Allison Glenn. | Photo by Grace Roselli
A NEW EXHIBITION opened this month in East Detroit. “In an effort to be held” at the Shepherd is presented by Library Street Collective and curated by Allison Glenn, a New York-based curator and writer.
Featuring 26 artists, the group show focuses on experimentation with material and form in a variety of mediums. Masses of metal twisted and manipulated into anthropomorphic sculpture are on view with mixed-media, assemblage, and collage works, paintings and watercolors, works employing beeswax and resin, and others repurposing ordinary objects and found artifacts such as doilies, tent fabric, and ornamental details from a historic Black church. The exhibition marks Glenn’s inaugural debut as artistic director of the Shepherd.
A unique cultural district called Little Village is taking shape in East Detroit. At the center of the multifaceted development project is the Shepherd, a renovated, 110-year-old Romanesque-style, decommissioned church surrounded by a three-and-a-half acre campus. The church building where “In an effort to be held” is on view, includes two exhibition spaces, a public library curated by Black Art Library, workshop areas, and a performing arts theater. The adjacent rectory has been reinvented as a bed and breakfast for visiting artists.
ANTHONY CURIS AND JJ CURIS, the married co-founders of Library Street Collective, a commercial art gallery in downtown Detroit, developed the arts campus and are leading the transformation of the wider community. The Shepherd is an outpost of the gallery, envisioned as a hybrid space, part institution and part community center, where the exhibitions will include some works for sale.
The grounds of the Shepherd are also home to artist McArthur Binion’s Modern Ancient Brown Foundation, a public skatepark designed by Tony Hawk and Binion, and Charles McGee Legacy Park, a public sculpture garden paying homage to late Detroit artist Charles McGee (1924-2021), who finished the designs for the garden before he died.
A few months ago, a solo exhibition of McGee launched the Shepherd’s exhibition space. “Charles McGee: Time is Now” was curated by Jova Lynne, artistic director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit. About a week after the opening, a key appointment was announced.
On May 23, Library Street Collective announced Glenn had joined the Shepherd as artistic director. Glenn, who grew up in Detroit, began working with the Shepherd in January. Her appointment was first reported on April 25 in a New York Times article about the community revitalization and cultural district taking root about 15 minutes from downtown Detroit.
As artistic director of the Shepherd, Allison Glenn is focusing on developing exhibitions, programs, and partnerships. Her first exhibition, ‘In an effort to be held,’ opened Aug. 3
The Shepherd: Exterior aerial view, church in background with skatepark in foreground. | Photo by Jason Keen, Courtesy Library Street Collective
GLENN’S PRACTICE FOCUSES ON the nexus of art and public space. A visiting curator in the Department of Film Studies at the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma, she previously served as senior curator at Public Art Fund in New York (2022-23); senior curator and director of public art at Contemporary Arts Museum Houston; and associate curator of contemporary art at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Ark. (2018-21). Glenn also co-curated Counterpublic 2023, the public art triennial in Saint Louis, Mo.
One of her most high-profile projects emerged in the aftermath of the Black Lives Matter protests calling for criminal justice reform and police accountability at the height of the pandemic in 2020. Glenn curated “Promise, Witness, Remembrance” at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Ky. (2021-22). The exhibition reflected on the life of Breonna Taylor, who was shot and killed in her Louisville home by police. Critically recognized and locally praised, the group show was organized with community input and the blessing of Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer.
As artistic director of the Shepherd, Glenn is focusing on developing exhibitions, programs, and partnerships. Her first exhibition, “In an effort to be held,” opened Aug. 3 with some works for sale and others on loan. The exhibition features works by Kevin Beasley, Bethany Collins, Ed Clark, Genevieve Gaignard, Wangechi Mutu, Angel Otero, Zak Ové, Naudline Pierre, Christina Quarles, Kellie Romany, Paul Verdell, Kennedy Yanko, and Cullen Washington Jr., among other artists.
In the appointment announcement, Glenn said she was “elated” about her latest opportunity, working with the Shepherd. She said: “Returning to the city, and communities, that nurtured my early development is an honor and privilege.” CT
“In an effort to be held” is on view at the Shepherd in Detroit, Mich., from Aug. 3-Oct. 12, 2024
FIND MORE about Allison Glenn on her website and Instagram
FIND MORE about the Shepherd and the Little Village cultural district in East Detroit on the Library Street Collective website and in the city’s Seen magazine
The Shepherd: Interior of church, central nave gallery and transepts. | Photo by Jason Keen, Courtesy Library Street Collective
BOOKSHELF
“Promise, Witness, Remembrance” documents the exhibition organized by Allison Glenn at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Ky. The show memorialized Breonna Taylor and featured 32 works, including a portrait of Taylor by Amy Sherald. Glenn is also the co-editor of “Others Shall Come: Curatorial Voices,” an Also Known As Africa (AKAA) publication issued following the 8th edition of AKAA in Paris, France, and in advance of the art fair’s first edition in Los Angeles, Calif., in May 2024. Edited by three curators, the publication explores the practices of a score of African diasporic artists.
