By Juana Williams, Art Curator
(Photo: Credit Berat Nelci. Pictured Elton Monroy Duran, Mario Moore, Julie Egan, Dr Nii Quarcoopome, Carole Harris, Amber Lewis,Tylonn Sawyer)
Last month, I, along with over fifty Detroit artists, curators, museum directors, and art patrons, took to the streets of Paris to promote Detroit’s vibrant arts and cultural sectors as a preview of a new contemporary art initiative due to launch in 2025.
Led by Detroit cultural organization Salonnière™ in partnership with the Downtown Detroit Partnership, Visit Detroit, CultureSource, and other local partners, this initiative will celebrate Detroit art and culture locally, nationally, and abroad.
An evening-long cultural program was the centerpiece of the Paris trip. It was co-hosted by Salonnière™ and the Honorable Denise Campbell Bauer, the Ambassador of the United States of America to the French Republic and the Principality of Monaco. The Ambassador graciously invited the Detroit group to her historic residence as a platform for cultural exchange and to exhibit artistic examples of the profound talent in Detroit.
The evening was a fusion of visual and culinary art, music, and intellectual discourse. In addition to the exhibited art of each invited artist, Detroit’s culture was celebrated with a captivating musical set spun by renowned DJ Jeff Mills and a conversation between Mills, artist dream hampton, and myself was moderated by the initiative’s vice-chair Dennis Archer Jr. The conversation focused on the challenges and successes of creative careers and the impact of the Detroit art ecosystem on our careers. Michelin and Visit Detroit also treated guests to a surprise announcement of the first-ever Detroit Michelin guide.
Two cocktails inspired by Detroit artists Adnan Charara and Cydney Camp’s pieces were shared through sponsorship from WhistlePig (co-founded by Detroit native John Rhea), Moet Hennessy, and Delta Airlines. The exhibited artwork was also the inspiration behind each course of the evening’s menu, designed by celebrated Malian-Senegalese-French culinary artist Mory Sacko.
With travel accommodations provided by Delta Airlines and Amazon Community Initiatives, multiple artists experienced Paris for the first time and for some, this was their first trip outside of North America. The invited artists were also joined by representatives from major Detroit-area institutions including the Detroit Institute of Arts, Cranbrook Art Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, the Arab American National Museum, and the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. These representatives came together to discuss the many successes and areas of opportunity within the city’s cultural sector and engaged with counterparts from significant French institutions such as the Louvre and Palais de Tokyo.
The program connected other prominent members of each city’s arts and cultural communities including business leaders and patrons who traveled to Paris to support the initiative, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, the French government, Villa Albertine (French Cultural Services), the British Council, Art Basel leadership, French and global fashion and cultural brands, major publications, and cultural influencers.
The artwork exhibited in the ambassador’s residence was by members of the Artists Advisory Committee – a group of Detroit-based artists who have been supporting the initiative for almost a year. The Committee consists of Detroit artists Cydney Camp, Adnan Charara, Carole Harris, Scott Hocking, Sydney G. James, Elton Monroy Durán, Mario Moore, Senghor Reid, Rashaun Rucker, Tylonn J. Sawyer, and Neha Vedpathak. It was formed through a rigorous process, including but not limited to the consideration of racial, gender, and age demographics, Detroit’s diverse communities and surrounding areas, an effort to merge several levels of expertise of artists, a commitment to the inclusion of artists at multiple stages in their career, and the length of time artists have resided in the Detroit area, along with a range of artistic media.
Carole Harris’s reflection on the program was particularly poignant because of her many professional successes and her influence throughout the cultural legacy of the city. She said, “Even though I’ve visited Paris before, the reality of experiencing it with friends and fellow artists from Detroit, representing Detroit was so much better than my dream. Detroit has been the subject of so much derision and negativity for far too many years. To be there, exhibiting our work, and representing the city in a positive way to a global audience in an official capacity was beyond anything I ever imagined. I am still processing all that it means and what it will mean to me in the future, but the experience will serve to make me work harder to help the world see and love Detroit the way that I do.”
The recent journey to Paris was a glimpse of how artists, institutions, and the long-standing legacy of Detroit’s art and culture should receive well-deserved global recognition, connection, and celebration. The trip was a tangible example of how access to opportunities outside of Detroit and Michigan can deeply impact the lives and careers of Detroit artists and cultural workers. It was the first step in a new initiative designed to cultivate cultural diplomacy between Detroit and multiple cities around the world.
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Juana Williams is Director of Exhibitions at Salonnière™, a Detroit-based cultural organization with a mission to connect underrepresented voices to the global art world by curating cultural experiences, projects, and conversations.
Check back next week for Part II of our series on this cultural diplomacy program. For additional information and future announcements regarding this initiative, visit salonniere.co and follow @salonniere on social media.
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