Art Mile Puts Detroit’s Creativity on Display

July 20, 2020

55+ galleries and museums around Metro Detroit are set to participate in the digital Art Mile

By Katrianna Ray

Featured photo via Playground Detroit Facebook

On July 29, Detroit’s creativity will be on display for all to see.

That date marks the launch of Art Mile, a free digital-arts exhibition that showcases Detroit’s vibrant and diverse arts community by highlighting public art programs and online goods. More than 55 galleries, museums and artist-run spaces around Metro Detroit — including the Cranbrook Art Museum — are participating in the online-only initiative, which runs until August 5. (See full list of participating places below.)

“Art Mile aims to continue our city’s long tradition of banding together in resilience, recovery, and collective dreaming, whether in periods of economic crisis or prosperity,” said Terese Reyes, the co-owner of Reyes Finn gallery in Corktown and an Art Mile founding partner. “Detroit’s arts community has become the heart of a city bursting with creativity — that’s something worth protecting.”

Art Mile’s offerings include live, public programs featuring digital installations, virtual museum tours, artist studio visits, film screenings and more. The program will also feature a fundraising campaign for three local non-profits (482Forward, Inside Out Detroit and Living Arts) dedicated to providing Detroit youth with access to visual- performing- and literary-arts education.

“These organizations recognize our communities’ collective responsibility to provide and secure high-quality education for all,” said Art Mile founding partner (and co-owner of Reyes Finn gallery) Bridget Finn. “They use the arts as a strategic tool to ignite creativity, empower the voices of Detroit’s youth, and drive the city toward social justice.

Participating places: