tap833 — iSWD Programming — Inside Southwest Detroit

Despite the cold weather the youth, their parents, and neighbors gathered to share the artistic creations the young artists have been working on throughout the fall.

The days are getting shorter (and more damp) and that is part of why we value our annual mid-fall gathering as one of the last opportunities to connect before wintering as a community.

Traditionally Inside Southwest Detroit has focused on the last week of October and first week of November as an opportune time to uplift the values of local wisdom, inter-generational connections, and mentoring as we learn about the traditions and culture our communities celebrate together.

This year we celebrated on Dia de Los Muertos with a showcase of art from Porch on TAP residency with Mark Tucker with student-made luminaries, snacks, and some music. The time together warms our hearts as we get ready to slow down, spend more time indoors, and prepare ourselves and community for the Spring ahead of us.

ProgrammingInside Southwest DetroitNovember 2, 2021tap833, luminaries, DiaDeLosMuertos, potap, porch on tap, The Alley Project

Youth Set Their Jewelry In Final Workshop with Rebel Nell

ProgrammingInside Southwest DetroitOctober 21, 2021rebel nell, potap, porch on tap, the alley project, tap833

Camilla Cantu Welcomed as Porch On TAP Artist In Residence

Camilla Cantu is a musician and independent artist from Southwest Detroit. She believes in developing spaces in the Detroit community that uplift other women artists through mentorship, relationship building, and providing resources for up-and-coming creatives.

Camilla is the founder and director of member of Mariachi Femenil, “a female-based mariachi ensemble aiming to promote gender equality in music and performing arts, especially within the mariachi genre.” according to their Facebook Page.

Engaging and raising awareness around issues of documentation for undocumented residents through music and the visual arts is a passion and driving force behind Camilla’s practice.

Camilla is joining us as a resident artist at The Alley Project doing exactly that!! She is working with a creative team of neighbors, youth, and colleagues to collaboratively create the visuals for her new song, ‘Lights Out’. Her residency is helping us inaugurate our new outdoor classroom on Avis near Elsmere as we transform our front porch to a setting for artistic exchange during our artist residency program, the Porch On TAP.

ProgrammingInside Southwest DetroitSeptember 28, 2021potap, porch on tap, artist residency, camilla cantu, mariachi femenil, tap833

Luminary Tradition Celebrated Through Program Series with Mark Tucker

The PoTAP residency with Mark Tucker is being celebrated through weekly workshops ahead of Dia de Los Muertos at The Alley Project. This year students will be able to show off their works at an outdoor showcase at The Alley Project.

In addition to community-based arts, Mark Tucker serves as art director for the Lloyd Scholars for Writing and the Arts where he develops and designs innovative arts programming and also teaches art classes, primarily for non-art majors, at the University of Michigan. Several of his students accompany him each week, traveling together to The Alley Project to deliver instruction and hands-on support as youth learn a new art form.

This is some of the progress the students have made so far. The residency will extend beyond September throughout October until the projects are completed and the weather turns on us—whichever happens last.

ProgrammingInside Southwest DetroitSeptember 25, 2021luminaries, university of michigan, PoTAP, The Alley Project, southwestdetroit, tap833

Youth Harvest Paint for Their Jewelry with Rebel Nell at TAP

The physical part of Rebel Nell’s process of jewelry making begins with the procurement of paint from a range of surfaces.

For years The Alley Project has welcomed Rebel Nell to visit and to learn histories as layered as the paint they will work with. They eventually select surfaces and harvest paint from the alley, among other places, to make jewelry with.

This year, the youth get to join in as they learn how to make their own jewelry. And this particular surface is special. It is the garage door from a mural in 2011 by Pherz which was painted over several years of activities, sharing time, building relationships and art through painting for the completion and opening of Studio Luevanos and the lots.

