iSWD Programming — Inside Southwest Detroit

The project, a special limited edition run of The Southwest Detroiter featuring Zoë Villegas’s ‘Standing In The Shadows of Love’ with photographs by Erik Paul Howard, was hand-assembled during Gabriela Baginski’s weekly Photo Arts sessions at La Sirena Studio on The Alley Project.

She led the group through a series of hands-on book making lessons.

More than a dozen hands helped put it all together over several weeks—measuring, sewing, and learning how to make books along the way in a community setting.

And now they’re done. The limited edition of 25 zines will be made available to the public and proceeds support youth and community development through the arts as well as your local artists.

Community, ProgrammingInside Southwest DetroitFebruary 12, 2020the southwest detroiter, photo arts, gabriela baginski, la sirena studio, zoe villegas, standing in the shadows of love, PoTAP

Pop Up Community Portrait Studio

Gabriela Baginski facilitated portrait sessions together with mentee Pedro Aguilera at Detroit Southwest Pride’s annual Southwest Detroit Community Christmas Party at Grace In Action this year.

Each family photographed received prints of their portraits on the spot to commemorate the holiday and the spirit of giving—part of the tradition of how the annual event comes together each year, with partners sharing their talents and creativity.

The collaborative portrait session was done as part of her Porch On TAP artist residency in a temporary studio they built the morning of the party.

Community, ProgrammingInside Southwest DetroitDecember 28, 2019gabriela baginski, potap, pedro aguilera, detroit southwest pride, Grace In Action

The Annual Southwest Detroit Community Christmas Party

Each year Detroit Southwest Pride goes hard for community. The holidays, especially, provide a unique opportunity to impact the community through individuals and families. And their annual Christmas party is no exception.

This year’s Southwest Detroit Community Christmas Party, held at Grace In Action on Lawndale, saw more than 100 attendees of all ages show up to celebrate the season and one another with music, food, and a variety of gifts for the community, from the community.

Neighbors and organizations nominate families to participate and, if they accept, each has opportunities to participate, giving and receiving in ways that meets each where they are. A collection of organizations, neighbors, and local artists willing to share hands, heads, and hearts get it all done… together.

DJ Skipz and two young DJ’s he mentors in weekly sessions provided the soundtrack for the party. Other youth in attendance were inspired by what they saw and brought questions about craft along with their requests. Skipz took the opportunity to inspire the next generation showing them around the board while spinning their songs.

Families enjoyed a meal from El Nacimento on Vernor as they received toys, clothes, groceries, gift cards, family portraits, and other items they self-identified as needing this holiday season. Stitching Up Detroit printed shirts on the spot featuring local artwork.

Gabriela Baginski facilitated portrait sessions together with mentee Pedro Aguilera as part of her Porch On TAP artist residency in a temporary studio they built the morning of the party. Each family received prints of their portraits on the spot to commemorate the holiday and the spirit of giving with their talents and creativity.

Community, ProgrammingInside Southwest DetroitDecember 22, 2019southwest detroit community christmas party, detroit southwest pride, stitching up detroit, el nacimiento, grace in action, dj skipz, gabriela baginski

Stitching Up Detroit | Youth Run Co-Op To Worker-Owned Collective

Stitching Up Detroit hosted a launch party this week—with food, live screen printing and performances, DJs, and info booths for local artists and orgs—as a formal celebration of their evolution.

Formed in 2012, Stitching Up Detroit began as a youth-run co-op and was one of the first that made up Grace In Action Collectives, a network of youth-run and worker-owned collectives and cooperatives in Southwest Detroit.

Specializing in graphic design, screen-printing, and vinyl, they had fulfilled orders in a storefront on Vernor, a church on Central, and a one-press garage on The Alley Project before building out their current space at Grace In Action on Lawndale.

Co-founder David Camarena said the launch was important for several reasons, "It is a good way get people to gather, meet new people, and celebrate the transition from a youth run co-op to a worker-owned collective, with the same members, now as adults."

