Art
Detroit Artist Bakpak Durden Paints the Beauty of Becoming
When most people first encounter Detroit artist Bakpak Durden, they're looking up at a photorealistic mural more than four stories tall. Towering above the [...]Read more about Detroit Artist Bakpak Durden Paints the Beauty of Becoming
Every Box Tells a Story at This Ferndale Pride Fundraiser
If you handed a dozen Southeast Michigan artists a plain cigar box and told them to make something, you'd get a dozen completely different answers, and [...]Read more about Every Box Tells a Story at This Ferndale Pride Fundraiser
New Ferndale Gallery Opens Its Doors as a Hub for LGBTQ+ Creativity
On a recent afternoon at the Tacon-Heaslip Gallery, the only thing doing the talking — aside from queer artist and founder Jarrad Tacon-Heaslip — is the art. [...]Read more about New Ferndale Gallery Opens Its Doors as a Hub for LGBTQ+ Creativity
The Art of Being Seen: How These Local Nude Models Found Empowerment and Community
The first time Elliott Vargas posed nude for artists, it wasn't at the Detroit Queer Sketch Series. The 27-year-old had already tried their hand at [...]Read more about The Art of Being Seen: How These Local Nude Models Found Empowerment and Community
Queer and Immigrant Artists Reclaimed: U-M Exhibition Spotlights Carmen Herrera and Leon Polk Smith
Carmen Herrera and Leon Polk Smith had a lot in common. They were neighbors. They were artists. They were pioneers in the geometric abstraction movement.And [...]Read more about Queer and Immigrant Artists Reclaimed: U-M Exhibition Spotlights Carmen Herrera and Leon Polk Smith
Meet Your Gaming Neighbor: Angela Washko Joins University of Michigan Arts Scene
Somewhere, a track coach is barking something — maybe motivational, definitely deafening — into the ear of a college freshman. If she listens carefully, she [...]Read more about Meet Your Gaming Neighbor: Angela Washko Joins University of Michigan Arts Scene
Imagining What Queer Nightlife Will Look Like 30 Years in the Future
It’s impossible to predict what any given guest will experience at A Night at the Orfelia on June 29. That’s by design. The simplest description of the event [...]Read more about Imagining What Queer Nightlife Will Look Like 30 Years in the Future
How Machine Dazzle Is Transforming Our Collective Michigan Garbage Into Queer Joy
The dildo sitting upright on the tabletop next to me looks like if it attacked me, I wouldn’t stand a chance. I don’t necessarily feel like I have to keep an [...]Read more about How Machine Dazzle Is Transforming Our Collective Michigan Garbage Into Queer Joy
How Queer Art Offers Freedom Where Freedom Isn't Always Found
With Motor City Pride in Detroit — and Pride in cities throughout the country — queer festivals commemorate the fight for political equality accelerated by a [...]Read more about How Queer Art Offers Freedom Where Freedom Isn't Always Found
How a Community of LGBTQ+ Artists in Ferndale Is Fostering Connection Through Creative Expression
The first time I drew, I was the only gay boy in the room. Oftentimes, I did it alone, a scared kid afraid of what people would think of me — drawing wasn’t a [...]Read more about How a Community of LGBTQ+ Artists in Ferndale Is Fostering Connection Through Creative Expression
How Detroit Artist Tylonn Sawyer Is Remembering Pulse Nightclub Victims During Pride Month Exhibition
With the joy and defiance of Pride also comes grief and sadness as we honor those we’ve lost. For his piece, “Forever Young: Pulse Club 49,” Detroit artist [...]Read more about How Detroit Artist Tylonn Sawyer Is Remembering Pulse Nightclub Victims During Pride Month Exhibition
Tiff Massey’s DIA Show Shines a Spotlight on the Culture of Black Adornment
It’s not that Detroit artist Tiff Massey wants audiences to find her work inscrutable. She simply wants visitors checking out her upcoming Detroit Institute of [...]Read more about Tiff Massey’s DIA Show Shines a Spotlight on the Culture of Black Adornment
Don’t Sleep on These 2024 Mighty Real / Queer Detroit Events
In 2022, patrick burton embarked on a journey to highlight queer artists, and Mighty Real / Queer Detroit was born: an organization committed to honoring, [...]Read more about Don’t Sleep on These 2024 Mighty Real / Queer Detroit Events
Queer Delights Await: What You Should Know About This Year’s Dirty Show in Detroit
If you could pick up Detroit’s Dirty Show and plunk it down in any other city, it wouldn’t be the same. There’s something uniquely Detroit about the annual [...]Read more about Queer Delights Await: What You Should Know About This Year’s Dirty Show in Detroit
The Black, Gay ‘Michelangelo of Detroit’ Finally Gets His Own Show
Out before the Civil Rights Era, LeRoy Foster created a mural that Detroiters see every day.
