Freedom in Detroit

The spirit of freedom and independence is celebrated in an exhibition at the YMCA featuring the work of political refugees from Freedom House Detroit. Screen printed t-shirts, ceramics and jewelry all created by hand will be on display and sold at the “Freedom In Detroit” exhibition. The free event open to the public takes place Thursday, July 1 from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the lobby of the Boll Family YMCA, 1401 Broadway, Detroit.

The exhibition features products made by residents of Freedom House Detroit, a temporary home for those seeking political asylum in the United States and Canada. Through an entrepreneurial training program  conducted by Y-Arts, the Arts & Humanities branch of the YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit, the residents produce screen printed t-shirts and posters, jewelry including necklaces, earrings, bracelets and rings, and ceramic planters, woven baskets and vases. These items will be available for purchase with proceeds going to the training program. Entertainment will also be provided by Freedom House featuring traditional African dances and drumming.

Selected items will remain on display in the lobby and will be available for purchase at the member services counter throughout the month. For additional information call the Y-Arts office at 313-223-2751.

For Love of the Letter

©POP and Y-Arts will partner up with 323East Gallery to celebrate the second anniversary of the Royal Oak fine art gallery through a unique live street art event from Friday, June 11 through Sunday, June 13. This incredible exhibition will feature several local graffiti artists as they execute live street art murals over the span of 72 hours.

The anniversary of 323East Gallery accompanies the release of My First Graffiti Coloring Book by local artist Kobie Solomon. Solomon’s 26 page-coloring book satirizes contemporary children’s literature while outlining and illuminating the subculture of the urban street art phenomenon. Each page of the book depicts a different treatment of letterforms with a unique style of graffiti, poetry and character. MFGCB was first published in 2005 and has since endured a massive cover-to-cover overhaul. Since then Solomon’s work has been creating quite the buzz, which was evident at Miami’s Primary Flight where Solomon caught the eye of the infamous street art documentary photographer Martha Cooper. To see pages from My First Graffiti Coloring Book please visit http://www.graffitibook.us

“I am extremely excited about this opportunity to work with ©POP, 323 East and the YMCA in bringing this collaboration of unique talent together for this special event,” says Solomon. “Having this many gifted artists contribute their time and abilities alone is incredible, but being able to benefit younger artists at the same time is nothing less than a dream come true.”

Included in this three-day event will be visual interpretations of each page of the book by 26 different artists, both local and national, each bringing a unique representation of their individual styles. Proceeds from this event will go towards the Metro Detroit’s YMCA’s Y-arts program. Y-Arts is the arts and humanities branch of the YMCA of Metro Detroit, for their Art In Schools Outreach Program, an after-school art program in seven different schools around the city that provides after school instruction in traditional and media arts, spoken word, performance, music and dance.

For over 15 years the ©POP brand has prided itself on being one of the first organizations to recognize and dedicate itself to the promotion of today’s leading local, national and international artists working in a global aesthetic movement based in the visual language of contemporary popular culture. The artists of this once “underground” anti-establishment genre, which ©POP so often premiered to the public, now lead the art world through their innovation and vitality and have vindicated their long, difficult journey to legitimacy with sold-out exhibitions the world over.

323East Gallery is a collection of creative energy materialized in a mash-up of art, culture, lifestyle and fashion. 323East is home to over 100 artists with rotating works in a variety of mediums. Recent solo exhibitions include local and international artists Glenn Barr, Ron Zakrin and David Foox. In addition to the gallery, 323East’s new boutique offers 400 square feet of extra space dedicated to handmade goods by local and international artists including jewelry, handbags, clothing and more. 323East Gallery is located at 323 East Fourth Street in Royal Oak, Michigan 48067. For more information regarding 323East please call (866) 756-6538 or email them at 323east@gmail.com or you can visit them online at 323east.com.

