Hey Detroiters, welcome back to Culture Canvas.
As a playwright, two of Andrew Morton’s passions are raising awareness about housing insecurity and creating art.
In 2019, he combined his passions for Sofa Stories, a project that allows young people who have experienced homelessness to share their stories through a monologue.
Now, Morton is moving in a new direction with the arts organization Every Soul Arts, where he serves as artistic director. The collective of Detroit-based artists, care providers and housing activists formed earlier this year with the aim of providing a creative space for young people between the ages of 18 and 25 who are unhoused or are facing housing insecurity.
In time for National Youth Homelessness Awareness Month, Every Soul Arts will host a film screening event Friday at Newlab at Michigan Central from 6:30-8:30 p.m. The night will include new short films from the Sofa Stories series, remarks from youth collaborators and project leaders, and more information on how people can support Every Soul Arts’ mission.
The event will also kick off the organization’s end-of-year fundraising campaign. The group is hoping to raise $5,000 by Dec. 31.
Suggested donation for the event is $30, but people can give whatever they can, Morton said. All proceeds will support the organization’s ongoing programming for youth experiencing homelessness.
I talked to Morton on what Every Soul Arts could look like, its next steps and what people can expect for Friday’s event.
BridgeDetroit: You were already working with Detroit’s unhoused population with Sofa Stories. What was the decision behind launching Every Soul Arts?
Morton: Sofa Stories started as a one-off project back in late 2019. After the first phase, we decided it was worth continuing. (He has presented the project at around 20 public events and festivals over the last few years).
We found that the response from the young people we were working with was really great and they were eager to be part of this growing community of people with some shared experiences. Many of the people as part of our ongoing projects have experiences with housing insecurity or have worked in that field and we felt that there was a bit of a gap in providing a space for creativity. Myself and the others who are part of this work believe firmly that access to our creativity is a human right, just as is housing or shelter, food and water. And we’re trying to think about how we can continue to create space and create community for people that have gone through those things to express themselves creatively.
BridgeDetroit: How will this organization be different from Sofa Stories?
Morton: We found that Sofa Stories is more of a public-facing project. The youth that we’ve worked with are getting to share their story and amplify their experiences, but we’ve learned that the audience is primarily people that don’t have the experience of being unhoused or working in this sort of area. We felt like we didn’t necessarily want to have as clear of an agenda. We were more interested in just creating space for folks to express their creativity in the ways that they want to. And not everything that comes out of those projects is going to be about housing issues. Some of the stories will hopefully continue in various versions or similar projects that do have that more kind of public-facing advocacy element, but the larger goal of Every Soul Art is to create that community for people to express themselves and create whatever they want to. For example, we have some of the young people we’re working with who are performers, writers, storytellers, and starting to think about, ‘Can we curate spaces or events where they can perform or share writing?’ We have some drag performers in our network that are interested in doing drag events. The new organization is more about creating that space for people with some shared experiences to organize.
BridgeDetroit: What will some of the programming look like?
Morton: While we’re doing our official launch (event) this week we have existed in this new iteration for a while now. This year, for example, we did a couple of projects in collaboration with Covenant House and the Ruth Ellis Center where we provided some creative engagement workshops exploring visual arts, creative writing, and a little bit of music. That goes back to providing that space for folks to express themselves in the ways that they want to. We definitely want to continue that and we’re excited to continue some collaborations with some of those organizations, like the Ruth Ellis Center, to come in and provide that artistic and creative element to their programming. It could be workshops, meeting people where they’re at in collaboration with these organizations, or it may be events that we curate and invite people to in a public sense. We’re open to anything as the organization grows.
BridgeDetroit: What will the short films you’ll be showing on Friday entail?
Morton: The first Sofa Stories project has more of a broader focus. But the second one, we did live performances for that project in 2023 and 2024, that focused more intentionally on stories from LGBTQ+ youth with experiences of housing insecurity. Sadly, that population is much more likely to experience housing insecurity in their lifetime. The films that we’re showing on Friday are part of that project. There are six films in total that we made and we’re going to show three on Friday.
We let these young people guide us in what particular element of their story they wanted to share. Some do talk a little bit more about rejection that they felt coming out as a queer person or trans person and some don’t really talk about housing at all. There’s also a lot of joy and celebration in the stories and we wanted to make sure that we created space to share that so it’s not just focusing on the saddest parts of the person’s experience.
It’s (the event) is really about celebrating these films, sharing these stories, celebrating our new organization and hopefully, trying to raise a little bit of money to continue doing this important work.
BridgeDetroit: Sharing stories from the homeless community and raising awareness about housing insecurity has been something you’ve been passionate about for years now. Were you ever in a situation where you were homeless?
Morton: I don’t have lived experience with that myself, but I have worked in the homeless sector for a while. I’m from the UK originally, and when I lived in London briefly, I worked for a theater company that worked with unhoused young people. And when I moved to Detroit a few years ago, I had been doing other kinds of creative projects, but I felt really drawn back to that work from a place of feeling like it’s important to create space for people to have access to art and creativity.
