Cover Stories
Tunde Olaniran combines comic book lore, BDSM gear, and horror in debut film and exhibit ‘Made a Universe’ at Cranbrook
Is there anything Tunde Olaniran can’t do? We already know the Flint native is a master of crafting pop songs with danceable beats and catchy vocals. With their first museum exhibit, Made a Universe, we learn that Olaniran can write, direct, and act in a film too. Made a Universe leads Cranbrook Art Museum visitors…
Detroit muralist Ijania Cortez paints the city neon
Ijania Cortez loves her mama. You may be reading this and thinking that’s an interesting way to start a story about one of Detroit’s most talented artists and muralists, but her love for her mother is one of two things Cortez sparkles about while we interview her. “My mom is my studio manager, I work…
Grungy Detroit T-shirt brand reminds wearers to ‘Be The Light’
Buddha heads splitting apart and the Virgin Mary holding a machine gun are images commonly featured in Detroit artist Blight Hernandez’s T-shirt brand. While they might look like death metal or punk band shirts at first glance, a closer look reveals meditative messages like “mind over matter” and “Be The Light,” which is also the…
Young Detroit artists turned former Greektown PizzaPapalis into a fashion pop-up and gallery
Trent Garcons, 18, of Detroit, and Andrew Judnic, 20, of Grosse Pointe, created new history in a historic building located in Greektown. The two crossed paths in their creative journeys through mutual friends and social media connections to create a fashion and art pop-up in Greektown’s former PizzaPapalis building. The Monroe Street Gallery displayed original…
A selection of upcoming fall 2022 art happenings in metro Detroit and beyond
The fall arts season is here. Here are some of the events we’re looking forward to — be sure to check venue websites for the most up-to-date information. Detroit Month of Design Through Sept. 30: This annual monthlong celebration of Detroit’s UNESCO designation as a “City of Design” returns with the theme of “United By…
Forget about those digital ‘immersive’ exhibits — the DIA has the good stuff with upcoming ‘Van Gogh in America’
Though he is known as one of the most famous artists in history, the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh never saw commercial success before his death in 1890. So he would probably be pretty confused about what happened in Detroit over the past year. So were we. Last year, at least six competing “immersive” exhibitions…
Top 6 Best CBD Oil for Dogs with Arthritis in 2024
Arthritis is a far more common condition in dogs than many might expect. Chronic inflammation of the joints, more commonly known as arthritis can be painful for dogs. In part, this is because the inflammation can be accompanied by swelling and sharp pains. Essentially for your pet, this will mean discomfort whenever they make the…
Detroit’s Belle Isle Nature Center is finally reopening for the first time since March 2020
An interactive pollinator habitat, snakes, frogs, and salamanders await the return of visitors to the Belle Isle Nature Center. The center has been closed since March 2020, and has undergone extensive renovation both inside and out for its doors to reopen on Wednesday, Sept. 28. Additions to the nature center include an expansive play area…
Try not to get offended if you attend Tony Rave’s ‘Michael Jesus Crisis’ exhibit in Ferndale
Sometimes it seems as if racial tension fueled by stereotypes is by design. The very words “black” and “white” are polar opposites contrasting darkness and evil with angelic purity. Detroit artist Tony Rave has had enough of it. In his first solo gallery exhibition Michael Jesus Crisis, Rave paints the white facades of ceramic angels…
Detroit fashion designer competes on Season 2 of HBO’s streetwear competition ‘The Hype’
Eastside Detroit native (A)lex(Z)ander says he’s always felt the need to create. Now 28, he grew up writing raps, poems, and songs, and for several years he was a fledgling musical artist (and fashion designer) until the frustrations of the music industry deterred him. “I still had some music in me, but I think my…
Detroit is challenging the U.S. Census Bureau’s population estimates in federal lawsuit
The city of Detroit is suing the U.S. Census Bureau, claiming it undercounted residents in the predominantly Black city. The city claims in the suit filed in U.S. District Court that the city’s population grew in 2021. If true, it would mark the first time the city’s population has increased in seven decades. The lawsuit…
