You might have seen the bright orange sculptures — silhouettes of a fedora-wearing man — around downtown Detroit. Two are even lurking on the roof of the Boll Family YMCA. What are they? Why are they there? Who made them?
The answer to that last question is: Detroit artist John Sauve. He’s an internationally known sculptor who makes his home in Detroit, and he’s joined forces with the Y-Arts program to help young people get in touch with their own creativity through arts and media.
Oh, and those silhouettes? They are part of his Man in The City installation. There are 30 of them, and he’s placed them all over downtown and Metro Detroit. His Sauve Art Foundation partnered to raise funds for Y-Arts at a party atop the Detroit Opera House, but the relationship doesn’t stop there.
Participants in the Y-Arts Summer Institute, a four-week program beginning July 8, will also have the opportunity to work with Sauve, do a documentary film about the Man in The City project, add their own sculptures to the project, and learn about multiple aspects of media production.
The Summer Arts Institute draws 20 students ages 11-18 for a month-long whirlwind of learning, creativity and fun. The city becomes the inspiration and backdrop for their creative work as they craft a film, write a script, produce music to go with it, and more.
In addition to working with Sauve, students will also have a chance to do some international networking. Y-Arts director Margaret Edwartowski and her fellow instructors will be using a program called Makewaves that will allow campers to share their work with a similar program in Great Britain. Students will communicate with peers across the ocean in a safe manner, since instructors have to approve everything that goes on the site.
The Summer Media Camp draws both young people interested in exploring the media arts and those who have a good base of experience in them. According to Margaret, they break the students up into working groups and try to have a mix of seasoned media makers and novices, so when they come together they can all draw from each other’s strengths.
Each student will make a public service announcement, a documentary, and a narrative film by the end of the session.
There are still five slots available for the institute. Cost is $500 for the four weeks and includes a showcase of the finished student work Aug. 2. Call 313-309-9622 or visit y-artsdetroit.org.