Hey Detroiters, welcome back to Culture Canvas!
The Library Street Collective is gearing up for the opening of “Beneath Our Feet,” a new exhibit by Detroit artists LaKela Brown and Mario Moore centered on land stewardship, Black home ownership, food sovereignty, cultural heritage and legacy.
The show, featuring a mix of painting and sculpture work, will be on display at the downtown Detroit gallery through July 30. An opening reception is at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
“Mario and I address a lot of the same concerns in our work,” Brown said. “We had been having these discussions all year, and when we got this opportunity to do this show, we decided to make work based on our discussions.”
Brown said she’s known Moore since he was in middle school. His mother, prominent city artist Sabrina Nelson, was Brown’s admissions counselor at the College for Creative Studies. Moore, she said, “was always around, being a little baby artist.”
Among the pieces featured at the gallery is a joint piece called “The Smoke Coin.” Brown said the work is Moore’s largest sculpture to-date and it’s her first bronze piece.
“I had previously used coins as my subject and Mario was like, ‘Let’s do a giant coin.’ He did the head side of the coin, which is a side profile portrait of me. And it has words on the front that says, ‘Sell the shadow to fund the substance,’ she said. “And the tail side, which is the side that I sculpted, has a bunch of collard greens and it says, ‘Collective economics.'”
Each artists contributions to the 60-inch coin were crafted in different cities. Brown worked on her piece in New York and Moore crafted his side in his Detroit studio. The two sides later met at the foundry to combine into one work.
“It goes along with some of the themes of the show, thinking about the economic independence of the Black community and also thinking about our agency as artists,” she explained.
The two-person show features about a dozen works and Brown says she hopes that the show spurs conversations about ways to build community and support food and land stewardship.
“As a community, we’ve had ruptures and there’s trust issues that we need to rebuild in order to have strong communities, especially now with all the social issues happening,” she said. “It’s even more important now that people get to know their neighbors.”
Cheers,
Micah
313 Scene
- BridgeDetroit reporter Jena Brooker has the details on a new wine club created by Thor Jones, founder of Hospitality Included. The club features a wine list created by a culture-creating community member and a wine expert, and an “approachable” food menu.
- Sydney Elisabeth, who grew up in Detroit’s Rosedale Park neighborhood, plays Genesis, the daughter of a crime boss in Max’s new series, “Duster.” The series is the creation of filmmaker and TV producer J.J. Abrams. (Detroit Free Press)
- “Desire: The Carl Craig Story” had its Detroit premiere last week at Michigan Central’s Newlab. The 90-minute film, spearheaded by New York director Jean-Cosme Delalove, showcases the life and career of one of the most celebrated and innovative figures in the long history of Detroit techno. (Detroit Free Press)
What’s Going on in the D?
- WDET-FM will host its “What’s So Funny About Detroit?” comedy showcase at 7 p.m. Thursday at The Old Miami in the Cass Corridor. Hosted by radio host Ryan Patrick Hooper, the show will be headlined by comedian Josh Adams, featuring performances by Brett Mercer, Zech, Mary Spencer, and Johnny Mocny. DJ Thornstryker will be spinning tunes. Tickets are $28 on Eventbrite.
- The Detroit Grand Prix returns to the streets of downtown Detroit Friday to Sunday. The sports cars in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will race in the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic on Saturday, while cars in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES will compete in Round 7 of the 2025 season on Sunday in the Chevrolet INDYCAR Grand Prix. Single-day reserved seating begins at $85, while a three-day pass starts at $225. Tickets for rooftop viewing vary, but Comerica Park will host its Free Prix Day Friday at grandstands 1 and 9.
- The Senate Theater is hosting a “Carrie”-themed prom beginning at 6 p.m. Saturday. Attendees can come dressed in their finest gowns and suits and listen to the band Midnight Station and an organ overture before the film starts at 8 p.m. The classic 1976 film, based on the Stephen King book, features Sissy Spacek as Carrie as she navigates high school and her religious mother. Tickets are $15.