Detroit’s Masonic Temple celebrates 100 years since its first cornerstone was laid — and we still don’t understand what exactly the Freemasons do
Detroit’s Masonic Temple is where worlds meet. It’s a place where Jack White can get married in front of a crowd of nearly 5,000 during an impromptu wedding concert; where Halloween revelers gather for Theatre Bizarre, “The Greatest Masquerade on Earth”; where Detroit Roller Derby matches are held — and a whole bunch of other…
Trump-loving Warren councilman dodges jail time for handcuffing woman over BLM stickers
A hot-headed Warren city councilman won’t serve jail time after handcuffing a woman for posting Black Lives Matter stickers on a Donald Trump yard sign in Eastpointe in October 2020. Councilman Eddie Kabacinski was sentenced to just one year of probation and required to attend anger management classes. If he complies with the terms of…
DIA launches new collection focused on automotive and industrial design
The Detroit Institute of Arts is building a new collection driven by the city’s automotive innovations. The new collection will feature works that highlight the technological, design, and functional endeavors of the automotive industry with an emphasis on Detroit’s contributions. It’s funded by a gift of $5 million from the Mort and Brigitte Harris Foundation,…
Noir City film fest brings a world of classic movies to Detroit’s Redford Theatre
As local cinemas have closed, moved, or been knocked down, each one still standing has come to seem more precious. Spaces to see movies within Detroit are few in number, and ones to see repertory screenings of older films count even fewer among their ranks. Rarer still are chances to see new or older works…
Michigan drag queens enlisted to help get Michiganders to the polls in virtual event
A virtual event this Thursday aims to get more people registered to vote in the midterm elections in Michigan — with the help of local drag queens. Community Change Action will host “Drag Out the Vote” on Thursday, Sept. 22 at 8 p.m. featuring performances by Michigan queens Jadein Black, Crystal Harding, Maxi Chanel, and…
You can catch free Model T rides this Sunday at the historic Ford Piquette Avenue Plant Museum
On Sept. 27, 1908, the first Model T rolled out of Henry Ford’s Piquette Avenue Plant in Detroit, ushering in a revolution. For the first time, the newfangled automobile would become an affordable, mass-produced product meant for everyday people, and the factory would eventually churn out 15 million of the cars, making Ford Motor Co.…
DeSantis’s cruel political stunt in Martha’s Vineyard is a terrifying taste of things to come
I thought by now I’d lost my ability to be shocked by the latest political outrage. Not just surprised, but genuinely aghast and shaken to my core, like I was when George W. Bush’s team lied the country into war, or when Donald Trump’s administration threw kids into cages, or when Trump incited a mob…
Influential Detroit artist Aaron Ibn Pori Pitts honored with memorial
On Saturday at Detroit’s Wayne County Community College, a jubilee and birthday celebration was held in honor of the late artist Aaron Ibn Pori Pitts, who would have been 81 years old. The pillar of the community declared by Metro Times as “Artist of the Year” in 2007 died on Aug. 13. A room full…
Michigan man sentenced to 5 years in prison after posting about being at the Jan. 6 riot on Facebook
Another Michigan man has been sentenced to prison for his involvement in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, this time after posting about it on Facebook. Anthony Robert Williams, 47, of Southgate, was sentenced to five years in federal prison, Chief U.S. District judge Beryl Howell ruled Friday. According to the FBI, Williams…
Republicans for Whitmer and cop porn: The top 10 Metro Times headlines
The divisiveness of the Michigan Republican Party has been one of the biggest conversations as we head into election season, and this week our readers were interested in the 150 GOP members who are choosing to support Democrat Gov. Whitmer for reelection instead of her Republican challenger Tudor Dixon. A Detroit cop was also suspended…
The Black Dahlia Murder pushes forward after vocalist Trevor Strnad’s death, announces Detroit gig
Trevor Strnad’s bandmates were as shocked as fans when they got the call that the Black Dahlia Murder frontman had died in May. “When [I was told] that Trevor was gone, I was just in such disbelief and shock,” Black Dahlia Murder drummer Alan Cassidy told Decibel Magazine. “I kept thinking back to the text…
