06-06-2025
Art inspired by Detroit's landscape breaks new ground at The Shepherd
The rich and shifting landscape of Detroit is the inspiration for a vibrant art exhibition currently on display at The Shepherd, a major Detroit cultural center.
'The Sea and the Sky, and You and I' opened last month to more than 500 visitors for its May 17 premiere, and has continued to draw attention and foot traffic over the following weeks.
The show's 28 artists — 17 of them from Detroit — are: Halima Afi Cassells, Wesaam Al-Badry, Candida Alvarez, Esteban Cabeza de Baca, Dawoud Bey, LaKela Brown, Ashanti Chaplin, David Antonio Cruz, Olayami Dabls, Bryce Detroit, Chantell Donwell, Jamea Richmond-Edwards, Olivia Guterson, L. Kasimu Harris, Scott Hocking, Doug Jones, Louise Jones, Joanna Keane Lopez, Paul Kremer, Le'Andra LeSeur, Dameon Miller, Keisha Miller, Mario Moore, Ebony G. Patterson, Benjy Russell, Neha Vedpathak, Jordan Weber and Rosha Yaghmai.
The exhibition's title is taken from the first line in lyrics Oscar Brown Jr. wrote to the classic Miles Davis composition 'All Blues.' It was suggested by legendary Detroit artist (and jazz lover) Allie McGhee, said curator and Shepherd artistic director Allison Glenn.
'This is the second chapter of a two-part exhibition series that was really looking at the landscapes and histories of Detroit,' Glenn said. 'This was prompted by my return to the city to work, and looking around the east side and remembering parts of the city's art history, and also noticing that, while much has changed, certain things had not changed. A real core tenet of that was the artist- and community-led public art projects that continue to happen around the city, which really started in the 1970s and '80s.
'After there was big divestment from the city, artists really paved the way — artists like Tyree Guyton and Olayami Dabls influenced artists like Bryce Detroit and Tanya Stephens and Kim and Rhonda Theus, the sisters behind the Canfield Consortium. This exhibition provided an opportunity to ask what it would look like for an organization to work in collaboration with multiple already existing, site-specific artist- and community-led projects. So programmatic partnerships really came into play, allowing The Shepherd to be in dialogue with all these other long-standing arts organizations in the city.'
See also: DIA's revamped African American art galleries to reopen in heart of museum this fall
Glenn said she hopes visitors have an opportunity to really understand the changing landscapes of the city.
'In order to look forward, we have to look back,' she said, 'and so we're situating the work that we're doing within this longer legacy of artists and cultural producers in the city of Detroit over a 50-plus-year legacy, honoring that work and wanting to be in dialogue with it. I hope that people walk away with a clearer understanding of how artists engage with the materiality of built environments.'
'The Sea and the Sky, and You and I' is on view through Aug. 30, 2025, at The Shepherd, 1265 Parkview St., Detroit. For more information, go to
Contact Free Press arts and culture reporter Duante Beddingfield at dbeddingfield@
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Art inspired by Detroit's landscape breaks new ground at The Shepherd
