OUR BOARD
Vince Carducci is a cultural critic and dean emeritus at College for Creative Studies. His essays, feature articles and reviews on the arts, culture and other topics have appeared in numerous publications since the mid-1980s, including Art and Australia, Art in America, BrandChannel.com, the Journal of Consumer Culture, Logos, Public Seminar and Sculpture magazine. Since 2010, he has published the blog Motown Review.
Past assignments include: Detroit correspondent for Artforum, contributing editor and Michigan editor for New Art Examiner and editor of Detroit Focus Quarterly. He has also been a contributing writer for Metro Times, Detroit's leading weekly newspaper, and a staff writer for PopMatters, a webzine of global culture.
Carducci has a bachelor's degree from Michigan State University and a master's and PhD degrees from the New School for Social Research in New York City. He received the Kresge Arts Fellowship for Art Criticism. He was born in Detroit in 1953.
Past assignments include: Detroit correspondent for Artforum, contributing editor and Michigan editor for New Art Examiner and editor of Detroit Focus Quarterly. He has also been a contributing writer for Metro Times, Detroit's leading weekly newspaper, and a staff writer for PopMatters, a webzine of global culture.
Carducci has a bachelor's degree from Michigan State University and a master's and PhD degrees from the New School for Social Research in New York City. He received the Kresge Arts Fellowship for Art Criticism. He was born in Detroit in 1953.
M. Saffell Gardner holds BFA and MFA degrees in fine art from Wayne State University. A multidisciplinary artist, art historian, curator, lecturer and educator, he teaches at private colleges and community colleges.
In fall of 2023 Gardner installed a monumental sculpture “Gateway to Black Eden'' at Michigan Legacy Art Park, which was commissioned by their collection committee. Another commission, “Detroit rePatched” was for a large memorial blanket sculpture.
“Sankofa”, one of Gardner’s larger sculptures was shown at the Krasl Biennial at the Box Factory in St. Joseph, MI 2022-23 and was in the 2020-2021 Chelsea Sculpture Walk.
Gardner’s sculptures have been juried into the 2021 and 2023 Regional Biennial at the Marshall M. Fredricks sculpture museum.
Gardner also participated in ArtPrize for 2014 and 2013, and he was invited to Participate in “The Venice Biennale”.
In 2015 Gardner was awarded a Kresge Fellowship.
In 2012, Gardner co-curated “Vision in a Cornfield '' for the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit.
Gardner was selected as the Chivas Regal Artist in Residence at the Charles H. Wright Museum In 2000, which commissioned the painting “Door of No Return '' for their permanent collection.
Commissions include a painted receptacle for Detroit’s “Pretty City” project as well as major commissions for the COBO Center (now Huntington Place) and the Detroit Public Schools. Gardner’s work is in the permanent collection of The Henry Ford Hospital, Blue Cross Blue Shield, DMC, Total Healthcare, The Federal Reserve, Chicago, Renaissance High School and Southeastern High School and Detroit School of the Arts.
Gardner has also exhibited in Brazil and Ghana, Africa.
In fall of 2023 Gardner installed a monumental sculpture “Gateway to Black Eden'' at Michigan Legacy Art Park, which was commissioned by their collection committee. Another commission, “Detroit rePatched” was for a large memorial blanket sculpture.
“Sankofa”, one of Gardner’s larger sculptures was shown at the Krasl Biennial at the Box Factory in St. Joseph, MI 2022-23 and was in the 2020-2021 Chelsea Sculpture Walk.
Gardner’s sculptures have been juried into the 2021 and 2023 Regional Biennial at the Marshall M. Fredricks sculpture museum.
Gardner also participated in ArtPrize for 2014 and 2013, and he was invited to Participate in “The Venice Biennale”.
In 2015 Gardner was awarded a Kresge Fellowship.
In 2012, Gardner co-curated “Vision in a Cornfield '' for the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit.
Gardner was selected as the Chivas Regal Artist in Residence at the Charles H. Wright Museum In 2000, which commissioned the painting “Door of No Return '' for their permanent collection.
Commissions include a painted receptacle for Detroit’s “Pretty City” project as well as major commissions for the COBO Center (now Huntington Place) and the Detroit Public Schools. Gardner’s work is in the permanent collection of The Henry Ford Hospital, Blue Cross Blue Shield, DMC, Total Healthcare, The Federal Reserve, Chicago, Renaissance High School and Southeastern High School and Detroit School of the Arts.
Gardner has also exhibited in Brazil and Ghana, Africa.
