UM Partners

Detroit Connections

School of Art & Design

Since 2000, Detroit Connections has worked with Harms Elementary School and Greenfield Union. Each semester, this junior-senior class pairs University of Michigan undergraduate students with 4th graders in each pf schools for art workshops. Detroit Connections has served as the single dedicated art program for the elementary school at Greenfield, and has been integral part of Harms' after school program as Writing Artists. The semester, the students of Detroit Connections spend all day in the City of Detroit. In the mornings we learn about the city-history, neighborhoods, art and cultural institutions through meetings and visits. Our morning sessions include meeting every week at he Detroit Center where we look at projects, hold critiques, mount exhibitions and welcome guests. In the afternoons we work with students. The semester's meetings and visits have involved organizations and partners from St. Florian's Parish in Hamtramack, to Fort Wayne and Del Ray, the Contemporary Arts Institute of Detroit, The Detroit Public Library and seminar with Tyree Guyton at the Heidelberg Project.