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2023 Holiday Sale

For the Holiday season, PASC is presenting an exclusive Online Holiday Sale.

This collection of diverse artworks includes several framed artworks, featuring abstract and representational elements, offered at special discounted prices only made available this December 2023.

Give a meaningful gift from PASC this holiday season, by purchasing an artwork by a disabled artists and help them to build their art career.

60% from the sale of all purchases go to support the artists in the PASC program. 40% returns to PASC to cover overhead costs.

Thank you in advance for your support and

Happy Holidays

A Tapestry of Transformation

Chantell Donwell, "Dance Party", 2023, colored pencil and pen on paper, 18 x 24 in

Participating Artists: Heba H. Ayoub, Jotina Ballard, Rubin Bates, Jirard Bond, Bobby Brooks, Sherri Bryant, Stanley R. Brown, Desirai Chapman, Ryan Cooke, Sereal Crawford, Dwayne L. Curry, Detroit Angel Tweety, Mandy Demorest, Jeremy Dillard, Chantell Donwell, Je’Vonnie Evans, Lonell Garret, Eric Green, Ashley Hawkins, Laquan D. Hogan, Susan Hudson, Shawn Jackson, Phillip Kraft, Johnie Lockhart, Richard Marshall, Sandra McCain, Ryan McDonagh, Nathaniel McNeal, Dameon Miller, Vanessa Montgomery, Khiry O’Neal, John Peterson, Deanna L. Poppenger, Dylan Reeves, Tessann Rondeau, Marear Smith, Raymond Wells, and Willie Whitehead

Curated by Chloé Hajjar, Kristi Ternes and Eleni Zaharopoulos

March 28 - April 26, 2024

Opening Reception: March 28, 2024, 4-6 pm

Art Gallery at City Hall
Westland City Hall
36300 Warren Rd, Westland, MI 48185
The-Gallery-at-City-Hall

Gallery Hours: Monday - Friday 9am-5pm

In medieval times, the tapestry was considered one of the most sumptuous forms of artistic expression. Often used to depict both stories of a spiritual and secular nature, these intricately woven textiles captivated viewers, instilling them with a sense of awe. The weaver's remarkable ability to turn thread into a visual feast was not lost to anyone. Today, the tapestry serves as a metaphor for life. The memories, experiences, and emotions that shape our identity not only define us but transform us in the process.

A Tapestry of Transformation is an exhibition at The Gallery at Westland City Hall featuring 38 artists from The Progressive Art Studio Collective (PASC) where each artwork serves as a cultural thread woven together to tell the story of our collective. Representing the tastes, desires, and dreams of American society, the exhibit embodies the essence of our culture, historical references and the interplay of identities. Depictions of celebrities and civil rights leaders mingle with strip clubs and beauty parlors, while the pastoral sublime of a bicycle on a sunny day fraternizes with the frenetic depiction of a sports car. Threading in and out, overlapping over and under, the world as we know it comes into focus.

Art making, as a form of non-verbal communication, can allow for expression, when other written and verbal forms are sometimes less accessible. The artists presenting their artwork at Westland City Hall represent their unique and personal ‘voices’ through creative expression. Like a dynamic tapestry, made from fragments of the artists' daily lives, connected through a love of pop culture, abstraction, technology and historical movements, the artists’ stories are woven together, and embellished by the diversity of this artistic collective.

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 runs three studios in Detroit, Westland, and Southgate and works with over 180 artists across Wayne County. PASC is a program of Services to Enhance Potential (STEP), a non-profit service organization founded in 1972 that provides services and supports 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 and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Aaron Taylor

Aaron is a Detroit-based artist who works out of the PASC Detroit studio. He works mainly in portraiture, painting pictures of himself, staff and other people in his immediate family, although he does sometimes venture into painting and drawing his other favorite subject, food. His work is characterized by a somewhat uninhibited joyousness, in contrasting colors and strong line-work. Most of his figures are featured with a huge smile and wide open eyes, declaring their excitement at greeting the viewer.

Aaron has shown at the PASC Detroit Gallery, Detroit, MI (2024); PASC at BasBlue, Detroit, MI (2024); Ford Art Gallery at WCCC, Belleville, MI (2023); Detroit Repertory Theater, Detroit, MI (2022); PASC Detroit Pop Up Gallery, Detroit, MI (2022); Art Gallery at Westland City Hall, Westland, MI (2022), and the PASC Southgate Gallery, Southgate, MI (2021). His artwork has been featured at the NADA art fair presented by White Columns Gallery, Miami, FL (2024).

