Danya Zituni and Daniel Ross Michelsen to headline first talk
DEARBORN — Dearborn artists Danya Zituni and Daniel Ross Michelsen will be the subject of the first “Artist Next Door” program on Detroit NPR station WDET-FM 101.9 from 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 5.
The show will be broadcast from Black Box Coffee Shop + Art, 1034 Monroe St. in Dearborn. Admission to the broadcast is free.
The event will allow the public to hear the artist stories and offer the opportunity to meet the artists and see their work in person. The session will be moderated by WDET’s Ryan Patrick Hooper.
Danya Zituni
Zituni is an illustrator, printmaker, and teaching artist. Her artwork, which showcases the resilience and beauty of her community, has been featured in the “Found: Love Letters of Muslim Resistance and Community” exhibit in 2019 at the PO Box Collective gallery in Chicago, and will be featured in the forthcoming publication “Araborama 3” to be published in February 2022 by the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris.
She has served as an educator at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, and as a youth instructor for the Arab American Action Network in Chicago.
Daniel Ross Michelsen
Michelsen creates ceramic pieces in his garage studio with his 3-year-old daughter by his side. He has a bachelor’s degree from Columbus College of Art and Design and the Studio Art Center International in Florence, Italy.
His family members were farmers, and he focuses his art on the natural elements that the earth provides — wood, clay and sand — and bases his artwork on nature and the earth.
WDET listeners and the general public nominated the artists and a jury selected six artists to create an original piece of artwork. Each artist will receive a $1,000 stipend when their piece is completed. WDET will host virtual artist events for interactive conversations.
“We are so excited to be able to offer an opportunity for the public to meet the artists in person and bring us closer as neighbors,” WDET Program Director Joan Isabella said. “The ‘Artist Next Door’s’ mission is to illuminate and celebrate Detroit area artists from a variety of cultural backgrounds and disciplines to enhance awareness and understanding of our communities and cultures.”
To follow the project and learn more about the artists via photos and stories, click here.