A Tapestry of Transformation

Participating Artists: Heba H. Ayoub, Jotina Ballard, Rubin Bates, Jirard Bond, Bobby Brooks, Sherri Bryant, Stanley R. Brown, Desirai Chapman, Ryan Cooke, Sereal Crawford, Dwayne L. Curry, Detroit Angel Tweety, Mandy Demorest, Jeremy Dillard, Chantell Donwell, Je’Vonnie Evans, Lonell Garret, Eric Green, Ashley Hawkins, Laquan D. Hogan, Susan Hudson, Shawn Jackson, Phillip Kraft, Johnie Lockhart, Richard Marshall, Sandra McCain, Ryan McDonagh, Nathaniel McNeal, Dameon Miller, Vanessa Montgomery, Khiry O’Neal, John Peterson, Deanna L. Poppenger, Dylan Reeves, Tessann Rondeau, Marear Smith, Raymond Wells, and Willie Whitehead 

Curated by Chloé Hajjar, Kristi Ternes and Eleni Zaharopoulos 

March 28 - April 26, 2024 

Opening Reception: March 28, 2024, 4-6 pm

Art Gallery at City Hall 
Westland City Hall 
36300 Warren Rd, Westland, MI 48185 
The-Gallery-at-City-Hall

Gallery Hours: Monday - Friday 9am-5pm

In medieval times, the tapestry was considered one of the most sumptuous forms of artistic expression. Often used to depict both stories of a spiritual and secular nature, these intricately woven textiles captivated viewers, instilling them with a sense of awe. The weaver's remarkable ability to turn thread into a visual feast was not lost to anyone. Today, the tapestry serves as a metaphor for life. The memories, experiences, and emotions that shape our identity not only define us but transform us in the process.  

A Tapestry of Transformation is an exhibition at The Gallery at Westland City Hall featuring 38 artists from The Progressive Art Studio Collective (PASC) where each artwork serves as a cultural thread woven together to tell the story of our collective. Representing the tastes, desires, and dreams of American society, the exhibit embodies the essence of our culture, historical references and the interplay of identities. Depictions of celebrities and civil rights leaders mingle with strip clubs and beauty parlors, while the pastoral sublime of a bicycle on a sunny day fraternizes with the frenetic depiction of a sports car. Threading in and out, overlapping over and under, the world as we know it comes into focus.

Art making, as a form of non-verbal communication, can allow for expression, when other written and verbal forms are sometimes less accessible. The artists presenting their artwork at Westland City Hall represent their unique and personal ‘voices’ through creative expression. Like a dynamic tapestry, made from fragments of the artists' daily lives, connected through a love of pop culture, abstraction, technology and historical movements, the artists’ stories are woven together, and embellished by the diversity of this artistic collective.   

Launched in 2021, PASC is the first progressive art and design studio and exhibition program in Detroit and Wayne County dedicated to supporting artists with developmental disabilities and mental health differences to advance artistic practices and build individual careers in the art and design fields. PASC runs three studios in Detroit, Westland, and Southgate and works with over 180 artists across Wayne County. PASC is a program of Services to Enhance Potential (STEP), a non-profit service organization founded in 1972 that provides services and supports for more than 1,400 individuals with disabilities and mental health differences across Southeastern Michigan.

Our exhibitions program is supported with grants from the Michigan Arts and Cultural Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.