The party featured live performances by Motor City Street Dance Academy and Object The Band and booths by local artists and organizations including Garage Cutural, Philip Patrick, and Freddy Diaz. DJ Skipz and two young DJ’s he mentors in weekly sessions provided the soundtrack for the party. This week was their first time performing in front of a live audience. They took requests while taking turns spinning tunes from start to finish.

Community, ProgrammingInside Southwest DetroitDecember 20, 2019stitching up detroit, Grace In Action, object the band, freddy diaz, dj skipz, the alley project, motor city street dance academy, mcsda

Akito Tsuda Welcomed as Porch On TAP Artist In Residence

Akito Tsuda is a photographer from Osaka, Japan who spent time in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago in the early 1990s photographing the people and places of the neighborhood. He was welcomed with open arms at the time and, in recent years residents past and present are lifting up his photographs as a celebrated portrayal people and place in Pilsen.

After sharing dozens of never before seen photographs on Facebook in 2014-2015 with the help of organizers and activists he was able to reconnect with his subjects as they reconnect with their past and with each other. Eagerly Akito engaged for months answering questions and searching his archive to find lost photos of relatives and spaces that are no longer around. Tsuda has since published several limited run volumes of his Pilsen photographs that people can purchase to have in their homes.

Akito is joining us from Osaka as a resident artist at The Alley Project. The respect he has shown in his processes and the holistic perspective his visual story employs to tell stories about Pilsen, per residents of the community, is why he has been invited to the Porch on TAP artists residency. He is helping us inaugurate our new home on Avis and Elsmere as we transform our front porch to a setting for artistic exchange during our artist residency program, the Porch On TAP!!

ProgrammingInside Southwest DetroitNovember 7, 2019potap, akito tsuda, chicago, photographer, pilsen

Our Annual Night To Remember—Angel's Night 2019

In the tradition of our annual Angel’s Night event at The Alley Project neighbors, youth, local artists, and visitors gathered this year to acknowledge and admire a collaborative community ofrenda.

The ofrenda—facilitated by Open Studio artist Dalia Reyes and our neighbors, the Romero family—converted more than 20 feet of window space into a lighted, multi-level, sacred space of remembrance visible to the community at our building on Avis and Elsmere.

Throughout the day families completed ofrendas while also sharing food, photographs, and time with each other. Children painted and carved pumpkins donated by Detroit Southwest Pride. Messes and memories were made and a beautiful byproduct remains for the neighborhood to enjoy.

Background

We began hosting our annual “Angel’s Night” event in 2012 in response to city-wide curfews issued and enforced around Halloween as part of the City of Detroit’s ongoing crime reduction initiative of the same name on Devil’s Night—an infamous Detroit tradition that saw rampant arson and other incidents on the evening before Halloween.

The Alley Project’s first annual ‘Angel’s Night’ gathering. Avis near Woodmere, Southwest Detroit. (2012)

While aspiring to reduce crime this curfew made it illegal for unaccompanied minors to be outside in their neighborhoods, some years beginning as early as 4:30pm, criminalizing youth participating in otherwise legal, routine behavior. Often youth with no prior offenses were picked up for curfew violations, issued citations, and sometimes ended up in court and/or fined affecting the whole family.

Our annual event was initiated to create a safe space where youth and adults can gather, sharing time and place, without fear of criminalization.

The city recently retired its Angel’s Night initiatives, including the city-wide curfew. But each year we continue to build in the days ahead of Halloween, All Saints Day, and Dia de Los Muertos honoring the traditions and memory of those who have come before us. We do this in a way true to our Angels Night event’s roots of intersectional, multi-generational gathering to build community.

Over the years our gathering has evolved as a creative expression of coming together to remember—that we need each other, that we are grateful for those who came before us, and that we keep us safe.