Affections

Promise Vos, Pink Flower Heart, 2022, mixed-media on paper, 18 X 24

Participating Artists: Stanley Brown, Shawna Campbell, Ronald Griggs, Xavier Harris, Susan Hudson, DeRon Hudson, Shawn Jackson, Darlene Mahan, Renee Rogan, Thomas Saunders, Ray Smith, and Promise Vos.

Curated by Bridget Finn

July 16 – August 28, 2022

Opening Reception, Friday, July 15, 6-8pm

Gallery Hours: Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 1-6pm

PASC Detroit Pop Up Gallery

At The Vella Group

1410 Gratiot Ave, Detroit, MI 48207

A supplementary online exhibition featuring additional artworks from each artist is available after July 13 on Reyes | Finn‘s website.

Affection is an act of self-expression. It can manifest in touches, looks, words, gestures, even creative acts, like singing a song or making an artwork. Affection conveys fondness (sometimes love); it promotes greater social connection and community. Each of the eleven artists in this exhibition invite the viewer to engage in an act of appreciation around a personal affection of their own.

Ray Smith shares his favorite records, holding them up for moments of recognition or discovery. Promise Vos offers drawings of abundant love and admiration. Shawn Jackson pays homage to an influential movie, which illustrates that bonds of friendship can bridge gaps and overcome difference. Ronald Griggs praises the glory of the human body through imaginatively exploring the complex intimacy of family units. Renee Rogen, Thomas Saunders, and Stanley Brown warmly highlight nostalgic figures who remind us that fantasy has the power to expand experience. Darlene Mahan, Susan Hudson, Xavier Harris, and Shawna Campbell express the profound satisfaction of mark and pattern making – repetition can be a form of devotion.

These acts are crucial to a thriving, resilient life. Exchanging affection is an adaptive behavior that leads to improved physical and mental well-being. Let this exhibition act as a moment to reciprocate the affection each respective artist has generously shared with us.

This is the third of four exhibitions during a five month run in the PASC Detroit Pop-up Gallery, the first gallery space in Detroit dedicated to supporting artists with developmental disabilities and mental health needs. This gallery has been made possible through a partnership with The Vella Group, an organization that provides strategic and communications services to nonprofits. It is also partially funded through a grant from The Michigan Arts and Cultural Council, (MACC).

Bridget Finn is Partner at Reyes | Finn, a contemporary art gallery in Detroit, MI. She is also co-founder of Art Mile | Detroit, a citywide digital art exhibition that champions Detroit's vibrant and diverse arts community. Prior to 2017 she was Director at Mitchell-Innes & Nash, NY. She is also the former Director of Strategic Planning & ICI Projects at Independent Curators International (ICI.) She is co-founder/curator of Cleopatra’s, an art space located in Greenpoint, Brooklyn that was active from 2008-2018. Cleopatra’s realized hundreds of projects with artists during its ten year span. Bridget received her BFA from The College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan. She is active on The Board of Trustees of Independent Curators International (ICI) and New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA).

PASC was launched in January 2021 as the first progressive art and design studio in Detroit and Wayne County dedicated to supporting adults with developmental disabilities and mental health needs to advance independent artistic practices and individual career paths in the art and design fields. PASC runs three studios in Westland, Detroit and Southgate, Michigan, as well as a virtual art studio program, and we support over 100 artists across Wayne County. PASC is a program of Services to Enhance Potential (STEP) a non-profit service organization, founded in 1972, that provides services and supports for 1300+ individuals with disabilities and mental health issues across Southeastern Michigan.

1300+ individuals with disabilities and mental health issues across Southeastern Michigan.

Alexis Young

Alexis is a Woodhaven based artist who works out of the PASC Southgate studio. She is a painter who paints thick often patterned geometric abstractions reminiscent of stained glass, in bright, light-filled colors. She sometimes incorporates text, like positive affirmations, into her compositions. Her artwork has been featured at MOCAD, Detroit (2023/24).

