Credit: Elonte Davis Photography
In celebration of three decades of creative impact, InsideOut Literary Arts has teamed up with City Walls Detroit to unveil a new mural on Detroit’s historic Avenue of Fashion, honoring the power of youth voices and the city’s cultural legacy.
The mural, painted by Detroit artist Oshun Williams, with the assistance of local artists Ijania Cortez and Joe Cazeno III, artistically known as Cashiesh, bursts with color and symbolism. Installed near the corner of Livernois and 7 Mile Road, on the side of Yoshi Hibachi Grille Livernois (19360 Livernois, Detroit), it commemorates InsideOut’s 30 years of inspiring Detroit youth through poetry, storytelling, and self-expression.
(L-R) Oshun Williams, Ijania Cortez and Joe Cazeno III Credit: Elonte Davis Photography
Suma Rosen, executive director of InsideOut Literary Arts, recently reflected on the past 30 years and what it means to look forward to the next 30 years during an Instagram post rallying supporters.
“In the past we’ve reached 80,000 students through high quality creative writing and poetry programming in schools and after school programming and in community programming throughout the metro Detroit area,” Rosen said.
“Today, we are so fortunate at Inside Out literary arts that 30 years ago, we had the best people who helped plant those seeds that grew into who we are today.”
Ijania Cortez Credit: Elonte Davis Photography
The public artwork is part of a collaboration with City Walls Detroit, a city-run initiative that uses mural-making to reduce blight, beautify neighborhoods, and showcase Detroit stories.
Williams Gucci Changemaker unveiled his mural titled “Collard Greens” on the side of the Siren Hotel in Downtown Detroit in the summer of 2024. He is known for his vibrant, narrative-driven works. The design captures the spirit of InsideOut’s mission in a design that celebrates growth, imagination, and the strength of youth.
“I always feel good doing something for the community,” Williams said.
“I’m just excited to be able to highlight the students and the kids in the program because they’re going to grow up seeing that, and seeing themsleves in this mural will give them motivation and inspiration.”
The mural’s placement on the Avenue of Fashion adds cultural significance. Still considered a bustling hub of Black entrepreneurship and now the focus of revitalization efforts, the corridor reflects the kind of transformation and resilience InsideOut fosters in its students.
Founded in 1995 by poet and educator Terry Blackhawk, InsideOut Literary Arts began with a question: What if Detroit students could work with real writers in their classrooms?
Thirty years later, InsideOut has served more than 70,000 youth across Detroit. The organization helps young people develop their voices, process experiences, and engage with the world around them by placing professional writers and teaching artists in schools and community spaces.
InsideOut has become a national model for literary arts education, with alumni who have gone on to careers as authors, educators, activists, and artists.
InsideOut’s programming spans elementary to high school and occurs in classrooms and community settings. Its core offerings include the Writer-in-Residence Program, where teaching artists lead semester-long creative writing residencies in Detroit public schools and Citywide Poets. This free afterschool program helps teens develop their writing, publish zines, and perform at public events and poetry slams.
The organization also runs a Youth Advisory Board, a teen-led leadership initiative that empowers students to shape InsideOut’s direction and advocate for youth voices. Through InsideOut at the Museum, students engage with arts and history by writing in partnership with institutions like the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Charles H. Wright Museum.
Additionally, Student Publications provide young writers with a tangible legacy of their growth through annual anthologies of their original work. These programs, Rosen notes, not only boost literacy and academic confidence but also foster empathy, critical thinking, and civic engagement.
The new mural stands as a symbol of all that InsideOut has achieved and a bold reminder of its continued purpose.
It’s also part of a yearlong anniversary campaign that includes poetry showcases, community workshops, and the release of a digital archive of youth work spanning three decades.
With InsideOut Literary Arts continuing to build a city where every young person has access to creative opportunity, that dream may be closer than the youth think.
“Where are our students going to be in 30 years? I can’t even imagine it,” Rosen said.
“But the cool thing about creative self-expression and confidence boosting and writing skills is teaches kids the very skills they need to be able to imagine to be able to have critical thinking to do problem-solving; they’re learning those skills today. So, whatever the future holds, they’ll be ready.”
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