Programming, CommunityInside Southwest DetroitOctober 30, 2019diadelosmuertos, dalia reyes, angels nightComment

Wheatpasting with Tom Stoye

Neighbors, youth, and artists gathered this week as Tom Stoye began his public art installation as part of the Porch on TAP artist residency program. Tom is hanging 10 large (3ft by 4ft) portraits of youth from around the City of Detroit in The Alley on fences, garages, and buildings alongside existing artwork of various mediums.

The installation provided an exciting opportunity for people to come out and witness the process of installing large photographs outdoors for public viewing. Several artists wanted to help to assist and also learn more about the method.

Each creative installation on The Alley is a tangible monument to a set of unlikely relationships that are formed as a result of the processes we engage in to create the work people see. They often involve at least one artist, someone who lives in the property where the work is created/installed, and at least one young person.

Tom’s installation, like many, involved a handful of each… all chipping in to help on top of enjoying time and space together. These relationships offer a richness to the community that cannot be bought and are key to the benefits TAP offers the neighborhood. In this way conversations are started and new connections are made, creative processes are explained and understood, and new ideas come about.

Programming, CommunityInside Southwest DetroitOctober 28, 2019wheatpaste, swdetroit, southwest detroit, tom stoye, PoTAP

Bringing Home Lessons from The Bronx, Brooklyn, and Photoville

Nine artists from Inside Southwest Detroit (4 mentors and 5 students) and several community partners traveled to Brooklyn for Photoville and visits with artists and organizations across NYC. The trip was an opportunity to lay an inspirational and educational foundation for young photographers while collectively building opportunities and our network.

Member organizations of the Young Detroit Photo Society—Capturing Belief, Darkroom Detroit, and Inside Southwest Detroit with La Sirena Studio—convened daily to share time and ideas to build on back home.

The cohort arranged one-on-one time with photographers, visits to youth photography initiatives and the communities they serve, interviews, and tours of container exhibitions with artists from around the US and the world.

Michael Kamber at The Bronx Documentary Center and Abigaíl Montes at International Center of Photography at The Point shared particularly inspirational and relevant programming and curriculum, community exhibitions, and spaces that provided insights and opportunities for lasting relationships between Southwest Detroit and the Bronx.

We also visited The Brooklyn Museum and community photo exhibitions in Brooklyn, Manhattan, in the Bronx, several foundations to learn more about their work (Magnum Foundation, ArtPlace America), and with photographers Jamal Shabazz, Rachel Wisniewski, Joseph Rodriguez, and Ruddy Roye.

Inside Southwest DetroitSeptember 30, 2019young detroit photo society, capturing belief, darkroom detroit, bronx documentary center, international center of photography at the point, la sirena studio, photoville, rachel wisniewski, ruddy roye, joseph rodriguez, jamal shabazz, brooklyn museum, abigail montes, my beloved bronx, potap, magnum foundaion, magnum foundation, artplace america

Chuy the Barber Welcomed As Porch On TAP Artist In Residence

We’re honored to welcome Chuy the Barber as one of several Porch On TAP artists in residence this year helping to activate our new space on Avis and Elsmere!!

Chuy is a licensed barber living and working in Southwest Detroit where he grew up. His voice is loud and clear and his passion front and center when talking about how our gifts can serve others in a way that helps us take care ourselves and each other at the same time. He is truly a living example of the power of living our lives at the intersection of our passions and our community’s needs.

During his residency Chuy is sharing skills related to barbering while also leading discussions (and by example) about the intersection between creativity and business in his field, craft, and the importance of process and experience in all of our work. He will be working individually with several young aspiring barbers, offering tips and mentoring, while other members of the community will benefit from free haircuts during the process.

The Porch On TAP invites youth, neighbors, and artists to share time and space during workshops, a community meal, and public installation as we activate the building and it’s front porch. Together we are building and celebrating community through creative processes.

