Sidewalk Detroit holds performances in public spaces for all to enjoy.
Photo provided by Sidewalk Detroit
Sidewalk Detroit vibes on creating real, authentic, dope art that everyone can enjoy in the city with thousands of sidewalks turned into stages underneath the sun, ready and waiting for creatives.
Started in 2012 by executive director Ryan Myers-Johnson, the vision of the organization is an easy, equitable one: celebrate the landscape and culture of Detroit.
Myers-Johnson told the Michigan Chronicle that, especially through the annual summer Sidewalk Festival designed for family and friends, she wants everyone to celebrate and see the magic of Detroit’s neighborhood streetscapes beyond the tired, old stereotypes of Detroit’s yesterday. With a focus on the Northwest Detroit neighborhood of Old Redford, Sidewalk Detroit is always interested in connecting with the community to bring its creative vision to life.
“I’m a native Detroiter – a longtime Westsider,” Myers-Johnson said, adding that Detroit really nurtured her creativity and art life, and she wants to give that back to others. “I studied dance and music in Detroit Public Schools and spent a lot of time in Detroit as a pedestrian walking around, taking the bus to schools.”
She said that she was always inspired by Detroit’s landscape, architecture and culture.
After leaving Detroit for a stint for creative work in New York, she came back here, and around 2008 she knew she wanted to set up shop here in the creative space after she experienced some profound moments, first.
“There is a narrative that Detroit is a lost city,” she said, adding that she wanted to infuse new ideas about Detroit to insiders and outsiders through her organization. “My idea was to think of a way we can celebrate Detroit spaces and culture as they are and find some really beautiful pockets in Detroit neighborhoods — create space; be on the street. Be pedestrians without having to hold the weight of narratives.”
She added not using traditional stages but “interesting spaces” for public art is how the annual Sidewalk Festival was born.
From working in parks, among other green spaces, to bringing residents into conversations about what Sidewalk Detroit is planning for their neighborhood — the creative work is all about equitable control.
“The idea is that residents have control and that their vision gets executed in the development of these public spaces and the narrative of their neighborhoods,” she said., adding that the organization pushes up the voices of Black artists that are working in the avant-garde or interested in social practice. “Our key value was …Black women are the heartbeat of the city of Detroit. Focus on curating work that speaks to artwork and the Black experience.”
Sidewalk Detroit’s engaged over 2,000 attendees in their events and raised funds to invest in park improvements like in Eliza Howell Park, which is part of a park improvement plan.
Augusta Morrison, Sidewalk Detroit program strategist, told the Michigan Chronicle that arts and culture are the “life of a city” and it is important in Detroit that everyone has access to it.
“Growing up I was exposed to a lot of going to museums, seeing the orchestra downtown,” she said, adding that she plays violin and appreciates the opportunity to promote the arts. “[It’s] a really cool way to meet people where they are at [and] give them a platform to express.”
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