The Phantom of the Opera, by Mandy Demorest

All Text

All Things You See

Eric Green, All Crazy Facing in the Summertimes and Goodies to Eat, 2024, mixed media on paper, 18 x 24 in

Renee Rogan, Standing Friends, 2024, mixed media on paper, 18 x 24 in

Participating Artists: Eric Green and Renee Rogan

Exhibition Dates: January 23 – March 1, 2025

Location: PASC, 9301 Kercheval Ave, STE 2, Detroit, MI, 48214

PASC Detroit Gallery Hours: Th, Fr, & Sa, 12– 5 pm and by appointment

In the exhibition All Things You See PASC artists, Eric Green and Renee Rogan represent two approaches to expressive representation. Eric’s style is defined by vibrant and ferocious line-work, with fields of feverishly scribbled colors in colored pencil and wax pastel. His artworks depict poetic narratives of people, animals, objects and architecture, accompanied by evocative lengthy titles, such as “All Day Living Colorful Arts Pictures of The History”, or “The Windows Buildings of The United States, or “The Dog House and Clouds and Rain Drops”. These titles sometimes function like Zen Koans, statements that are also questions, stripping existence down to its true nature, like Eric’s title for the artwork used as the name of this exhibition.

While Renee’s artwork is defined by more ponderous gestures layered over weeks of labor. Her artwork features scenes of figures interacting with objects, rendered as geometric forms reminiscent of expressionistic MC Esher like tesseracts or other four-dimensional forms. These figures are depicted in bold and contrasting colors, created using a wide range of media including acrylic, watercolor, markers and paint marker.

This marks the first two person survey exhibition for these artists who work from separate studios, but show a kinship in their vigorous styles. Showing a wide range of their artworks together presents a unique opportunity to place them in conversation and witness how their styles have grown strong over the last two years.

Eric is a Detroit based artist who works out of the PASC Detroit Studio. He has been participating in PASC since the program started January 2021. His artwork has been shown at PASC Detroit Gallery, Detroit, MI (2024); PASC Detroit Pop-Up Gallery, Detroit, MI (2022); PASC Southgate Gallery, Southgate, MI (2021); and The Scarab Club, Detroit, MI (2021).

Renee is a Dearborn based artist who works out of the PASC Southgate studio. She has been participating in PASC since 2021. Renee has exhibited at BasBlue, Detroit, MI (2024); PASC at the Belt Gallery, Detroit, MI (2023); Reyes|Finn Gallery, Detroit, MI (2023); PASC Southgate Gallery, Southgate, MI (2022), Detroit Repertory theatre, Detroit, MI (2022); The Art Gallery at City Hall, Westland, MI, (2022), and the PASC Detroit Pop-Up Gallery, Detroit, MI (2022). And her artwork is in the permanent collection of the Cranbrook Art Museum.

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.

Alsendoe Owens

Alsendoe is a Detroit-based artist working out of the PASC Detroit studio. Alsendoe is like the Giacometti of the studio battling the existential crisis of depicting an object in space. Alsendoe works rapidly producing many watercolors in one sitting distinguished by strong energetic gestural linework in pencil and sharpie and contrasting colors following the shadows and volume of each object. He has a wide range of subjects from portraits of people to ancient sculptures and artifacts.

He has exhibited at Open Invitational Art Fair (Miami, FL 2024); Art Enables (Washington, DC 2024); PASC Detroit Gallery (Detroit, MI 2024); PASC at BasBlue (Detroit, MI 2024); MOCAD (Detroit, MI 2023); Ford Art Gallery at WCCC (Detroit, MI 2023); Swords Into Plowshares Gallery (Detroit, MI 2022); PASC Detroit Pop-Up Gallery (2022); The Scarab Club (Detroit, MI 2021); the PASC Southgate Gallery (Southgate, MI 2021); and in two online exhibitions on the PASC website. As of 2024, his work has been acquired by the Cranbrook Art Museum for their permanent collection.

Alyce Carter

Alyce is a Detroit-based artist who works out of the PASC Southgate studio. Her artwork is abstract with references to objects and systems, like flowers or transportation. It is presented predominantly though amorphous abstract forms, with subtle representational features, in bright colors, with gestural flourishes. She works in both watercolor and acrylic on paper and canvas.

Her work has been shown at the PASC Detroit Gallery, Detroit, MI (2024/25); BasBlue, Detroit, MI (2024); and the PASC Southgate Gallery, Southgate, MI (2024).

