Mighty Real/Queer Detroit (MR/QD), in partnership with the City of Detroit Office of Arts, Culture, and Entrepreneurship, will host the nation’s largest exhibition of works by LGBTQ+ Detroit artists to celebrate the
50th anniversary of ‘Detroit Pride’ in June.
The Ford Foundation is the presenting sponsor of the month-long art exhibition, celebration, and event series that represents a historical deep dive into the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community and its longtime allies. The exhibition features work by 150+ emerging, established, as well as deceased LGBTQ+ Detroit artists.
Taking place simultaneously across 17 galleries, the exhibition and public programming, are curated to connect with queer and non-queer audiences, creating public space and attention to queer art and life, from 1945 to present. Importantly, the emergence of queer art as a studied aspect of ‘American’ art has been a relatively new phenomena
and only recently celebrated. Yet, the richness of Detroit queer life, as expressed in art, has continued to develop in unseen ways—something MR/QD aims to uncover.
This year it is especially poignant, as the exhibition recognizes and celebrates the 50th anniversary of the first ‘Detroit Pride’ march, in 1972. As such, MR/QD is one of the first to capture the range and breadth of queer art in Detroit. Bringing this thread into the contemporary forefront, MR/QD Program Director, Adriel Thornton (he/him), shared:
“Today is such an opportune moment for all Detroiters to just be present for queer art. Given the temperature of rights and respect we’ve been fighting for years, it is more critical than ever to figuratively ‘bust out the closet,’ maybe even
throw the closet away. A showcase of hundreds of works of art that tell intimate and often unheard Detroit narratives, is something I think we can all celebrate.”
Additionally, participating MR/QD artist, Matthew Papa (he/him), shared:
“It is very exciting for me to come back to Detroit and show my work in the ambitious programming of MRQD! I came out in 1984 at the age of seventeen and my first formative experiences as a young gay man were in the welcoming
queer spaces of Menjos, Backstreet, and Heaven. Our community has come so far since those days and I feel blessed to have this opportunity to reflect upon that, but also to remember that the battle for inclusion for everyone in our queer
community continues.”
Beyond the exhibition, MR/QD will host an online gallery and publish a future catalog with essays by noted writers and historians that will document the exhibited artwork.
Moreover, mediums of queer talent will fill the month of June, with many artist talks, film screenings, poetry readings, panel discussions, and live performances by an additional 40+ artists. See the calendar below for an up-to-date listing.
Perhaps unseen, beyond the historical draw of this exhibition, is the unity that it is actively fostering, between LGBTQ+ artists and the public, as well as within the art scene here in Detroit. On this Curator & Director of Contemporary Art for Galerie Camille, Dalia Reyes (she/her), shared:
“We are delighted to participate in such a historic and essential exhibition. Being able to present to the public special works from 25 of the 150 participating artists is an honor and we hope that this event will be a catalyst for continuous progress within the LGBTQ+ communities here in Detroit. Art is a unifying force, and this is a wonderful example of that.”
This grassroots event is being curated and organized by dozens of volunteers, who collectively have devoted thousands of hours to the cause. It will culminate into what MR/QD hopes to be the inaugural kickoff for a future biannual event and as a continuation and preservation of the largest showcase of queer art in the United States.
SOCIAL CHANNELS:
Save the dates, tag a friend, and stay in the know. #MRQD #MRQD2022
Follow Mighty Real/Queer Detroit on Instagram @mightyrealqueerdetroit, Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/MRQD2022, and at www.mrqd.org.
CALENDAR:
● Thursday, June 2 | Kickoff Reception
8:00-10:00 p.m. artist reception; 10:00-2:00 a.m. celebration
A joyful opening reception and party with deep soulful dance music by DJ Kai
Alcé. At Menjos – 928 W McNichols, Detroit
● Friday, June 3 | Openings
5:00-9:00 p.m.
Cass Cafe, College for Creative Studies, Detroit Artists Market, Galerie Camille,
N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art, Playground Detroit, Scarab Club
● Saturday, June 4 | Openings
2:00-4:00 p.m.
Anton Art Center
11:00-6:00 p.m.
Log Cabin at Palmer Park, Mint Artists Guild
2:00-7:00 p.m.
David Klein Gallery (Birmingham)
5:00-9:00 p.m.
Affirmations Center, Hatch Art, M Contemporary Art, Norwest Gallery,
Oloman Cafe + Gallery, Public Pool
● Sunday, June 5 | Openings, Tea Dance
2:00-6:00 p.m.
Collected Detroit (2439 Fourth Street), Metropolitan Museum of Design Detroit.
Tea Dance is a summertime Sunday function inspired by the English countryside
afternoon tea tradition. From the 1950’s to today the Tea Dance has been
adopted by the queer community to guise their own get-togethers.
● Tuesday, June 7 | Artist Talk with Stephanie Crawford
7:00 p.m. at Scarab Club
● Saturday, June 11 | Performance by Vagner Whitehead
3:00 p.m. at Detroit Artist Market (DAM)
● Wednesday, June 15 | Poetry, Music, & Performance with Cherry Wood,
Meg Foley, Stephanie Glazier, and Jess Julian
6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. at Galerie Camille
● Wednesday, June 22 | Juneteenth Poetry Reading with Tommy Blount,
Deidre D.S.Sense Smith, Mars Marhall, and Lester Rambus
6:00 p.m. at Scarab Club
● Saturday, June 25 | Artist Talks
2:00 p.m. at Hatch Detroit
● Saturday, June 25 | ‘Trade Center’ Film Screening & Panel Discussion with
Billy Miller, Tim Retzloff
4:00 p.m. at N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art
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