SIGNS FROM THE HE(ART)
Desirai Chapman. My Sister (2023). Watercolor and paint marker on paper. 18 x 24 in. Framed
Participating Artists: Manual Bart, Autumn Bez, Jirard Bond, Shawna Campbell, Dennis Cenzer, Desirai Chapman, Chantell Donwell, Nejwa Elghoul, Derek Ellis, Je’Vonnie Evans, Alex Ferguson, Ashley Hawkins, Ryan McDonagh, Debbie Osteen, Thomas Saunders, and Promise Vos
Opening Reception: January 30, 2025, from 4 pm – 6 pm
Exhibition Dates: January 30, 2025 – April 24, 2025
Location: PASC Southgate Gallery, 13721 Eureka Rd, Southgate, MI 48195
Gallery Hours: Monday - Friday, 9 pm – 3 pm, and by appointment
Curated by Therrin Burns, Nick Granch, and Randy Rodriguez
SIGNS FROM THE HE(ART) is the 2nd iteration of our Artist as Curator exhibition series. Artist-curators Therrin Burns, Nick Granch, and Randy Rodriguez have selected 18 artworks from all three of the PASC studios, reflecting each curator's aesthetic. The artworks showcase a variety of distinctive approaches like colorful washes, whimsical characters, and a diverse range of perspectives. With painted signs throughout the gallery, the curators provide personal insights into their selections: “He(art) is love”; “shapes, signs, & lines”; “look for messages in the art”; & “emotions, moods, & feelings”. Through these remarks, the curators celebrate the work of their peers while articulating their artistic sensibilities. A common thread among the chosen artworks is their reflection of an abstract selection process, unified by a shared emotional resonance.
Therrin Burns, Nick Granch, and Randy Rodriguez are artists working out of the PASC Southgate Studio. Therrin is a Southgate-based artist that specializes in highly detailed realism and imaginative landscapes, creating fantasy and futuristic scenes. Nick, a Dearborn-based artist, employs a hyper-detailed, comic book-inspired style, featuring characters from his series “Syd’s World” and “Alfie the Cat”, alongside urban and suburban scenes rendered in colored pencil, marker, and pen. His webcomics can be viewed at 2shoozcomics.weebly.com. Randy is a Detroit-based artist whose subjects range from portraits to animals to landscapes depicted through graphic paintings and drawings, with bold lines and vibrant gestural washes of color.SIGNS FROM THE HE(ART) was facilitated by PASC Lead Art Advisor, Hannah Lilly, and PASC Gallery Assistant, Amber Nax. Both staff helped to guide the curatorial process by engaging the three curators with prompts and conversation while offering context to the curatorial process. This exhibition was supported directly with a grant PASC received from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to develop a curatorial program for artists/curators with disabilities.
Launched in 2021, PASC is the first progressive art and design studio and exhibition program in Detroit and Wayne County dedicated to supporting artists with developmental disabilities and mental health differences to advance artistic practices and build individual careers in the art and design fields. PASC is a program of Services to Enhance Potential (STEP), a non-profit service organization founded in 1972 that provides services and support for more than 1,400 individuals with disabilities and mental health differences across Southeastern Michigan. Our exhibitions program is supported with grants from the Michigan Arts and Cultural Council, the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