AN ECSTASY BEYOND LANGUAGE

May 13 - June 28, 2021

Online Exhibition

Participating Artists: Bobby Brooks, Stanley Brown, Anthony Bryant, Jerri Burks, Shawna Campbell, Dennis Cenzer, Lewis Foster, Eric Green, Ronald Griggs, Rodney Hudson, Susan Hudson, Jennifer Jones, Mario Magget, Keisha Miller, Ivory McKinley and Debbie Osteen

"An Ecstasy Beyond Language" takes its name from a description the poet and writer Hanif Abdurraqib gave on the podcast On Being, about intentionally nonsensical language within forms of creative expression. Speaking about the musician Little Richard, Hanif describes his lyrics in "Tutti Frutti" as driven by an ecstasy beyond language, both enraptured and irreverent. For PASC’s inaugural exhibition we are adapting Hanif's description to describe the broader role artwork plays as a communication method beyond the linguistic, verbal, logical and the normal. Art is an embodied and emotive way to manifest our experience of the world, which never demands comprehensibility.

This understanding of art as an open form of communication is particularly important within the context of our PASC studio program, for here the studio represents a space of potential where artists use art to openly express themselves when other, written and verbal, forms of communication are sometimes less accessible. Or perhaps for a better description of art’s purpose we should defer to the immortal Little Richard who said it best, “a wop bop a loo bop a lop bom bom”!

In this inaugural show studio staff have highlighted a selection of some of the best work being produced across our two in-person studios and our virtual art studio. This exhibition also launches our online schedule of shows that will be premiering every other month, the next to open on July 8, 2021. With every following online exhibition, we are using this platform to bring in new perspectives from guest curators invited to curate artworks for each show, as well as bring in new audiences who will follow these curators visions.

In addition to our first online exhibition this date also marks the launch of our entire web gallery/store for the PASC program, where additional artwork by artists in this show, and artists not included, can be viewed and purchased on the ARTISTS page of our website. With all sales PASC artists will receive 60% of the sale with the additional 40% returning to the studio to cover art materials and overhead costs.

Angela Rhodes

Angela is a Detroit-based artist who works at the PASC Detroit Studio. Angela likes to overlap text, flowers, and people repeating and layering her images until a vibrant, richly patterned abstract work is achieved. Angela primarily uses a variety of markers in her work, but will occasionally add a little bit of watercolor at the very end of her process.

Angela has exhibited at Outsider Art Fair, NYC (2025); BasBlue, Detroit, MI (2024); MOCAD, Detroit, MI (2023).

Art is a Human Right

Alsendo Owens, Rainbow Hand, 2021, watercolor and pen on paper, 18 x 24

Curated by Terrie Hylton and Anthony Marcellini

Opening: January 7, 2022 4-8pm

January 7 - March 10, 2022

Swords into Plowshares Peace Center and Gallery

33 E Adams Ave St, Detroit, MI 48226

313-963-7575

www.swordsintoplowsharesdetroit.org

To reserve a spot at the opening go to the Eventbrite page here

Exhibiting Artists: Jirard Bond, Bobby Brooks, Stanley Brown, Jerri Burks, Paul Carter, Dennis Cenzer, Donovan Clay, Telasha Dantzler, Robert Duncombe, Derek Ellis, Lewis Foster, Eric Green, Xavier Harris, DeRon Hudson, Rodney Hudson, Shawn Jackson, Elizabeth Ketchum, Brian Keys, Scott Maciejewski, Mario Magget, Darlene Mahan, Tracy Mason, Ryan Mcdonagh, Ruckeylo Mckenzie, Ivory McKinley, Dameon Miller, Keisha Miller, Khiry O'Neil, Debbie Osteen, Alsendo Owens, Stefan Payne, Belva Pyles, Jocelyn Rice, Gregory Rosati, Gayle Sanford, Marear Smith, Jeremy Taylor, and Jynen Williams

PASC is partnering with Swords into Plowshares Peace Center and Gallery to open a new exhibition of artwork by artists from our studios with the group exhibition Art is a Human Right. The show will feature more than 40 artworks by artists from all three PASC studios, working in a variety of mediums and styles, and will run through March 11th.

Launched in January of 2021, PASC is a studio and exhibitions program dedicated to supporting artists with developmental disabilities and mental health concerns to advance independent artistic practices and help them develop careers in the arts. PASC is a program of Services to Enhance Potential (STEP) a nonprofit organization that provides services and support to 1300+ individuals with developmental disabilities and mental health issues in South-East Michigan.

