detroit faces such as racism, segregation and poverty that have left deep wounds in the spirit of its people.
Detroit is functioning, excelling and overachieving in ways that do not have precedent anywhere else on Earth, and therefore it is profoundly difficult to recognize for those stuck in old paradigms, dreaming of resurrection and emerald cities.
I want Detroit to be the magical place I believe it is for everyone. So I live here, I pay taxes here, I tell everyone it is a magical place.
Noel Night was originally created as a way to introduce people to everything that Detroit's cultural center has to offer. Fourty years have passed since then and Noel Night just seems to keep getting bigger and better.
On November 24, at Cass and Peterboro, Detroit's Chinatown, 100 Flying Paper Lanterns were launched into the sky, carrying wishes for a brighter future in Detroit and also evoking the city's past.
On the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday, the city of Detroit celebrated another cultural milestone. The Detroit Historical Museum re-opened its doors to the public after a six-month-long renovation.
If you go to the Michigan Opera's new production of Handel's Julius Caesar, do not expect to see togas and laurel wreaths. Instead, you will see army tanks, sets, costumes and characters reminiscent of 1930s Hollywood.
The Barber of Seville is a corker of an opera. Even non-opera fans can get their heads and laughter around it, the story and familiar melodies and arias having become so iconic.
On Monday, October 15th, Flying Lotus makes his return to Detroit in celebration of the release of his new album Until The Quiet Comes. Expect heavy bass, great visuals, songs you've heard before and tracks you may never here again.
All cities change, especially those dependent on specific industries that outlive their usefulness to society. Detroit is suffering and Delray can be considered an exaggerated microcosm of loss and abandonment.
How can a substance that denotes death have such spectacular beauty? When we overcome -- or lose -- the cultural tendency to recoil from violence, we see blood's beauty and we marvel at splatter patterns, which recall astronomical formations.