Why You’ve Probably Never Heard of Edward Brezinski, a Gay Michigan Artist Who Desperately Wanted to Become Famous
‘Make Me Famous’ doc explores the strange, sometimes sad ‘70s and ‘80s art scene.
My Little Needle Tattoo Artists Affirm Every Client at This Queer-Run Plymouth Shop
At My Little Needle Tattoos in Plymouth, the staff invites clients in with open arms. The mostly queer team shares a mission to make the vulnerable experience [...]Read more about My Little Needle Tattoo Artists Affirm Every Client at This Queer-Run Plymouth Shop
Queer Erotic Art Show at Affirmations Showcases Senior Talent
A new art exhibit at Affirmations, Ferndale’s LGBTQ+ community center, has a unique focus: erotic art created by senior artists. Four artists from Affirmations’ [...]Read more about Queer Erotic Art Show at Affirmations Showcases Senior Talent
This Pansexual Artist Makes Pretty Paraphernalia for Smoking Pot
Weed smoke and queer folk came together at Ferndale Pride this year. The smell of marijuana was in the air, and many local dispensaries handed out goodies and [...]Read more about This Pansexual Artist Makes Pretty Paraphernalia for Smoking Pot
Final Show For Late Artist, Pride Source/Between The Lines Columnist to Open This Week
He left us in December but his memory will always linger on in metro Detroit’s queer community.The work of artist and longtime Between The Lines columnist [...]Read more about Final Show For Late Artist, Pride Source/Between The Lines Columnist to Open This Week
How One Lesbian Michigan Artist Faced Her Past to Embrace Her Present and Future, One Journal at a Time
It’s not possible to truly peer inside the mind of another person, but Ruth Crowe’s “The Journal Project” art installation comes close to simulating such an [...]Read more about How One Lesbian Michigan Artist Faced Her Past to Embrace Her Present and Future, One Journal at a Time
Detroit Painter Mieyoshi Ragernoir Focuses on Black and Brown Joy and Radiance in a Challenging Era
Of all the joyful Black and Brown faces filling the frames of Mieyoshi Ragernoir’s vibrant paintings, only one is a self-portrait, but then again, she says, [...]Read more about Detroit Painter Mieyoshi Ragernoir Focuses on Black and Brown Joy and Radiance in a Challenging Era
With His Empowering Sundance Debut, Antonio Marziale Is Provocative with Purpose
Writing and directing for the first time in his filmmaking career, Antonio Marziale didn’t make “Starfuckers,” which he also acts in, with the intention of it [...]Read more about With His Empowering Sundance Debut, Antonio Marziale Is Provocative with Purpose
Normalizing Queerness, One Gay Kiss at a Time: Michael Cimino and George Sear Talk 'Love, Victor'
"Love, Victor," now in its second season, refuses to navigate coming out as simply a one-note experience.�� The gay teen-romance, a series spinoff of the [...]Read more about Normalizing Queerness, One Gay Kiss at a Time: Michael Cimino and George Sear Talk 'Love, Victor'
The Groundbreaking Trans Documentary That Almost Didn't Happen
Jonathan Skurnik: The Director Back in the 1970s, as a gender-fluid kid who painted his toenails and played with dolls, Jonathan Skurnik was bullied in school. [...]Read more about The Groundbreaking Trans Documentary That Almost Didn't Happen
The Queer Library Is Open: 17 LGBTQ+ Must-Reads to Get You in the Pride Spirit
Finding LGBTQ+ books used to be a challenge. You couldn't just Google "lesbian romance novels" or "books with trans characters." But now, luckily, that's no [...]Read more about The Queer Library Is Open: 17 LGBTQ+ Must-Reads to Get You in the Pride Spirit
Gay Identity Explored in FIA Jack B. Pierson Art Exhibit
A new exhibition titled "Political and Personal: Images of Gay Identity" has opened at the Flint Institute of Arts. The exhibition, which features photos from [...]Read more about Gay Identity Explored in FIA Jack B. Pierson Art Exhibit
Midland Center to Virtually Present Playwright Ricardo Perez Gonzalez in Masters Series
Human rights activist and playwright Ricardo Perez Gonzalez will be featured in a special virtual event Wednesday, Oct. 28, presented by the Midland Center for [...]Read more about Midland Center to Virtually Present Playwright Ricardo Perez Gonzalez in Masters Series
Historical Corktown Workers Rowhouse Showcases Both Detroit History and Modern Art
From The Guardian Building to the GM Renaissance Center, Detroit has its fair share of grand buildings that have made architectural history over the years, but [...]Read more about Historical Corktown Workers Rowhouse Showcases Both Detroit History and Modern Art
Unhung Heroes of the Metropolitan Art Zoom Tour Sept. 12
Calling all art lovers and size queens. Have you ever wondered why when you go to the art museum the guys without clothes are distinctly below average [...]Read more about Unhung Heroes of the Metropolitan Art Zoom Tour Sept. 12
