Gilda Snowden

Gilda, our Beloved impassioned brilliant artist 1954 – 2014 was trained at Wayne State University, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1977. On a Graduate Professional Scholarship, she completed her Master of Arts in 1978 and in 1979 her Master of Fine Arts. 

Senghor Reid

Senghor Reid develops figurative paintings and films on topics pertinent to his generation, which explore the connections between culture, art, the social sciences and the conservation of our natural environment. Reid earned a BFA from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Art Education from Wayne State University. He attended the internationally recognized Marathon program at the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture. 

M. Saffell Gardner

"My departure from representational painting toward abstract works began with history from pharaohs to ancient rulers and vessels of enslavement. I have submerged my thought into the primal elements creatively speaking. My work often transports me to my spiritual homeland, the African continent, the cradle of man. Painting makes me free in a primal manner. I create work in various media, painting, printmaking, drawing, collage and some digital work. I combine my background in architecture and cartography to inform my vision on shape, form and perspective. The focus of my work is to push the envelope of my subconscious."

Jocelyn Rainey, Homage to a Master II, 2021, Acrylic on Canvas, 48 x 36

Jocelyn Rainey

Jocelyn Rainey, earned a BFA from the College for Creative Studies and her MA from Wayne State University, majoring in painting. Rainey has always leaned towards abstraction in her work, although relying on traditional approaches in geometry.  Her palette demonstrates her love of primary color and texture. Collage from canvas cutouts offer new venues for invention and color development. She responds to the encaustic medium and building relief surfaces. Much of her iconography features text and found “studio objects”, as well as recycled clothing. 

David Driskell

Driskell was born in 1931 in Eatonton, Georgia. The son of a Baptist minister, Driskell attended Howard University in Washington, D.C. (Bachelor of fine Arts degree, 1955). Premier art historian James A. Porter, author Modern Negro Art (1943), taught there, as did the highly respected painter Lois Mailou Jones. Porter had a profound influence on Driskell, convincing him of his gift for teaching. Thus began an ascent, which has included the chairmanship of the Fisk University and University of Maryland art departments, authorship of over 25 books, a British Broadcasting Company-produced documentary on African-American art, and several curatorial milestones.

Bill Sanders

Sanders was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He received his early exposure and love of photography during his formative years. He earned a BFA, MA and MFA from Wayne State University (WSU). Sanders has received many awards for his outstanding photography. 

Shirley Woodson

Woodson earned a BFA in 1958 and a MA in 1965 from Wayne State University.   She has been painting for over 60 years and her portraits and figurative paintings depict her life, environment and African American History.  SHE IS THE 2021 KRESGE EMINENT ARTIST AWARDEE. CURRENTLY THE DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS FEATURES A SOLO EXHIBITION: Shirley Woodson: Shield of the Nile Reflections!! https://www.dia.org/woodson

Taurus Burns

Taurus Burns moved to Detroit, Michigan in 1998 to study Fine Arts at the College for Creative Studies, where he received a BFA in 2002. Since then Taurus has painted murals, created public art and street paintings, been on the exhibition committee of the Detroit Artists Market, juried and curated local exhibits, and painted over 300 Detroit urban landscapes. He was once listed as "Best Local Artist" in Real Detroit Weekly and one of the "Best Local Artists to Collect" in HOUR Detroit Magazine. In 2017 he began to address racism and gun violence in his work.

Charles Burwell:

Artist Statement: Some of my earliest artist influences were Cy Twombly, Mark Tobey, Agnes Martin and Jack Tworkov. Since the mid 1970’s, around the time I saw a Cy Twombly exhibition at the ICA in Philadelphia, the use of the linear mark has been a constant element in my work. That linear, graphic sensibility that I saw in these artists had a great influence on the development of my art, and it has continued to evolve in my work over the years. The exploration of complex linear elements continues to be a dominant part of how I develop paintings and drawings. Another aspect of my work that had its spark in the 1970’s when I was in art school is an interest in process. Through visits to the Museum of Modern Art and seeing the range of American abstract art (particularly Pollock), I became interested in the formal ways in which paintings are constructed.

Bryant Tillman

Bryant Tillman is a Detroit artist who has been painting Detroit expressionistic landscapes for over thirty-five years.  In this exhibition, he presents ten works of art, fluid representational compositions of cars, people and buildings.  These high-contrast acrylic works are probably executed in a short time, from start to finish before the acrylic dries. In his painting, Honda Accord, he paints in his shadow as he takes his image during low light.  Back in the studio, the “moment in time” gets rendered with a loose, painterly brush stroke with surfaces that grab the viewer’s attention.

Harold Allen

Harold Allen is a well-respected member of the Metropolitan Detroit artistic community. He is a committed artist and always ready to serve the community, especially young artists and students pursuing an education in the arts. Harold has also provided creative visual art sessions with seniors and a population of challenged individuals. He has taught painting, drawing, color theory, and art history at several educational institutions, including Eastern Michigan University, Wayne State University, and College for Creative Studies and Macomb Community College.