The camp, which is entitled the Y Media Works Summer Institute 2010, runs 5 weeks, from June 28 through July 30, 2010, and a commitment to all 5 weeks is required. During the first week, campers will stay overnight from Monday through Friday at Camp Ohiyesa in Holly, MI, for an intensive team building experience in the outdoors. Activities such as swimming, canoeing, and high ropes will be offered during the day; our evenings will be spent learning about the media production process and planning our productions.  After we come back from the July 4 holiday, the remaining four weeks of camp will be spent in teams creating a variety of digital media for local community partners (our clients!). Camp will run from 9am to 4pm, Monday through Thursday.

Space is limited, so the application process will be very competitive.

For more information, and to register, please visit the Camps page!

May 7, 2010

A diverse line-up of Detroit artists including blues and gospel legend Rev. Robert B. Jones will perform a benefit concert for YMCA summer camp. The concert will take place on Friday, May 7 at 7:00 p.m. in the Marlene Boll Theatre of the Boll Family YMCA, 1401 Broadway, Detroit. A donation of $10 supports the YMCA Strong Kids Campaign supporting YMCA camp experiences.

Rev. Jones, a longtime Detroit acoustic blues and gospel musician, will be joined by the YMCA Deep River Choir. Special guests include hip hop artist Stevie Soul, performance poet Marsha Carter, and dancers and musicians from Freedom House Detroit. The concert will include traditional and contemporary American music as well as music and dance from Africa.

Recognized nationally for his work as a blues and gospel artist, Rev. Jones has also been awarded “Blues Educator of the Year” by the Blues Foundation in 2007 for his “Blues in Schools” education program. Along with YMCA Vice President of Arts and Humanities Gillian Eaton, he helped to create the YMCA Deep River Choir in 2007. The community choir is comprised of 30 singers from the metropolitan area and is directed by Bobbi Thompson, a member of the Central United Methodist music staff and former back-up singer for Motown recording artists. Known for its roots-based repertoire of gospel, blues, folk and Motown, the choir has gained a reputation for its originality and cultural diversity.

Stevie Soul is a Detroit improvisational artist who mixes live percussion, scat singing, blues, and soul using voice and body. He also teaches music classes for Art in Schools, the Y-Arts school outreach program. Poet Marsha Carter is also an instructor for Art in Schools, as well as a popular performer at many of the city’s literary events. She was a member of the Detroit slam team that competed in the 2007 National Poetry Slam. Dancers and musicians from Freedom House, a Detroit residence that houses political refugees awaiting asylum status in the U.S., will perform several traditional pieces from the Congo and Rwanda.

Proceeds from the concert will support Y Media Works Summer Institute 2010, the five week-long summer camp component of a year round media production and service learning initiative from Y-Arts Detroit.

Tickets will be sold at the door. For additional information contact Y-Arts at 313-223-2751.

April 30, 2010

Seven fifth grade students from Walter Chrysler Elementary School have spent the school year creating an environmental justice-themed short film. The movie, entitled WhyDetroit?, follows a group of young detectives investigating a series of disappearances that have happened around the city. Going on a hunch that rumors surrounding the Detroit incinerator are true, the sleuths set out to find the missing people and stop whoever is holding them captive. The movie was entirely written, directed by, and stars the seven students in the film club, an after school program delivered by Y-Arts YMedia Works and organized at Chrysler by the Dad’s Club.

In the program, the students were introduced to the fundamentals of movie production while also exploring issues of environmental justice. With guidance from Lottie Spady of the East Michigan Environmental Action Council, the students created the script for their hilarious mystery and then went to work producing the twenty minute video presentation with help from two well known local video artists, Steve Coy and Mikey Brown.

The premiere screening of the movie will be at 6pm on Friday, April 30, in the Marlene Boll Theatre (Boll Family YMCA, 1401 Broadway, Detroit). All are invited to attend. Tickets are $5 with proceeds going to support the continuation of this and other after school programs at Chrysler. Free popcorn and drinks! Call 313-223-2751 for more information.

Very special thanks to the Erb Family Foundation for supporting this and other YMedia Works programs, including the upcoming YMedia Works Summer Institute 2010!

Tuesdays, May 4 through June 22 (8 Weeks) Meets 7-9:30pm

Dive into the world of digital filmmaking with this intensive, hands-on video course that takes beginners through all phases of production.