ProgrammingInside Southwest DetroitSeptember 16, 2021rebel nell, potap, porch on tap, thealleyproject, southwestdetroit, tap833, outdoor classroom

Mark Tucker Welcomed As Porch On TAP Artist In Residence

Mark Tucker is an artist born in Vermont, living in Michigan, whose current creative work revolves around community collaborations making large-scale public art sculptures, theater sets, and unique outdoor spectacles celebrating the Arts as a catalyst for creative community engagement.

Mark is joining us as a resident artist at The Alley Project!! He is helping us inaugurate our new outdoor classroom on Avis near Elsmere as we transform our front porch to a setting for artistic exchange during our artist residency program, the Porch On TAP.

Tucker is the founder of FestiFools, an annual large-scale public art event held in downtown Ann Arbor, Michigan, and co-founder of the non-profit WonderFool Productions who facilitates the event each year .

Mary Luevanos, community artist and activist and long-standing member of the Porch On TAP curation team introduced Mark to The Alley Project and we are lucky to have him (and Mary) each week for the duration of his residency.

ProgrammingInside Southwest DetroitSeptember 11, 2021university of michigan, potap, porch on tap, The Alley Project, tap833, southwestdetroit

Community Mural for SW Fest with DeMaciiio

A handful of creatives from around the neighborhood have come together to share time and space with Demaciiio for some basics in aerosol, oil paint, and mural planning.

The mural, as a product, will be featured at the upcoming SW Fest to be held at Senate Theatre on Michigan Avenue in Southwest Detroit on Saturday, September 4th.

As a process, the outdoor mural workshops are providing space to build relationships, skills, and working collaboratively during this extended period of time of limited interaction with one another.

The final mural design incorporated themes of community building, sustainability, and collaborative imagined futures.

ProgrammingInside Southwest DetroitAugust 30, 2021tap833, outdoor classroom, the alley project, demaciiio, southwestDetroit

Rebel Nell Shares Creativity, Process In Jewelry Making Workshops

Almost 10 years ago we were introduced to Amy and Diana, business partners, who were starting a company that made jewelry from decayed, flaking paint of local murals. We had questions. They had intentions. We got together around those things and it was the start of a relationship that continues to this day between Rebel Nell and The Alley Project.

We are honored that Rebel Nell has joined us at The Alley Project for a residency where youth and neighbors will be able to learn how to make their own jewelry, Rebel Nell style, from start to finish!

Zoey, Russel, Amanda, and Ethel have been spending time with two cohorts of participants to create jewelry from start to finish—from harvesting to shaping, placing, and finishing their custom jewelry. .

“Rebel Nell began in 2013 with the mission to provide employment, equitable opportunity, and wraparound support for women with barriers to employment. By repurposing meaningful materials into wearable art, we mark life’s important moments and connect them to your personal journey.”

— From Rebel Nell's Website

Be sure to check back soon for updates to see how the process and pieces turn out.

ProgrammingInside Southwest DetroitAugust 26, 2021rebel nell, the alley project, potap, porch on tap, tap833

Demaciiio Welcomed as Porch On TAP Artist In Residence

DeMaciiio is a multidisciplinary artist born and raised in Southwest Detroit. He believes painting is a way to explore yourself while building with others and that art is evolutionary.

For years he has worked, independently and in community with fellow artists, to write and record countless songs in the studio, perform live, organize for social change, and design and paint small and large scale mural projects.

Demaciiio is joining us as a resident artist at The Alley Project!! Currently he is facilitating a series to collaboratively develop a mural that represents the beauty and flow the Southwest community holds for display at the upcoming SW Fest at the Senate Theatre in Southwest Detroit. Something that the community can see itself in as others see it.

He is helping us inaugurate our new outdoor classroom on Avis near Elsmere as we transform our front porch to a setting for artistic exchange during our artist residency program, the Porch On TAP.

ProgrammingInside Southwest DetroitAugust 23, 2021tap833, demaciiio, potap, porch on tap, community mural, southwest detroit, the alley project