Detroit Artist Unveiling Literary Portrait Series
A new installation in Eastern Market showcases literary figures of Detroit’s past and present.
A Detroit artist is unveiling a set of paintings honoring literary figures of the city’s past and present. Nicole Macdonald has created seven-foot-tall portraits of Detroit writers and publishers, including US Poet Laureate Philip Levine, founder of InsideOut Terry Blackhawk and writer Bill Harris. Macdonald says the murals are part of an ongoing series.
“First round [was]16 portraits, kinda looking at the whole span of the last recorded 300 years of Detroit history, and looking at progressive activists of the city, and they were installed in a three-story historic abandoned building on [the] city’s west side.”
-Nicole Macdonald
She says Eastern Market will showcase the paintings beginning this Sunday. Readings from some of the featured poets will follow from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. The portraits will move to Detroit’s Woodbridge neighborhood in October and will be permanently installed on a liquor store on Trumbull Avenue and the I-94 service drive.
