1250 Hubbard St., Detroit; [email protected]; whitdelarts.com
Whitdel Arts set out to be a gallery that wouldn't feel too much like a gallery. Yet it's still pretty much a gallery — art will hang on the walls or media will project onto screens or elaborate installations will hang from the ceilings — but this place, run by three esteemed women of the arts, each skilled in her own respective forms, be it photography, printmaking or screenprinting, is the approachable kind of gallery. It's an art space to be sure, but approachable like a community center or, perhaps, a DIY rock venue. There may be wine and cheese, but there's no stuffy art gallery feel here. Whitdel displays established area artists as well as it does up-and-comers — beyond that, it pursues educational programming in the form of various art workshops, also reaching out to DIY artists to inform them on how to be a better self-promoter, how to polish a portfolio, just ... how to do it, the artist's life, in a better, smarter way. Nestled in the first floor of the historic Whitdel Building (a stone's throw from the heart of Mexicantown), this is a humble flower of a local art experiment that bloomed from a branch of the Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit — and it's a surprisingly refreshing and enlightening place to spend a Friday evening. Take in some art.