The show reflects the varied practices of PASC artists and the group’s “progressive” approach. Instead of being pushed into a prescribed curriculum, PASC artists are supported to pursue whatever artwork and style interests them. Artists draw from direct engagement with their medium, and visual references to explore different forms of creation. This approach allows artists to dive into artwork that speaks to their interests and receive support in exploring styles and approaches that inspire them. This method inspires a wide range of creative outputs from the artists, referencing art history as well as their personal creative journeys.

“With ‘Art is a Human Right’ we are excited to share the artwork of over 40 artists from the PASC program to the larger public,” said PASC Director Anthony Marcellini. “We are particularly excited to be presenting artwork by artists who have disabilities at such a historically and politically important Detroit Gallery as Swords Into Plowshares, and through this exhibition together we are raising awareness that all people deserve the right to express themselves creatively.”

Swords into Plowshares Peace Center and Gallery is a community focused space located on East Adams in downtown Detroit. In operation since 1985, the Gallery hosts art exhibitions, musical performances, public education events and meetings, as they work to build a world where peace is possible. “Art is a Human Right” is their second show since they re-opened after a hiatus during the first year of the pandemic.

“We are glad to be collaborating with PASC on this exciting exhibition, giving us the chance to give an audience to the incredible work being done by the artists and the program in general.” Said Ian Matchett, Swords into Plowshares Director. “Art is often cordoned off into a narrowly defined collection of artmakers and institutions. Our gallery firmly believes that art is for the people, and we are glad to have an opportunity to share the work of artists that are not regularly recognized by the art world writ large.”

In order to keep the event as safe as possible all attendees are asked to reserve tickets in advance and to wear a mask at all times during the show. The exhibition will remain on view at Swords into Plowshare Peace Center and Gallery during their regular open hours: 1-6pm Fridays and Saturday.

To reserve tickets please go to the Swords into Plowshares Eventbrite page or the “Art is a Human Right” facebook event page.

Artists

Ashley Hawkins

Ashley is an artist working out of the PASC Detroit Studio. Her artwork is driven by an encyclopedic knowledge of popular culture. Often in the form of brightly colored text, her paintings and drawings reference comprehensible lists of biographical data on subjects such as famous pop stars, Disney movies, and 70s TV shows. Ashley is a diehard Detroiter channeling her love for the city into declarative paintings and drawings.

Ashley has exhibited at the PASC Detroit Gallery, Detroit, MI (2024/25); the Madison Heights Civic Center, Madison Heights, MI (2023); PASC Detroit Gallery (2024); PASC Detroit Pop Up Gallery, Detroit (2022); the annual exhibit at Art Gallery at Westland City Hall, Westland, MI (2022/23/24); Swords Into Plowshares Gallery, Detroit, MI (2022); PASC Southgate Gallery, Southgate, MI (2021/25); and The Scarab Club, Detroit, MI (2021). Her artwork has been featured at the NADA art fair through White Columns Gallery, Miami, FL (2024).

Belva Pyles

Belva is an artist who works at the PASC Detroit Studio. Belva makes pattern heavy abstract artworks often using text or letters to create linear processions. Her work is extremely precise and often features three letters from her name, BEV, repeated along rows in colored pencil, watercolor and sometimes pen.

Bobby Brooks

Bobby is an artist who works at the PASC Westland Studio. Bobby draws in an expressive rapid style. His drawing subjects range from famous performers to comic book characters, often featuring explanations of each character’s backstory or personal history written on each drawing. Many of his drawings feature the phrase Underdog, possibly referencing how Bobby sees these figures in a constant fight for justice and recognition.

Bradley Beydoun

Bradley is an artist who works through the PASC Virtual Art Studio. Bradley has been attending the virtual studio since its inception in January 2021. Bradley is a very focused artist who responds to art historical, social, and geographical themes in complex painterly compositions loaded with direct references, hidden images, lots of texture, and a painterly touch. He is skilled at demonstrating the fluid relationship between representation and abstraction.

Brian Keys

Brian is an artist who works at the PASC Westland Studio. He creates mainly in acrylic and watercolor making artworks based on urban themes, such as maps, cityscapes, buildings and interiors. His artwork is always bright with extremely careful color placement, with certain details purposefully included in black.

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