Southfield City Hall showcases art in exhibition

SOUTHFIELD — Local Michigan artists are displaying their work in an exhibition in Southfield City Hall.

The exhibition, titled “Matter & Metaphor Resonates,” showcases eight artists in the main lobby of City Hall, 26000 Evergreen Road. The exhibition opened with a reception Sept. 25. The show was hosted by the Southfield Public Arts Commission and Mayor Ken Siver.

“We’ve been doing this for about three years of showcasing artists to give them a platform and a voice, but most importantly to let them know that we are in support of their art,” Southfield Public Arts Commission Chair Delores Flagg said.

Flagg said the featured artwork and art in general act as connectors and connect one person to another person.

“I felt that the art that was being shown spoke volumes,” she said. “I’m hoping that it made the people pause and reflect and feel something real about what the art was showing because, and I was sharing with some of the artists, I said, ‘You were allowing us to be a part of your experience, that experience, and we did through your creativity.’ And as a result, we realized that as an artist, a lot of emotion and creativity goes into their works, and to be able to express that and to have an audience feel something about their works speaks volumes.”

The artwork featured in the exhibition was made by artists Nina Ashraf, M. Saffell Gardner, Cheryl Haithco, Micherlange Francois-Hemsley, Jonathan Kimble, Robert Shefman, Mark Schlussel and Rachelle Warren. 

Kimble, a Detroit native and resident of St. Clair Shores, had two pieces of art in the exhibition, “Imma be the one” and “Father I Stretch.”

Kimble described “Father I Stretch” as an art piece about “the adoration of God’s beauty through the butterfly.”

“It’s about awareness,” he said. “Not just awareness of what’s around you, but of just, like, spiritual awareness.”

For “Imma be the one,” Kimble said it’s about the power of individuality and how one person can make a difference. 

“It takes one to really make a change, like a domino effect,” he said. “The piece celebrates uniqueness, of just being yourself, being outside of the crowd, outside of what’s common. You’re just being your individual self. So, just celebrating the power of individuality, uniqueness and you know that it takes one to make a change, to cause change.”

Being featured in art exhibitions like the one in Southfield and getting to showcase his work, Kimble explained, feels like a responsibility. 

“I feel like it’s a responsibility as an artist to be involved, to be proactive in the community and all sides of it,” he said. “So, not just producing the art, but also supporting the art community, supporting the artists as well. I think it’s just about being, I’m very proud to be a part of an art ecosystem. You know, a strong ecosystem is what matters to me. So in order to do so, I have to do my part and making sure that the legacy is carried forth, that conversations are still going on, art is still being shared. So, I feel like I’m a part of the ecosystem.”

The exhibition will be ongoing in City Hall through Dec. 17. All pieces of art are available for purchase, excluding those marked not for sale.