Picture a warm, engaging, creative and inspiring
evening spent with people from all walks of life. You have come together to
celebrate the 313th birthday of Detroit. You are eating a piece of
Detroit’s birthday cake, while licking your fork clean, you bask in the energy
of the room. You walk around absorbing a splendid and thought provoking photo documentation
of Detroit’s past and present. You are witnessing a side of Detroit seen through
the eyes of some of our most distinguished area photographers. Strawberries,
olives, cheese and wine.
The air is filled with flirtatious laughter,
endearing
embraces,
friendly new faces, and age-old friends.
Now you have this image in your mind, I
invite you to come with me for a moment to the Detroit Artist’s Market. On this
night, June 6, 2014, we are viewing the Photography of Carlos Diaz, Bruce Griffin,
Scott Hocking, Oscar Hoff, Ali Elisabeth Lapetina, Vanessa Miller, Tom Stoye,
Bill Schwab, and the legendary Bill Rauhauser, who has been shooting in Detroit
for more than 50 years. Many of these photographers are CCS alumni and have
been mentors to one another throughout the years. Not only are they amazing
behind the lens, they hold workshops for people of all ages because they truly
love their craft. This is one of the
many reasons they are being highlighted during Detroit’s 313 Birthday Bash.
Many of us may know
of the Detroit Artist’s Market (DAM) from Noel Night, where large groups of
jovial Metro Detroiters bundle up and come together to enjoy our city’s
wintertime celebration and festivities. The DAM is one of the standouts because of
it’s rich history, its reputation for showcasing bright new artists, and of
course the very warm vibe you feel when you hang out there.
This atmosphere
stays true
to the very beginnings of the organization.
DAM was founded in 1932
during the Great Depression when our city was struggling for survival. At the
time a group of local art patrons, led by Mrs. H. Lee Simpson, recognized that
local artists needed a place to exhibit and sell their work, and the Market was
born. The Detroit Artist’s Market created a vision of hope for many people
through out many difficult times in our city, even still when Detroit is going
through major changes before our very eyes. Besides staying true to it’s
artists, youngsters and veteran alike, DAM’s founders had another goal:
educating public taste through the exhibition and sale of work by the finest of
Detroit’s local artists.”
I took this chance at the DAM to get to know
some of the people there. I spoke with Bill Schwab, a featured photographer at
the show. He shoots in a Neo Pictorialist Style, and photographs using methods
utilized 100 years ago. His images are breath taking and when you look at his
work, you may find it difficult to look away. Bill originally shot with film,
but in the 1990’s digital camera use started becoming popular and he decided to
switch to methods that predated his own existence. As he talked he noticed that
I was hiding my own digital camera from him. He kind of smiled and said he had
nothing against the digital age, he just preferred to stick to the roots of
photography like his great grandfather. I asked about his great grandfather and
was awe. His great grandfather was Frederick Lutge, a renegade photographer who
ran to Detroit to escape persecution from his own country in the mid 1800’s. In
1870 he opened a photography studio on Monroe Street near Greek Town. I was
astounded to hear that photography ran so deeply in Bill’s veins. His great
grandfather was a photographer here in Detroit 144 years ago.
I listened to the story with delightful curiosity. As it turns out, people who know
his story send him prints from all over the world of his great grandfathers
work. Bill Schwab is adamant about his passion for photography, his love for
Detroit, and his unfaltering respect for his photographer peers. He and the
other brilliant photographers being showcased this month all have deep ties in
our community and offer photography workshops to anyone interested in their
individual crafts.
On ward march, the night continues,
and being
a social mingler I was in heaven.
There are people of all ages at the DAM on
the 6th, including budding artist Nick Bouloue, a first timer
at DAM. Nick was there to support the works of two of his personal local photographer
heroes, Bruce Griffin and Bill Shwab. Nick’s father is also an artist and
Detroit activist, so he has been on the scene since he was a toddler. I also ran into Film Maker Ed Gardner who was
chatting with artist Bryan Tillman and surrealist photographer Robert Stewart.
Robert is well known for his images of Detroit’s very own vaudeville hero
Satori Circus. Another local Photographer Brent Bacher brought his 4 year old
daughter Erin. We talked briefly as he tried to keep up with the toddler’s
pattering feet. I also made a new friend at DAM named Debbie Merlo, a retired
Car Designer from Ford Motor Company. Debbie has been photographing images of
Detroit on her commute back and forth to work from the East to the West Side
for 33 years. After she retired she decided to paint those images. She discovered
DAM one Noel night some years ago, now her dream is to have one of her pieces
hanging there. When I asked Debbie, age 55, about her decision to focus on her
art after all of these years, she said something very inspirational. “If
I don’t now, then when will I?” Throughout the evening One person after another
told me their journeys and how they landed at the DAM that night. The hour was
getting late, and as things were wrapping up, hugs were once again shared and
many, “until we meet agains,” were heard.
Indeed my night
ended way too soon, but before I left I said my farewells to The Detroit
Artist’s Market staff. They after all helped create the magic that night and
were more than happy to assist me with anything that I needed. Dalia was my
contact before the party and helped set things up for MCB and made sure she
introduced me to everyone. The DAM’s Mark Fry showed me around as well, and said
there were many new things on the horizon. He came over to the DAM earlier in
the year after being the head of marketing at the DIA because he prefers
working with living artists and being involved on the contemporary side of
things, the here and now. Then I met Deena, also an artist, she started going
to the DAM in the 1970’s. Her husband taught at Wayne State and they lived
downtown for more than 25 years. She loved it so much that she began working at
DAM in 2000.
When I asked her about how
she felt about the new changes in the city, she was pleased to say that the
Artist’s Market is thriving like she has not seen in years.
People were pouring
in from all corners of the globe.
She recognizes that some artists have moved
since the change, but added with a smile that they were seeking new places to
be inspired like artists always do. One thing everyone I met at Detroit’s
Birthday Party all have in common is their love for the Detroit Artist’s
Market, and for our city. The feeling of love was so contagious that I know
exactly where I am headed when I need a good dose of Homegrown Art.
If you are
interested in a mentorship or volunteering or satiating your viewing pleasure,
stop into the Detroit’s Artist Market, or visit them online at http://www.detroitartistsmarket.org/
Article and photos by
MCB's Sandy C. Hopkins