Michigan drug overdose deaths among the highest in nation, according to report
Michigan had one of the highest numbers of drug overdose deaths in the U.S., according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics compiled by NiceRx, an online pharmacy. Michigan ranked No. 10 on the list with 14,634 drug overdose deaths between 2013-2020. The state saw 1,553 overdose…
The journey to re-establish Ma’iingan Wildwood Trail in Detroit’s Rouge Park and honor Indigenous journalist Etta S. Wilson
Back in the 1970s, Ma’iingan Wildwood Trail in Detroit’s Rouge Park was frequented by thousands of leisurely hikers. It’s overgrown and faded these days, but non-profit organization Friends of Rouge Park is working to revive it while honoring the Indigenous woman for whom it’s named. That woman is Etta S. Wilson, an ornithologist (expert on…
Cedar Point falls out of top five amusement park rankings for first time in more than 20 years
America’s roller coast is… somewhere else? Amusement Today this week unveiled its annual Golden Ticket Awards, which recognizes the best parks, food, attractions and coasters around the world, and for the first time since the awards debuted in 1998, Cedar Point was not ranked among the top five amusement parks. The Cedar Fair property in…
You can meet Cheech and smoke his ‘Stash’ this weekend
Last month, canna-icons Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong launched their self-titled cannabis company in the Michigan market. The Cheech and Chong Cannabis Company premiered its debut product line, Cheech and Chong, at Nature’s Medicines dispensaries throughout Michigan. There are five other brands under the Cheech and Chong Cannbis Company umbrella, and this weekend Cheech Marin…
Detroit cop’s suspension for posting porn online is ‘sexist and dramatically puritan,’ activist says
Detroit police officers have assaulted unarmed suspects without any consequences, but the department appears to draw the line when a rookie cop, on her own time, posts pornography online. Officer Janelle Zielinski resigned from the force after her superiors discovered an OnlyFans account where she was posting porn. Chris Graveline, the director of DPD’s Professional…
Officials look to ‘fill in the ditch’ that helped displace Black Detroiters with $105M project
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg saidThursday during a news conference in Detroit that “wealth that needs to be created will be created” as he helped to outline plans to reimage a federal highway that displaced a historic Black community during the 1950s and 1960s. “We know that some of the planners and politicians behind the…
Memorial for renowned Detroit artist Aaron Ibn Pori Pitts planned for Saturday
Influential Detroit artist Aaron Ibn Pori Pitts died on Aug. 13. He was 80. Declared by Metro Times to be “Artist of the Year” in 2007, Pitts was far more than an artist. He was also an activist, a musician, a poet, and a pillar in the Detroit community that has left a strong legacy.…
New ‘immersive’ exhibit features glittering work of Gustav Klimt in Detroit
The forces behind the Immersive Van Gogh exhibit are back with a new floor-to-ceiling light show featuring the work of Viennese Symbolist painter Gustav Klimt. Lighthouse Immersive’s glittering new exhibit, Immersive Klimt: Revolution, began on Sept. 10 at Lighthouse ArtSpace Detroit at 311 E. Grand River Ave. Like Immersive Van Gogh, the new exhibit was…
Meet the Michigan clerk who breaks down election law to candidates in viral Twitter threads
This story is part of a project called Democracy Day, in which newsrooms across the country are shining a light on threats to democracy. Barb Byrum wears a lot of hats: county clerk, hardware store owner and lawyer. In her free time, she also schools misled and conspiratorial political figures in Michigan with zingy, informative…
PJ’s Lager House announces final ‘End of an Era’ show, invites supporters to leave their mark on the Corktown bar
PJ’s Lager House is on track to imminently be sold to new owners, and has announced a sixth and final concert in its “End of an Era” series before the deal closes. The free concert is slated for Saturday, Oct. 1, featuring local acts the Craig Brown Band, the Hand Grenades, the Strains, and Wine…
Mobile ice cream parlor Bombshell Treat Bar lands Somerset Collection residency
