DLECTRICITY

DLECTRICITY Site #8: The Cathedral Church of St. Paul

The Cathedral Church of St. Paul is the ideal site for lovers of architecture. The Cathedral’s alluring façade sits on Woodward avenue and faces Wayne State’s Woodward | Warren Greenspace. It’s located in the center of DLECTRICITY’s Midtown footprint, and each festival year, it’s architecture successfully entices visitors to see what’s going on inside and outside its space.

The nationally recognized building was designed and constructed in 1907 by the architect Ralph Adams along with his associates at Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson. The Cathedral is emblematic of Gothic Revival architecture. The National Park Service calls the Detroit cathedral “one of the first and finest examples of the Late Gothic Revival” (NPS.gov).

Gothic Revival architecture first flourished in England until it hit the United States by the 20^th century. The style aspires to develop from the original gothic style of Medieval architecture. It was a contrast to the popular Neo-Classica designs that were prevalent in 19^th-century buildings.

Indoors, the cathedral is beautifully designed with gothic-inspired furnishings and remarkable decorative details. In the past, artists have used the architectural components of the space to accentuate the aura of their art. Japan-based artist Akiko Nakayama painted live at the Cathedral of St. Paul for DLECTRICITY 2017, and the ethereal aura of the space complemented the changing pictures and sounds of her performance, together making an extraordinary experience. Other artists that have exhibited inside the cathedral for DLECTRICITY include Zackery Belanger in 2014 and Sarah Rara in 2017.

On the outside, the cathedral provides a courtyard space for more a variety of work, from projections to performance. Here, artist and dancer Biba Bell conceived a performance for DLECTRICITY 2012. In its essence, it was part installation, part dance: harnessed to the backs of eight dancers, light and images traced movement pathways and lit up the exterior walls of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul. The exterior space of the cathedral also hosted the works of Charlotte Becket in 2014 and Nikola Dike in 2017.

In addition to its history and architecture, the Cathedral Church of St. Paul is a dedicated organization to its community. We give them our thanks for lending its space to DLECTRICITY!

DLECTRICITY Site #7: The N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art

One feature of Detroit that makes the city recognizable internationally is its arts community. Its innovative, daring, inquisitive and prolific art scene can’t maintain those adjectives without the individuals and organizations that form its foundation. One of those places is the N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art, and we’re happy to again include it in our footprint for DLECTRICITY 2020!

George N’Namdi is a pioneer in the Detroit gallery scene and has been on the DLECTRICITY curatorial committee since its inception. In 1982 N’Namdi launched his family-based G.R. N’Namdi Gallery; he later expanded his holdings to include galleries in Chicago and in New York City. N’Namdi’s son, Jumaane, managed the Chicago gallery and now oversees a Miami Gallery. He has exhibited the works of artists Hughie Lee Smith, James VanDerZee, Allie McGhee, and Barbara Chase Riboud. The N’Namdi Center’s mission is to spread appreciation of the arts and enlighten through the arts, and it sees to it by upholding a diverse exhibition program and immersing activities such as yoga and dance into its agenda.

The N’Namdi building complex includes a pedestrian alleyway that leads directly to another major DLECTRICITY site, MOCAD. This passageway provides opportunity to present luminous works of art that engage with passersby. Just off the alley is the N’Namdi Movement Center, a space that typically hosts movement-based classes but also welcomes artwork for DLECTRICITY. Additionally, the building provides a great exterior wall that faces Woodward where wall reliefs can be exhibited, or media-works can be projected. In the past, the front glass windows of the gallery space have been projected from the rear, and the interior of the space has made room for small performances. The N’Namdi Center has shown artists Jeffrey Chiplis, Michaela Mosher, Jasmine Murrell, Scott Reeder, and Vagner Whitehead in the past for DLECTRICITY.

Many thanks to George N’Namdi and his Center for Contemporary Art for their continuous contributions to DLECTRICITY!

DLECTRICITY Sites #3 and 4: The Wayne State Welcome Center and Woodward | Warren Greenspace

The cultural center of Detroit is the heart of DLECTRICITY. Through light, art, and imagination, the festival brings together the renowned institutions that congregate in Midtown. Wayne State University—the city’s primary public research university—is one of our integral partners to this connection. For each DLECTRICITY festival, the university offers up its architecture for creative transformation and its open spaces for artful conception. The Wayne State Welcome Center and the Woodward | Warren Greenspace have never failed to provide DLECTRICITY installations with room for interaction and potential.

Wayne State University embraces the fact that its Detroit campus gives students and faculty a college experience like no other. Its location in Midtown fosters connections among community organizations, institutions, local businesses, and long-time residents. The university’s commitment to arts and culture in the city has been “Warrior Strong” since 1968. We are happy to have Wayne State’s support in transforming the Midtown landscape into a light-art wonderland!

The Wayne State Welcome Center is situated on the corner of Woodward and Warren Avenue, and the Woodward | Warren Greenspace sits directly across from it to the south. The Welcome Center’s inviting indoor space has in the past hosted a sculptural media work by Polish-based nieDAsie Art Group. The audience could sit inside for an intimate experience with the installation, or view from the sidewalk thanks to the building’s sleek, mostly-glass design. So much can be done with the architecture and space of the Welcome Center building—vellum can cover the windows, projections can display on the glass panels, or a light-based performance can take place indoors!

The Woodward | Warren Greenspace has provided some of the most animating moments of past DLECTRICITY festivals. From Star Wars reenactments to immersive architectural structures, the park has been able to accommodate multiple large-scale projects at once or make room for scheduled programming. Past artists and groups that have exhibited here include DMet Design; Nicola Kuperus and Adam Miller; Bluewater Technologies, and the artist duo, Cuppetelli and Mendoza. In addition to the open space, DLECTRICITY artists can also use components of surrounding structures. The photo banner that typically shows Wayne State promotional imagery can for the festival be reversed and projected onto, making for an excellent and fairly large screen on Woodward Avenue.

We’re excited to see how artists and creators will light up these two spaces for DLCTRICITY 2020!