Feel Good Friday: Fall Opening

Liz Andrews

Andrews has served as Director of the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art since August 2021. In her time at Spelman, she has mounted and curated nationally-recognized exhibitions, hosted dynamic public programs and created opportunities for students to learn about art, curating, and collections management. Prior to Spelman, Liz worked in the Director’s Office of LACMA, where she co-curated Black American Portraits, and co-edited and contributed to the book Black American Portraits. Andrews was born and raised in Denver, Colorado and holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University, M.A. from NYU Tisch School of Arts, and Ph.D. in Cultural Studies.

Philippa Pham Hughes

Philippa Pham Hughes, Visiting Artist For Art & Civic Engagement at UMMA, is a social practice artist, cultural strategist, and curator developing conversational and creative experiences aimed at strengthening democracy and repairing the social fabric of our country one creative conversation at a time. Philippa draws from the arts and humanities to design spaces for honest conversations across political, social, and cultural differences. She has produced hundreds of activations since 2007 for people who might not normally meet to engage with one another in unconventional and meaningful ways. She also curates multi-disciplinary art exhibits & experiences. Hey, We Need to Talk! is a continuation of an event hosted at UMMA in 2022.

Problematic Black Hottie

Problematic Black Hottie is a DJ, tastemaker, personality and an advocate of centering femininity and blackness. Based in Detroit, Michigan (USA) and raised all over the African Diaspora, she combines eclectic global and local influences with a focus on feminine music to curate a contagious vibe and introduce her crowd to a platter of delectable sounds.

Tariq Gardner

Tariq Gardner, is an electrifying drummer, composer, educator and recording artist steeped in the rich music traditions of his home city- Detroit, MI. Reared in an artistic family, his mother, a professional bassist, and father, a renowned visual artist and sculptor, greatly impacted his musical knowledge and artistic vision. Tariq’s creative practice centers the Black American Music traditions of Jazz, Neo-Soul and Hip-Hop as compositional vehicles with an emphasis on explorative live performance with his group Evening Star.

Tariq is a 2018 graduate of the University of Michigan. He has served as the Drummer for the John Douglas Quartet from 2017-19, and has performed alongside renowned pianist Cameron Graves and international trumpeter Keyon Harrold. His group, Evening Star, also headlines festivals across the nation, including the 2023 Detroit Jazz Festival.

Deidre D.S.SENSE Smith

Deidre D.S.SENSE Smith is an emcee and spokenword artist, who has performed on various stages in support of equal rights, education, and art, to combat many of the socio-economic woes plaguing our world. Smith is a Cultural Ambassador for the State Department’s Alumni TIES and Global TIES program and Kresge Fellow of Live Performance Art. She is a Detroit Music Award nominee for best R&B/Soul and was awarded with the Metro Solutions Linking Funds to Communities Artist Grant by The Detroit Office of Arts, Culture and Entrepreneurship, Mitch Albom and Huntington Bank. She is also a LEO Lecturer at U of M Ann Arbor, for the School of Music, Theater, and Dance while also spearheading an initiative within the city of Detroit called “On My Detroit Everything”. On My Detroit Everything motivates citizens to sow seeds of excellence back into the city’s beloved communities.

Feel Good Friday

It’s Finally Friday and You Deserve to FEEL GOOD!