Rob (Kendall) Hall is a multi-disciplinary artist with several years of experience in marketing, events production, and social media, Hall has been dedicated to using his creative skills to help arts and music organizations strengthen their communities. A native of Detroit, Hall studied communication design at Washington University in St. Louis. In 2018, he was awarded the university's Creative Student of the Year and Dennis R. Brophy Fellowship for his work in creative entrepreneurship. As a music recording artist, Hall is interested in pushing the boundaries of hip-hop music. He has amassed over 100,000 streams across platforms and was nominated for St. Louis' best new artist award in 2020.
Brief work history:
At Washington University's entrepreneurship center, Hall was the head coordinator of the center's Creator's Gallery, the first ever interdisciplinary art event on the university's campus, and he also oversaw much of the center's social media. At St. Louis' Griot Museum of Black History, Hall oversaw social media, design, and the execution and promotion of the museum's annual 100-piece art sale. In his last year in St. Louis, he created and directed a program to convert Blank Space STL, a local music & arts venue, into shared rentable art studios in an effort to generate much-needed income during COVID shutdowns. Upon returning to Detroit, Hall spent a year doing digital marketing at music behemoth Live Nation before leaving to get back to his roots of helping local arts communities. Rob Hall has been at ArtOps for six months now doing social media, website, photo, and video work for various arts organization clients.
"I love the arts, I love Detroit, and I really love the ambition of the BIG art. I'm really interested in finding ways to leverage digital media and in-person events to foster genuine community among diverse audiences, and I believe my years of experience doing exactly that could be beneficial to the project, even if just in a more advisory / consulting sense."
Brief work history:
At Washington University's entrepreneurship center, Hall was the head coordinator of the center's Creator's Gallery, the first ever interdisciplinary art event on the university's campus, and he also oversaw much of the center's social media. At St. Louis' Griot Museum of Black History, Hall oversaw social media, design, and the execution and promotion of the museum's annual 100-piece art sale. In his last year in St. Louis, he created and directed a program to convert Blank Space STL, a local music & arts venue, into shared rentable art studios in an effort to generate much-needed income during COVID shutdowns. Upon returning to Detroit, Hall spent a year doing digital marketing at music behemoth Live Nation before leaving to get back to his roots of helping local arts communities. Rob Hall has been at ArtOps for six months now doing social media, website, photo, and video work for various arts organization clients.
"I love the arts, I love Detroit, and I really love the ambition of the BIG art. I'm really interested in finding ways to leverage digital media and in-person events to foster genuine community among diverse audiences, and I believe my years of experience doing exactly that could be beneficial to the project, even if just in a more advisory / consulting sense."
Robert Onnes is an established sculptor renowned for creating substantial figurative sculptures, exhibiting in many group and solo shows in New Zealand and Michigan. His background in electronics and in property development has greatly influenced his art processes and related endeavors. The use of steel and copper allows the construction of elegant minimalist forms, while maintaining an earthy organic quality that suit the themes of his work.
Onnes, a native of New Zealand, visited Detroit in 2012 and was captivated by its arts scene. He moved here to gain inspiration, and to help contribute to the strength and growth of the vibrant but fragmented arts ecosystem. He purchased a vacant, historic Highland Park factory and converted it into the exceptional art studios and gathering spaces known as 333 Midland. He then opened the adjacent Annex Gallery. These facilities, now celebrating their 10th anniversary, exemplify the affordable, flexible arts spaces that are highly sought after, but extremely difficult to find in and around Detroit. They offer dynamic, well-maintained studio and exhibition spaces, communal art facilities and resources, and a collaborative environment that welcomes artists, art audiences, and the community.
Onnes and his collaborators believe that the spaces, culture, and business practices of 333 Midland and Annex Gallery present a successful, sustainable, and scalable model for an even larger, multi-functional arts hub: The BIG Art
Onnes, a native of New Zealand, visited Detroit in 2012 and was captivated by its arts scene. He moved here to gain inspiration, and to help contribute to the strength and growth of the vibrant but fragmented arts ecosystem. He purchased a vacant, historic Highland Park factory and converted it into the exceptional art studios and gathering spaces known as 333 Midland. He then opened the adjacent Annex Gallery. These facilities, now celebrating their 10th anniversary, exemplify the affordable, flexible arts spaces that are highly sought after, but extremely difficult to find in and around Detroit. They offer dynamic, well-maintained studio and exhibition spaces, communal art facilities and resources, and a collaborative environment that welcomes artists, art audiences, and the community.
Onnes and his collaborators believe that the spaces, culture, and business practices of 333 Midland and Annex Gallery present a successful, sustainable, and scalable model for an even larger, multi-functional arts hub: The BIG Art