Ryan Myers-Johnson, Founder of Sidewalk Festival

Content brought to you by Ford Motor Company Fund

 As a trained dancer and choreographer, Sidewalk Festival of Performing Arts creator Ryan Myers-Johnson found a love for experimental performance styles. Her favorite being "site-specific" performance: any performing arts that are tailored to fit and utilize a distinct space. "I found that was a really cool and interesting way to engage people as an artist," she says. But after traveling the world to see various forms of experimental performance, Myers-Johnson felt there were few people of color being engaged, especially in Detroit.

"I thought, 'Is there a way that I can bring more attention to site-specific and experimental performance but also take down some of the gatekeeping that surrounds the type of performance?'" says Myers-Johnson, explaining that many community members are not able to see experimental performances because they don't have access. "I wanted to curate a festival that celebrates a unique Detroit space that is ethnically and socioeconomically completely diverse-and then also accessible for the person who is not integrated into the more exclusive Detroit art communities. I find with a lot of experimental performance, you tend to have to be in the know or know where to show up."

With access in consideration, Myers-Johnson founded the Sidewalk Festival of Performing Arts in 2012 under the idea that the performances would come to the people.

"So you're walking about and you are hitting installations, and then there's a dance performance, there is poetry and it's kind of a large explosion of all these different types of art forms," she explains. "So there is no (sitting) to see only this performance. Most of it is participatory and interactive performance and, if it isn't interactive, the performers are an arm's length away from you."

Performances utilize all aspects of the surrounding neighborhood, including storefronts, community gardens, alleys and parking lots, in what Myers-Johnson says is her way of embracing all facets of the community and making it accessible to its people.

"This is a way that I can really celebrate Detroit spaces but also remove some of the barriers of access there," she says. But the festival's most distinct characteristic is its diversity.

"As a programmer, if I am just going to just hire indie rock bands or bluegrass or hip-hop, that's going to draw a specific crowd," says Myers-Johnson. "But Sidewalk is a convergence of all those things. I have West African dance, classical ballet, hip-hop, graffiti art, spoken word, classical music-it's everything. So you end up with a very, very diverse audience," she explains.

And her hope is that everyone will discover something new.

The Sidewalk Festival of Performing Arts in Old Redford

Located in the Old Redford and Brightmoor neighborhoods, the Sidewalk Festival of Performing Arts is a convergence of community and culture.

"Sidewalk is very diverse when it comes to how I program it," says Ryan Myers-Johnson, founder of the festival. "I am looking to represent people from the community, in the neighborhood, but also Black artists who are pushing boundaries."

Myers-Johnson says the festival attracts an audience that reflects the community.

"I want to create a mixed crowd. And I think that's one of the really unique things about Sidewalk, is that when you look around, it's just everyone," says Myers-Johnson.

The third annual Sidewalk Festival of Performing Arts begins at 3 p.m. on Aug. 1 at the Artist Village in Old Redford. Cost is free. For details on this year's performers, visit SidewalkDetroit.com.