The Heart of the City is Y Arts’ opportunity

to showcase our talented artists and

celebrate the holidays with our sister branch,

Metro Youth YMCA (My Y).  An artists’ market

in the lobby offers original, one of a kind gifts

and performances in our theatre celebrate

our volunteers and families who’ve made our

programming so rewarding throughout the year.

The event is free and open to the public.

About Y Arts – In concert with the mission and purpose of the YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit, Y Arts is a catalyst for artistic expression and education throughout metro Detroit. We nurture, develop and support traditional, contemporary and emerging art forms by providing teaching opportunities for artists and presenting relevant, high-quality cultural programs and events that showcase their talents.

About The Musicians of the DSO – The Musicians of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra are dedicated to sharing and nurturing classical music for the people of Detroit. To learn more about us please visit www.detroitsymphonymusicians.org

The Y Arts team of professional artists is committed to building the creative community of Detroit through public enrichment and by educating young people in media and arts careers.

Contact:
Margaret Edwartowski, Program Director
Y Arts Detroit
1401 Broadway, Suite 2A
Detroit, MI 48226
(313) 223-2743
medwartowski@ymcametrodetroit.org
www.y-artsdetroit.org

This limited project, which runs Monday through Friday, August 9 through August 26, will require students to register for one of three available 2 1/2 hour time slots during the day:

• Group 1 – 9a-11:30a
• Group 2 – 12n-2:30p
• Group 3 – 3p-5:30p

The final videos will be shown at a special event, open to the public, at the Museum of African American History.

To register, return this registration form to the Boll Family YMCA, 1401 Broadway, Detroit.

A registration fee of $25 is payable to Y-Arts Detroit. Call 313.223.2743 for more information.

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!