BridgeDetroit: Homelessness was on a lot of people’s minds earlier this year when two children died of carbon monoxide poisoning while inside the Hollywood Casino at Greektown parking garage. Were you surprised at how fast the city came up with a plan to address some of the holes in the system? Are there things the city could do better to address homelessness?
Morton: I was disappointed that it took such a tragic story like that to finally get people to take action. Housing insecurity and homelessness is a policy choice, right?
We can choose to help end that in our communities if we really want to put the resources and support available. But I know a big part of that is also educating the wider public on resources and connections. And there’s a stigma. Many people don’t want to necessarily share that they may be going through these things, so a big part of our work is reducing the stigma around homelessness. But yes, I was pleased with that response and I hope that does create some needed change in Detroit.
Something small that I do, particularly in the colder months, is that my husband and I always have little kits that we’ll put in our car that includes a little bit of food and hand warmers, those kinds of things. If we see people out on the streets or at an intersection we try to help them. But a big part is recognizing that homelessness and housing insecurity, particularly for young people, is often invisible. That’s why I encourage people to educate themselves and do their research about how it can happen in communities, and what we can do to help end it and donate and support those organizations (helping the unhoused) as well.
BridgeDetroit: What’s next for Every Soul Arts?
Morton: After this event, looking into next year, we want to continue some of our creative engagements, workshops, and collaborating with other service providers. We’re hoping to dip into some other art forms as well. We’ve floated around maybe forming some sort of choir or some sort of music group of people with shared experiences. We’ll definitely do more live performances and films and that type of thing. But we’re also hoping next year, if we get some funding, to create a small publication that will include poetry, visual art, and other creative expressions.
As always, have a great week!
Until next time,
Micah
313 Scene
- After the plug was pulled this year on a long-standing Detroit holiday tradition, businesses in Midtown have come up with a festive alternative. Merry Midtown, a Dec. 6 family-friendly shopping and dining event, will include more than 20 Midtown businesses. The event will feature discounts, music and activities and run from 5-9 p.m. It will take the place of Noel Night, an annual event put on by Midtown Detroit, Inc., which was paused this year as its organizers take time to reimagine its future.
- Norwest Gallery of Art, a Black-woman owned space in Grandmont-Rosedale, is preparing to close its doors with a final exhibit titled, “Water,” on display now until Dec. 21. December will mark eight years since the gallery first opened. (Detroit Metro Times)
- Jack White will headline the Detroit Lions’ Thanksgiving halftime show Nov. 27, becoming the first artist booked for the holiday classic under the team’s new partnership with Eminem. For the Detroit-bred rocker, who’s fresh off his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction with the White Stripes, the nationally televised halftime set will be his first-ever performance at Ford Field. (Detroit Free Press)
- The White Stripes are celebrating their recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction with a deluxe box set. The Detroit duo will release “The Complete Studio Albums Boxset,” collecting their six studio albums, on Black Friday. The set — pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Third Man’s Detroit pressing plant — will be available in limited quantities on Nov. 28 at Third Man’s Detroit storefront, as well as at storefronts in Nashville and London. (The Detroit News)
- It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Detroit. Downtown Detroit Markets and the adjacent Cadillac Lodge, as well as 1001 Winter Wonders, recently opened for the season, offering a variety of family fun activities and holiday shopping. (The Detroit News)
What’s Going on in the D?
- R&B singer Erykah Badu is celebrating the 25th anniversary of her acclaimed second album, “Mama’s Gun” with the “The Return of Automatic Slim Tour: Erykah Badu Mama’s Gun ’25.” The tour makes a stop in Detroit at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Fox Theatre. Tickets are still available, starting at $88. And bonus fact: Detroit’s J Dilla helped produce several tracks on “Mama’s Gun,” including the single, “Didn’t Cha Know?”
- Comedian Roy Wood Jr. is coming to the Sound Board at MotorCity Casino Hotel at 8 p.m. Thursday. Wood is best known as the former correspondent for “The Daily Show” and the host of CNN show, “Have I Got News for You.” Tickets begin at $44.
- The holiday season in the city officially begins Friday with the 22nd annual Detroit Tree Lighting ceremony at Campus Martius Park. Beginning at 4 p.m., the free event will feature country artist BRELAND, as well as local acts Urban Arts Orchestra, Motown Museum’s Hitsville NEXT, Grosse Pointe Theatre, Cass Tech High School Madrigal Choir and, in partnership with Broadway in Detroit, special guests from “Phantom of the Opera.” In addition, professional figure skaters Emmanuel Savary and Khloe Felton will take the ice.
- “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical” is making a stop at the Fisher Theatre from Friday-Sunday. The jukebox musical tells the story of the late singer, from her beginnings in Tennessee, to becoming the “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Tickets start at $46.
- The Carbon Athletic Club is hosting its annual holiday train party Saturday beginning at 6 p.m. Saturday at its Southwest Detroit headquarters, 111 Gates Street. The party coincides with the Canadian Pacific holiday train, which is scheduled to pass through several metro Detroit communities that night. Carolers, live music, bonfires are on the agenda and alcoholic drinks, hot dogs, chili and Dutch Girl Donuts are on the menu. General admission tickets are $10, while VIP Stroh’s and PBR admission tickets are $30.