Topics include:
 Treatments, storyboards, camera operation, producing and directing techniques and an introduction to digital editing using Final Cut Pro. The class shoots and edits their projects in small teams. Perfect for the beginner who wants to discover the digital process.

Course Fee $400. Payment must be made in full and in person at the Boll Family YMCA anytime M-F 6am-9pm, SS 9am-5pm. Check, MO and Credit card accepted. Online and partial payments are not available.
Deadline for registration is June 30 (the Friday prior to the start of class). 
Class Location: 
Y-Arts (Level 2A) at the Boll Family YMCA
Floor 2A 
1401 Broadway, Detroit MI 48226
For more info email info@detroitfilm.org.

Final Cut Pro – Digital Video Editing

Wednesdays, May 19 – June 22 (6 Weeks) Meets 7-9:30pm

Learn the essentials of the industry-leading desktop video editing program Final Cut Pro. This course provides lessons and practice in the following core areas: Importing and exporting footage, the editing tool set, audio, titles, scaling and moving video, color correction, filters and effects, output compression and more.

Course Fee $300. Payment must be made in full and in person at the Boll Family YMCA anytime M-F 6am-9pm, SS 9am-5pm. Cash, check, MO and credit card accepted. Online and partial payments are not available.
Deadline for registration is May 14 (The Friday prior to the start of class)
Class Location: 
Y-Arts (Level 2A) at the Boll Family YMCA – 
Floor 2A 
1401 Broadway, Detroit MI 48226
Presented by the Detroit Film Center in cooperation with Y-Arts Detroit, the Arts and Humanities Branch of the YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit

For more info email info@detroitfilm.org

Visit The Detroit Film Center online at http://www.detroitfilm.org .

The Event Poster!

Several local music groups, including our own YMCA Deep River Choir, are coming together to play at the Concert for Haiti at the Village Theater in Canton at 7:30 pm on Friday, March 26^th. The event is unticketed, but the groups are suggesting a $15 donation per person at the door. The concert offers a wide variety of music, including Abigail Stauffer (singer/songwriter/folk), Misty Lyn and the Big Beautiful (indie/folk), Lawn Care (rock/alternative) and Juice (non-traditional percussion). Funds raised will be donated to the Honor and Respect Foundation and Yele Haiti to benefit the long-term rebuilding and education in Haiti.

The concert is being headed up by Elise Butler-Pinkham, Outreach Coordinator for Group For Entertainment, Inc. Elise spent two years studying cello performance at Lawrence Conservatory in Wisconsin under the directorship of Janet Anthony. During the summer of 2008, Elise traveled with Janet and other professors and students to a Haitian music camp located in the city of Jacmel. She developed a love of the country there and has felt a strong drive to help in the aftermath of January’s earthquake. Elise also coordinated the “We Heart Haiti” concert at the Kerrytown Concert House in Ann Arbor, which was held on Sunday, February 14^th and raised enough money to purchase new instruments and strings for the camp.

Many local musicians have generously agreed to be a part of this concert. For concert updates and to make your donation by credit card, please check out the event blog at www.juiceontour.wordpress.com. This concert is also being held in partnership with University of Michigan’s M.H.E.A.R.T. (Michigan Haiti Earthquake Action Relief Team).

“Concert for Haiti” will take place on Friday, March 26 at 7:30 p.m. at the Village Theater in Canton, 50400 Cherry Hill Rd, Canton.

PechaKucha at The Marlene Boll Theatre Feb. 20

The global PechaKucha family is coming together with Architecture for Humanity to lend a hand in rebuilding Haiti and establish long-term solutions. On February 20, most of the 277 cities that host PechaKucha events worldwide will converge to present one continuous 24-hour edition of PechaKucha Night: 200 cities, 2,000 presentations, 200,000 people. Kicking off in Tokyo, the presentation wave will travel eastward, with cities presenting one after the other. Crossing all times zones and cultures, the event will be streamed live online (http://www.ustream.tv) and then finish in Tokyo the following day.