Bombshells are heading to Somerset Collection — and no, we’re not talking svelte models or pinup girls. We’re talking about the frozen dessert experts, Bombshell Treat Bar. The local startup specializes in over-the-top and uniquely decorated hand-dipped ice cream bars. The shop announced that through Nov. 6, Bombshell will have a pop-up residency in Somerset’s…
Greenhouse of Walled Lake amps up dispensary experience with fresh coffee and doughnuts
The Greenhouse of Walled Lake dispensary is serving up more than cannabis. Customers can now get freshly made coffee and doughnuts sold out of a vintage-style French LeMont truck in the rear parking lot of the dispensary. Greenhouse of Walled Lake owner Jerry Millen teamed up with Eviva Coffee Roasters of Michigan to buy high-quality…
The last Monarch
In 1956, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal. In doing so, he directly violated the terms of the agreement to end British colonization of Egypt, which would have left the British in control of Egypt’s most valuable resource until 1968. Under the direction of Prime Minister Anthony Eden, Britain retaliated swiftly, conspiring…
Join the Detroit Metro Times Reddit community!
Detroit Metro Times is now on the social news platform Reddit. Redditors can join the new reddit.com/r/DetroitMetroTimes subreddit to stay up to date on our news and discuss our articles more in depth. We ditched comments on our website a few years ago, but you can comment on our articles in the Reddit community, in…
White House signals that Biden won’t make cannabis reform announcement before midterms
Despite progressives’ push for President Joe Biden to unveil a cannabis reform agenda effort ahead of the midterms, the latest smoke signal from the White House suggests it won’t happen. When pressed by reporters Friday about whether the Democratic president had such plans, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “I don’t have anything else to share…
New study suggests people who smoke weed are no more lazy or apathetic than those who don’t
So much for the stereotype of the lazy, bumbling stoners like Seth Rogen’s Dale Denton character in Pineapple Express. A new peer-reviewed study published in the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology suggests that cannabis users are no more likely to be apathetic and unmotivated than folks who abstain from the devil’s lettuce. Led by scientists from…
Jackson, Miss., water crisis has parallels with Flint and Benton Harbor, Michigan leaders and activists say
The Michigan head of one of the nation’s prominent civil rights organizations told the Advance this week that water quality challenges that have affected mid-sized cities such as Flint, Benton Harbor and now Jackson, Miss., are the cause of “white flight and corporate disinvestment.” “There is an overall issue that this country hasn’t been able…
Mai Tiki ‘speakeasy’-style bar opens in former office space in Ferndale’s Tigerlily restaurant
The owners of the recently opened Tigerlily restaurant in Ferndale have converted a former office space in the building into a new tiki-themed “speakeasy”-style bar called Mai Tiki. The narrow, 900-square-foot room, which opens Wednesday, is accessible via a “semi-concealed” door on the side of Tigerlily’s dining room, which the restaurant describes as “a portal…
Free Will Astrology (Sept. 14-20)
ARIES (March 21-April 19): My reader Monica Ballard has this advice for you Aries folks: “If you don’t vividly ask for and eagerly welcome the gifts the Universe has in store for you, you may have to settle for trinkets and baubles. So never settle.” That’s always useful counsel for you Rams. And in the…
High-flying Highlands is worthy of Detroit’s best restaurant space
Among the words that could be used to describe each of the plates myself and a dining partner ordered from the three-course, prix fixe menu at Highlands, the latest restaurant to call the top of the GM RenCen home, are “rich” and “decadent.” Not a bad bite in the mix as chef Shawn McClain, a…
How Americana act Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band weathered the pandemic to make its best record yet
The pandemic proved to be a difficult time for Reverend Peyton. First and foremost, there was quite a scare when his wife (and washboard player in Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band), Breezy, fell ill soon after the country shut down. Peyton doesn’t know for sure if Breezy had coronavirus or pneumonia. But she had it…
