Exhibit on Michigan’s Black Landscape Architects, ‘Their Untold Stories,’ Opens Today

An exhibit telling the stories of Black landscape architects is launching today. Titled “Their Untold Stories: Black Landscape Architects Michigan Connection,” it will be available to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 19 to Sept. 30, Mondays to Fridays. The exhibit will be housed at the Loranger Architecture Building on the Six Mile Campus of the University of Detroit Mercy.

The show examines the history, accomplishments, and inspirations of several Black landscape architects, artists and designers who all share a connection to Michigan, as well as how this connection shaped their styles and careers.

The exhibition presents a visually captivating history of their lives through a research-based artwork by Stephanie Onwenu, a Detroit-native artist. The show aims to help its audience understand the artistic connections between the state of Michigan, the city of Detroit and their surrounding areas.

Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects Kofi Boone will also be a guest speaker at the event. On Sept. 28, 6 p.m., he will give a speech at the exhibit space as a part of a speaker series sponsored by the Detroit Mercy’s School of Architecture & Community Development and Detroit Collaborative Design Center. Boone is a Detroit native and university faculty scholar at the Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Department of North Carolina State University.

The exhibit is a recognized event of the Detroit Month of Design, a celebration that takes place every September and one that’s celebrating its 12th anniversary this year. Detroit Month of Design, organized by Design Core, is a citywide festival of innovation that brings together designers and the general public to honor Detroit’s status as a UNESCO City of Design. The show is open to the public, but registration is required.