The entrance to the Community Arts Center, within which the Art Department Gallery is located.
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Art Department Gallery (Wayne State University)
5400 Gullen Mall
Community Arts Building, Room 150
Detroit MI 48202
Wayne State University has two art galleries. The Art Department Gallery is mainly to show the work of WSU students and faculty. The Master of Fine Arts (MFA) shows are usually duo shows, while the undergrad show is once a year and is often a crowded group show.
There is also a show for the art education students (this one tends to get shorted on resources because it's managed by the university's College of Education rather than the College for Fine, Performing and Communication Arts), as well as shows for community college instructors and students, and for high school students.
The nearby Elaine L. Jacob Gallery shares staff with the Art Department Gallery, hence openings are staggered so as to not occur in the same week. Openings are almost always on Fridays, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Fall and winter hours are on Tuesdays through Thursdays, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and on Fridays from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Summer gallery hours are on Tuesdays through Fridays, from noon to 5:00 p.m., same as the Jacob Gallery. Gallery hours were changed for the 2019/2020 school year, but then the pandemic pretty much upended everything, so now, as of May 2022, I am not sure what the hours are.
Current exhibition
- Unseen Domains, the 2024 MFA thesis exhibition. Opened March 1 and slated to run to April 5, with a closing reception and gallery talk that day from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Upcoming exhibitions
- 2024 undergraduate exhibition. Slated to open April 26, with a reception from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., and run to May 10.
Past exhibitions
Courbet's Light, a painting by Nakia Camp that was exhibited in 2016.
This listing might be missing exhibits from 2020 and 2021. Not sure if the WSU galleries were closed for most of those two years.
- 2024 tri-county high school exhibition. January 19, 2024 — February 9, 2024.
- Graduating seniors exhibition. December 1 — 15, 2023.
- Faculty exhibition. September 29, 2023 — November 10, 2023.
- Undergraduate exhibit. April 13, 2023 — May 4, 2023.
- Masters of Fine Art thesis exhibition 2023. March 2 — 31, 2023.
- Tri-county high school exhibition. January 26, 2023 — February 17, 2023.
- 2022 graduating seniors exhibit. November 3, 2022 — December 9, 2022.
- Mobile Arts Exhibition 2022. September 8, 2022 — October 21, 2022.
- Unbreakable, an exhibit of artwork by art education and art therapy students. May 19, 2022 — June 24, 2022.
- Undergraduate exhibit 2022. April 21, 2022 — May 5, 2022.
- Masters of Fine Art thesis exhibition 2022. March 17, 2022 — April 7, 2022.
- Tri-County High School Exhibition 2022. February 17, 2022 — March 3, 2022.
- Machined & Assembled, MFA exhibit, Ryan Haas. February 21, 2020 — March 6, 2020.
- Letterpress Now, Judith Moldenhauer. January 10, 2020 — February 7, 2020.
- Jeffrey Abt. October 18, 2019 — December 6, 2019.
- 2019 Mobile Arts Workshop exhibit. September 6, 2019 — October 4, 2019.
- Great Lakes Regional Community College Exhibition. June 28, 2019 — July 19, 2019.
- Art education and art therapy exhibit. May? ??, 2019 — June? ??, 2019.
- Undergraduate exhibition. April 19, 2019 — May 10, 2019.
- Tri-county high school exhibition. March 22, 2019 — April 5, 2019.
- MFA thesis exhibition. February 15, 2019 — March 8, 2019.
- Metals 2019, the Michigan Silversmiths Guild. January 11, 2019 — February 1, 2019.
- Ryan Standfest solo show. October 12, 2018 — December 7, 2018.
- Seeing is Understanding and the 2018 Mobile Arts Community Workshop Exhibit. September 7 — 28, 2018.
- John Strand alumni exhibition. August 3 — 24, 2018.
- Annual Great Lakes Regional Community College Art Exhibition 2018. June 29, 2018 — July 20, 2018.
- Art education exhibition. June 1 — 14, 2018.
- Undergrad exhibit 2018. April 20, 2018 — May 11, 2018.
- Tri-county high school exhibition. March 23, 2018 — April 6, 2018.
- MFA thesis exhibition. February 13, 2018 — March 9, 2018.
- Graduating seniors exhibit 2017. January 12, — 26, 2018.
- Phenomena in Landscape, Jim Nawara. November 3, 2017 — December 8, 2017.
- Annual Great Lakes Regional Community College Art Exhibition 2017. July 21, 2017 — August 18, 2017.
- Art education exhibition. June 9, 2017 — July 7?, 2017.
- Catalyst, 2017 undergrad exhibit. April 21, 2017 — May 26, 2017.
- Tri-county high school exhibition. March 24, 2017 — April 7, 2017.
- MFA thesis exhibition of Courtney Richardson and Dominique Chastenet de Géry. February 17, 2017 — March 17, 2017.
- Graduating seniors exhibit 2016. January 13, 2017 — February 3, 2017.
- Essay'd, alumni, and field of memory. October 14, 2016 — December 9, 2016.
- Mobile Arts Workshop Exhibition. September 2 — 30, 2016
- Annual Great Lakes Regional Community College Art Exhibition 2016. July 22, 2016 — August 19, 2016.
- Art education exhibition. June 9 — 28, 2016 (originally planned to close July 8, 2016).
- Undergraduate exhibition. April 22, 2016 — May 27, 2016.
- Tri-county high school exhibition. March 25, 2016 — April 8, 2016.
- MFA thesis exhibition. February 26, 2016 — March 18, 2016.
- Graduating seniors exhibition. January 22, 2016 — February 12, 2016.
- Faculty exhibition. November 6, 2015 — December 11, 2015.
- Sculpture X Symposium Exhibition. September 11, 2015 — October 23, 2015.
- Annual Great Lakes Regional Community College Art Exhibition 2015. July 17, 2015 — August 21, 2015. (This information comes from a Facebook page, not the gallery's official website).
- 2015 Visual Arts Education & Art Therapy Student Show. June 4, 2015 — July 3, 2015.
- Undergraduate exhibit. April 24, 2015 — May 22, 2015.
- Tri-county high school exhibit. March 27, 2015 — April 10, 2015.
- MFA exhibit. February 27, 2015 — March 20, 2015.
- Graduating seniors exhibit. January 23, 2015 — February 13, 2015.
- Stanley Rosenthal solo show. November 7, 2014 — December 19, 2014.
- MAPC conference exhibit. September 12, 2014 — October 17, 2014.
- ...many more, going back to 1956...
A complete and comprehensive list would go back all the way to 1956.
The gallery in relation to the rest of the campus
A pet peeve of the gallery's staffers is the moniker "Community Arts Gallery". It is true that the gallery is in the school's Community Arts Center, and it is also true that it is across the hallway from the Community Arts Auditorium. It might also be true that the gallery was actually called "Community Arts Gallery" at one point. But there is no evidence of that on any WSU webpage maintained by the Art Department. Webpages maintained by other departments or colleges, or by the student newspaper, that's a different story; on those, the "Community Arts Gallery" name lives on.
As for those who come to the gallery, they are faced with two actual, practical problems: one is parking, the other is that some shows (especially those in the summer) are barely promoted. By the time you find out about a particular show, it may be too late to deal with the parking issues.
External links
News
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Reviews
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