ProgrammingInside Southwest DetroitSeptember 23, 2019PoTAP, Chuy the Barber, ElsmereAndAvis, southwest detroit, swdetroit, 8869

Photoville 2019 | Brooklyn, NY

A key dimension of the Porch on TAP is artistic exchange—connecting the people of Southwest Detroit to the people and places of other communities. This year we extended this practice through attendance at Photoville, a public photo festival in Brooklyn featuring activated public spaces and educational programming.

Gabriela Baginski facilitated five planning sessions ahead of the trip previewing and preparing the group for the opportunities that lay ahead in the numerous exhibits and workshops, coaching young artists on interviewing skills, and coordinating visits.

At Photoville stacked shipping containers, sprawling cubes of printed canvas, and workshops animated the festival. Everywhere the eye could see was layered with inspiration and education. The opportunities came to life as photographers from around the world interacted with the exhibits and each other—trading critiques, innovations, and contact info.

Nine artists from southwest Detroit, 4 mentors and 5 students, traveled together to the exhibit by van in addition to several community partners who were able to participate separately, meeting us in NYC. Member organizations of the Young Detroit Photo Society—Capturing Belief, Darkroom Detroit, and Inside Southwest Detroit with La Sirena Studio—convened daily to share time, stories, schedules and ideas to build on back home.

Several factors came together this year for the opportunity to take full advantage of what Photoville has to offer. Executive Director Erik Paul Howard’s photo series, The Lowriders, was featured in the national tour of ‘The Fence’ that kicked off at PhotoVille this year.

Also Documenting Detroit, a photography fellowship and community partner, hosted a container exhibiting work from current and past fellows including each mentor on the trip—Rosa Maria Zamarron (‘16), Gabriela Baginski (‘16), Samantha Otto (‘17), and Erik Paul Howard (‘17). Behind the scenes inclusion in staffing a container and the access to other exhibitors enhanced the experience for both mentors and students.

The planning, road trip, exhibition, and wandering connected the group to people and places of communities in NYC and around the world—and also in deeper relationship with each other.

ProgrammingInside Southwest DetroitSeptember 20, 2019documenting detroit, capturing belief, darkroom detroit, ydps, la sirena studio, photoville, PoTAPComment

Photo Arts and Mentoring with Gabriela Baginski of La Sirena Studio

Gabriela Baginski of La Sirena studio shares her passion for photography every chance she gets… from classes at local schools to presentations and workshops with community organizations, her processes are engaging and impactful.

Most recently Gabriela has been building with a group of aspiring photographers through photo arts and mentoring at Inside Southwest Detroit.

Learning from others’ work is inspirational… her students are being exposed to a range of photographers’ works while also creating their own in a variety of educational exercises. In this way, hands-on, they are learning about processes in creating their own inspirational products.

In small group and one on one sessions she is sharing info and skills tailored to meet aspiring photographers where they are—teaching them how to use their camera equipment, save and manage their files, set up lighting, properly exposing photos to save time in post processing and more.

ProgrammingInside Southwest DetroitJuly 26, 2019photo, photo arts, southwest detroit, swdetroit, la sirena studio

Community Open Mic Night

We miss Cafe con Leche. Much of the community does. Aside from great coffee it was a haven for good company and a hub for creativity. The Vernor and Scotten store front inspired chit chat and a constant conspiring of ideas that often grew from the coffee tables to impact the broader community. One of those impacts included Grace In Action’s Open Mic nights that were held monthly at the now-closed coffee shop. `

The Open Mic nights were originally created as “a space to build community and relationship where everyone is welcome and encouraged to share their gifts of music and poetry no matter their skill level." according to Pastor John Cummings of Grace In Action.

This is part of what we are missing. And we talk about it. It is why Grace In Action convened community partners Garage Cultural and Inside Southwest to help reinstate the popular program. Last week it happened.

The Community Open Mic lifts up creatives and connects community in a way that creates the space for chatter and process as Cafe con Leche did.