Detroit’s PechaKucha wave will take place at 8:20 PM in the Marlene Boll Theatre in the Boll YMCA at 1401 Broadway in Detroit.  This abbreviated PechaKucha Night will be comprised of presentations that offer hope and relief through stories of past disaster relief projects, or ones that offer simple inspiration by showing the power of great creative thinking.  Y Arts will be among the presenters and will be sharing about our digital media program, Y Media Works.

Following the event, Detroit’s PechaKucha chapter will host an afterglow to raise additional funds for Haiti.  The location of the afterglow (venue yet to be determined) will be posted on Detroit Synergy’s website, as well as the Detroit PechaKucha Facebook page.

All of the 2,000 presentations generated from the one-day event – in what could be the world’s biggest single-day globally distributed conference – will be posted on the PechaKucha website, where visitors will also be able to make monetary donations to the project.

All proceeds will go to Architecture for Humanity for rebuilding Haiti. AFH operates globally, and was instrumental in getting projects built after the Indian Ocean tsunami and Hurricaine Katrina. The design costs for the new buildings in Haiti have been already covered so all donations will go directly toward the construction of much needed schools, health clinics and community structures.

In organizing this event PechaKucha intends to not only raise funds through pledges from host cities and contributions from individuals but also illustrate the power of innovative minds, creative passion and, most of all, sharing ideas for change and sustainability.

Drawing its name from the Japanese phrase for the sound of conversation (“chit chat”), the PechaKucha format is simple – 20 images x 20 seconds – and designed to keep presentations concise and moving at a rapid pace.

Complete details:

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20 AT 8:00 P.M.
EMERSON CHURCH UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST
4230 Livernois
Troy, Michigan 48085
248-524-9339

Tickets: 
$8 Adults
4$   children under 16
$20 Families

Order in advance by emailing:  deep.river@ecuu.org

The YMCA Deep River Choir features songs of praise and protest from the Civil Rights Movement as well as traditional blues, gospel and folk songs. 

Support for the Deep River Choir is provided by the Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan.

Learning about digital video cameras with artist Steve Coy

Our digital media program is off to a great start this year. We are already making plans for this summer’s media camp and are going strong in places like River Rouge High School and Hanley International Academy delivering media and video instruction. We’d like to give special thanks to Michelle Martinez and the folks at metromode for their write up of one of our main areas of endeavor. To share with our friends who may have missed the article, here is a snippet of that article with a link to the full piece on metromode’s site. Photographs © Marvin Shaouni Photography.

Y Arts Brings Filmmaking To Metro Detroit Youth

by Michelle Martinez, 1/28/2010

Despite the hyperbole and hand-wringing about a slacker generation growing up on XBox 360, TV, and glowing laptop screens, a program from the YMCA Metro Detroit is betting those obsessions could be used to spark lifelong learning habits, and possibly a new generation of creative types for the region.

The program, started by Gillian Eaton, vice president for arts and humanities at the YMCA Metro Detroit, is just over two years old. But already it has migrated into the River Rouge School District and has caught the attention of the state’s Film Office, which sees potential in teaching middle schoolers and high schoolers high-tech skills they can later turn into careers.

“Kids have an automatic and genetic understanding of media in a way that I don’t,” Eaton says. “They’re way ahead of us. … Career guidance counselors are 20 years behind the times. They’re not telling these kids that things they do naturally are potential job opportunities.”

The program, housed in the Y Arts division of the Boll Family YMCA in downtown Detroit, has ambitious goals. It not only educates kids aged 12 – 16 the ins and outs of filmmaking, graphic design, photography and other art forms; but puts them face-to-face with business clients. The students, like creative groups everywhere, must pitch and win over clients including the U.S. Census Bureau and area environmental nonprofits, and ultimately deliver a commercial-grade short-film or public service announcement.

It’s an early lesson in the pragmatic side of the creative life, Eaton explains. But putting the kids in business situations has other benefits as well.  “We could have just had them make fictional movies on their own, but we didn’t choose to do that because they need to be aware of the judgments that are made on creative work and how to…” [Read the full article here.]