June 14–July 11, 2021
Art Mile, Detroit’s citywide arts festival, returns for its second year with a month of online exhibitions and virtual events.
Join over 75 of Detroit’s galleries, museums, institutional non-profits, and artist-run spaces for Art Mile, a digital citywide festival celebrating Detroit’s vibrant and diverse arts community. Held June 14–July 11, Art Mile’s second edition will feature a full month of public programs and online exhibitions, including a suite of panel discussion organized by Independent Curators International (ICI).
For the first time, Art Mile will host a special Curatorial Fellow exhibition, organized this year by inaugural Art Mile Curatorial Fellow Juana Williams; a suite of keynote panel discussions organized by Art Mile Programming Partner, Independent Curators International (ICI), and complemented by a series of live events organized by Red Bull Arts; and Art Mile Editions—a new exhibition category showcasing artist books, zines, screenprints, and other printed matter submitted by local artists—which this year will additionally feature special exhibitions curated by Barbed Magazine and Maamoul Press.
The inaugural Curatorial Fellow was selected by a committee comprising ICI’s Executive and Artistic Director, Renaud Proch; Art Mile Co-Founder and Reyes | Finn Partner, Bridget Finn; and Red Bull Arts Detroit’s Curator of Public Programs, Jessica Allie.
“Art Mile is an opportunity to connect with the vibrancy of the Detroit art scene,” says Proch. “ICI is excited to highlight this unique energy and its reach across the US and beyond, through a series of curatorial dialogues as well as the online exhibition curated by Juana Williams as part of her fellowship.”
Organized by Reyes | Finn and Cultural Counsel in partnership with Red Bull Arts, Art Mile launched its inaugural festival in the summer of 2020, providing over 55 of Detroit galleries, institutional non-profits, museums, and artist-run spaces with free access to Art Mile’s exhibition platform, with sales made directly through exhibitors on an inquiry basis.
Live events on Art Mile (EDT)
All panel discussions will feature live ASL interpretation. Event recordings with post-captioning will be publically available on artmiledetroit.com.
Saturday, June 26, 2pm: Red Bull Arts and the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) 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.
Sunday, June 27, 2pm: Red Bull Arts and Galerie Camille present a live-streamed performance by Red Bull Arts Detroit Resident Artist Darryl DeAngelo Terrell exploring self-care and self-desire as a form of healing for femme-identifying, fat, Black, queer folk
Tuesday, June 29, 2pm: Red Bull Arts presents AMANECER de AQUARIO, a screening series of contemporary Puerto Rican video works organized by Red Bull Arts Detroit Resident Artist Cristina Tufiño.
Thursday, July 1, 1pm: 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.
Tuesday, July 6, 6pm: ICI presents a conversation between curators Sadie Woods and Monica Marin on the legendary Detroit techno group, Underground Resistance, and the political roots of techno music.
Thursday, July 8, 1pm: ICI presents 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.
Past events on Art Mile
Wednesday, June 16, 6pm: A conversation between Art Mile Curatorial Fellow Juana Williams and Detroit-based multidisciplinary artist Ellen Rutt on the relationship between humans and their natural environments, with an introduction by Renaud Proch (Director, ICI).
Monday, June 21, 1pm: A conversation between Neil A. Barclay (President and CEO, The Wright Museum), Stephanie James (Curator, Mott-Warsh Collection), and Detroit-based artist Mario Moore.