Inside Southwest Detroit was excited to host In the midst of Porch on TAP artist residency activities that have invited in the community in new ways and introduced the space as a place to gather and celebrate each others’ talents. Neighbors who regularly visit the building were introduced to new networks of musicians, spoken word, and performing artists while the artists were able to share their work in a home field community setting.

Organizers and performers Gabriel Duran and Mari Sanchez reached out to creatives—some seasoned, some shy—to sign up for slots or just come out to support those who did.

“There was a lot of first-time performers that needed an intimate setting to perform. And other performers that have had artistic block were inspired.” said Nyasia Valdez.

Artists and audience engaged with one another during the event and were encouraged to connect and build with repeated announcements to share social media channels on the dry erase board. Nyasia added, “A lot of people added each other and now look interested in attending each others’ events.”

Programming, CommunityInside Southwest DetroitJuly 25, 2019swdetroit, southwest detroit, potap, open mic, ElsmereAndAvis

Young Detroit Photo Society Kicks Off with A Photo Walk

Three youth serving photo programs in Detroit—Capturing Belief, Darkroom Detroit, and Inside Southwest Detroit—came together to develop the Young Detroit Photo Society (YDPS) as a program that introduces the youth of Detroit to photography by way of also introducing them to each other and their own city.

With an emphasis on skill building in photography, youth from various neighborhoods around Detroit meet and serve as each others’ guides as they participate in photo-based scavenger hunts that ultimately produce community-driven narratives about places and their time together. The program supports youth in developing photographic competencies, exploring and learning about different places around the city, and connecting and building relationships with youth from various communities and backgrounds.

Inside Southwest Detroit recently hosted the first edition when more than 20 young photographers from around the city met at their space at Avis and Elsmere. They were greeted by photo mentors, also from various neighborhoods and organizations around the city.

Eight of the participants were from Southwest Detroit and served as guides in groups on photo walks that covered a half square mile. Having gone in different directions, the young photogs reunited at the building to share their photos with mentors and each other then collaboratively selected and captioned photos that would best depict the routes they traveled. Together the body of work forms a photo narrative of the community and their time together.

No part of this effort would be possible without the mission and vision of the organizations and the shared passion and values of the photographers that each contributed to developing and facilitating this first YDPS project. A special thanks to La Sirena Studio and the Documenting Detroit Fellowship for their support and roles as mentors to the young photographers of the YDPS.

Community, ProgrammingInside Southwest DetroitDecember 15, 2018young detroit photo society, ydps, southwest detroit, swdetroit, 8869avis, photography, mentoring, partnerships, programming

Annual Angels' Night Event Features Arts, Activities, and Performances

Each year Inside Southwest Detroit holds an Angels’ Night event on The Alley Project for community, older and younger, to gather and share time and space. We began holding this event each year on Angels’ Night when youth outdoors without an adult can be ticketed and/or picked up and held at local precincts for curfew violation before the sun even sets. It has emerged as an annual tradition of food, arts, and at times performances.

Mary led arts and crafts with children and their parents and artists and their families visited to get to know each other and neighbors better.

A young neighbor came over with his guitar and offered to play some impromptu tunes by request entertaining attendees during his time on stage. This served as an unofficial opening for our scheduled community performance as this year’s event included a mariachi performance by Machetes and students he has worked with during his Porch on TAP residency a couple times each week in October.

ProgrammingErik HowardOctober 30, 20188869avis, the alley project, potap, southwest detroit, mariachi

An Evening of Spoken Word Performance with Candida the Poet

Candida the Poet hosted an evening of spoken word performance as her middle school participants performed alongside their instructor and guest poets in front of 20 parents, youth, and neighbors for the Porch On TAP artist residency program.

If the youth were nervous… it barely showed. Their amplified voices fluctuated with the power of their stories. Topics ranged from relationships to family, incarceration, faith, politics, and beauty. Family and friends clapped and cheered.

Candida and Justin Gordon, both members of The Guild Poetry Collective, performed pieces of their own acclaimed work much to the excitement of the youth and the rest of the audience.

The evening ended with talk of how this is something that is missing… and that they would like to do something about it. Open Mic nights and poetry workshops is something they said they would like to make sure happens beyond the residency.

ProgrammingInside Southwest DetroitOctober 19, 2018potap, 8869avis, southwestdetroit, swdetroit, thealleyproject, spokenword, candidathepoetComment

Students Return For Another Round of Basics with DJ Skipz

DJ Skipz’s students returned for another workshop to recall the basics from the previous session and build on them with some new challenges and techniques. Matching beats, juggling, and even a little scratching kept everyone around until the sun went down.

Parents and a few guests dropped in to enjoy the space and each others’ company. Several neighborhood DJs have come through and are meeting each other for the first time… and have been throwing around some ideas about how to get together more regularly in a way that keeps the youth engaged in the culture.

ProgrammingInside Southwest DetroitOctober 8, 2018potap, djskipz, thealleyproject, swdetroit, southwestdetroitComment

Weekly Mariachi Guitar Classes with Machetes

Youth and several adults are coming twice weekly for mariachi guitar with Machetes. Together they are also developing a medley to perform at the building in several weeks for neighbors, youth, and other musicians and artists.

ProgrammingInside Southwest DetroitOctober 3, 2018potap, thealleyproject, 8869avis, swdetroit, southwest detroit, mariachi, machetesComment

Spoken 101 with Candida

Candida ran back-to-back workshops this week—Spoken Word 101 with elementary age participants in the morning and continued work with her small group of new, young middle school poets throughout the afternoon.

Team builders, videos, demonstrations and other activities introduced the young audiences to poetry in ways they hadn’t seen or done themselves.

The middle schoolers worked this week on building their confidence by working in teams with critical feedback and performing in front of themselves.

You can see the difference in the questions they are asking and in their work. They are preparing works for a public presentation in the coming weeks where they will perform an evening of poetry in front of a modest audience of no more than 20.

ProgrammingInside Southwest DetroitSeptember 29, 2018potap, candidathepoet, thealleyproject, swdetroit, southwest detroit, 8869 avisComment

DJ Skipz Welcomed As One of Several Community-Selected Porch On TAP Artists in Residence

We’re honored to welcome DJ Skipz as one of several community-selected Porch On TAP artists in residence helping to activate our new space on Avis and Elsmere!! DJ Skipz grew up here in Southwest Detroit and mixes live weekly on the Inside Southwest Detroit LiveMix on Facebook.

During his residency Skipz will be focusing on exposure and skill building with young aspiring DJs that have little to no experience to support youth interest and talent in the culture.

The Porch On TAP invites youth, neighbors, and artists to share time and space during workshops, a community meal, and public installation to help activate the building. Together we are building and celebrating community through creative processes.

ProgrammingInside Southwest DetroitSeptember 27, 2018thealleyproject, southwest detroit, swdetroit, potap, 8869avis, djskipzComment

Machetes Welcomed from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, as One of several Community-Selected Porch On TAP Artists in Residence

We’re honored to welcome Machetes, joining us from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, as one of several community-selected Porch On TAP artists in residence helping to activate the new space!!

Machetes is an accomplished mariachi who has been playing for over 30 years and specializes in the vihuela, a small, five-stringed guitar with roots in 15th century Spain, Portugal, and Italy.

When traveling Machetes plays with local mariachis and offers lessons in the specialized techniques of the vihuela. During the residency he will be instructing small groups twice weekly for four weeks leading up to a public performance here at the building.

ProgrammingInside Southwest DetroitSeptember 25, 2018vihuela, potap, thealleyproject, 8869avis, southwestdetroit, swdetroit, machetesComment