Earth Month 2023 #SolarPoweredConcert

In celebration of Earth Day 2023, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History will work with artist, organizer and educator, Ash Arder, to present Energy Earth Month, an event series honoring the sun and its past, present, and future impact on African American livelihood.

Map with events

  • SUPERCOOLWICKED!

    The finale of each Earth Day event will be a Solar Powered Broadcast of The Wright Museum’s Late Night at The Wright's conversation with Ash Arder and King Wayne to talk about this and the various forms of energy in their work and “Negro, Spiritual” music set by SuperCoolWicked!

    Neighborhoods will be at the Manistique Community Treehouse Center, Avalon Village, and Bailey Park. All these neighborhoods are historically African American; all are leading examples of resiliency, solar power, with climate actions. Also don't miss "Claiming Connections," a local film by Planet Detroit, Reel Clever Films, and the Wayne State University's Detroit Equity Action Lab and more!

earth month events

Avalon Village | April 29 | 6 pm-9 pm

Avalon Village’s STEAM lab will be available to the public, Solardarity and Lumens Foundation will have information tables, food trucks, the Goddess Marketplace will be open, and the Solar Powered Broadcast to close out the night!

Learn More About Avalon Village Events

Manistique Community Treehouse Center | April 30 | 4-8 pm

Manistique will have their community clean-up on April 22. And on April 30, community members will be invited to take a tour of the treehouse, community kitchen and urban solar garden site, enjoy food, and attend the Solar Powered Broadcast.

Learn More About Manistique Community Treehouse Center Events

Bailey Park | May 6 | 4 pm - 7:30 pm

Join the Bailey Park Neighborhood Development Corporation, Smallville Farms, District 5, and Detroit's Green Task Force for Earth Fest 2023- People, Plants, Power, & Planet. Attend the Solar Powered Broadcast to close out the night!

Learn More About Bailey Park Events

Solar Powered Broadcast

Reduce your carbon footprint by going to your closest neighborhood to engage in more Earth Month activities. The finale of each Earth Day event will be a Solar Powered Broadcast of The Wright Museum’s Solar-Powered Conversation and Solar-Powered Performance!

At The Wright, we put Mother Nature and humanity first in our actions. By connecting Earth Day actions to our museum visitors, supporters, artists, and creatives, we can collectively impact energy, water, and waste issues, further creating resilient communities.
Leslie Tom, Chief Sustainability Officer, CHWMAAH

Climate Creatives

Ash ArderAsh Arder

Ash Arder (she/they) is an artist, organizer and educator who has spent the last decade transforming DIY, hacker and experimental approaches to problem solving into formalized programs, projects, and collaborations. Her creative work is rooted in a research-based approach to expose, deconstruct or reconfigure physical and conceptual systems – especially those related to ecology and/or industry. Ash manipulates physical and virtual environments to explore mark making, mechanical portraiture and sound design as tools for complicating dynamics of power between humans, machines and the lands they occupy.

Visit Ash Arder's website or follow her on Instagram.

Whoop House

Whoop House is a completely solar-powered sound sculpture that records and plays back instruments and voices of community members. Whoop House uses music and storytelling as a catalyst for intergenerational gathering and connection, while creating a space for neighborhood stories to be captured, shared, and preserved.  

This project foregrounds hyper-local stories of resilience and triumphs to uplift Detroiters experiencing disproportionate economic and health disparities before and after COVID-19.

SupercoolwickedSupercoolwicked (Morgan Hutson)

Supercoolwicked is a multidisciplinary artist born and based in Detroit, MI. Working out of the “DaughtaShip” (her home studio named as a révérence to the P-funk which shaped her artistic identity as a child) she conceptualizes, produces, and writes new musical works; live performances; film concepts & music videos; choreography; and lesson plans with the intentions of honoring her inner child, finding freedom, and preserving and honoring the traditions, historical narratives, and genealogies of African American peoples.

She has performed and featured work in conjunction with institutions like the Detroit Institute of Arts, UMMA at The University of Michigan, Cranbrook Museum of Art, Allied Media, Sidewalk Detroit, and The Museum of Contemporary Art in Detroit, MI. Supercoolwicked is an eager collaborator, citing working partnerships with local artists Ian Finkelstein, SALAKASTAR, and Sasha Kashperko, and more widely known talents Esperanza Spalding, Tunde Olaniran, Omar S, and visual artist Susannah Pilar. She has collaborated and performed internationally, most recently with Vancouver-based artist ZDBT on his album ‘Evening Star’ under the record label SPECIALS WORLDWIDE, and is a working member of the theater ensemble, A Host of People.  

Supercoolwicked cares about her community and the environment. She has provided musical support for the political rallies of Bernie Sanders in his most recent presidential run and Rashida Tlaib and her “Squad” consisting of Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Jones, and AOC. Supercoolwicked hosts a bi-monthly karaoke night at the glowing downtown Detroit venue Deluxx Fluxx. She is also co-founder of the environmentally minded virtual club SustainaBaes and is eager to explore more environmentally friendly practices concerning live performance and fashion, as well as daily life. They look forward to the creation and release of their cinematic variety show, “Heirloom”, which seeks to artfully preserve Black memory, and their debut album and musical, “Negro, Spiritual”, an explorative journey through African American music tracing back to the invention of the pentatonic scale by our African ancestors.

Visit Supercoolwicked's website or follow her on Instagram.

King WayneKing Wayne

King Wayne Neeley (he/him) is a Detroit-based organizer and community service advocate who uses bicycles to connect a multi-generational crew of riders and DIY-builders to one another, and to others at local and global scales. He founded the East Side Riders Bike Club in 2008 and has been celebrated for his ability to reuse and transform a variety of materials into custom bikes. The East Side Riders have been featured in magazines, television shows, films, and an international exhibition celebrating Detroit design.

Planet Detroit

Planet Detroit is an independent nonprofit local news organization designed to inform you about the environment and public health in Detroit and Michigan. We focus on accountability, solutions and community reporting, and we have a deep commitment to engaging with the community. 

Planet Detroit teamed up with local film production group Reel Clever Films and the Detroit Equity Action Lab at Wayne State University to produce the short film "Claiming Connections," highlighting work to connect BIPOC Detroiters to Michigan’s natural resources. We know that people who identify as Black, Indigenous, and persons of color disproportionately lack access to open space and natural resources in Detroit and Michigan. We also know access to such spaces is crucial for building mental health and resilience. The film features advocates with groups like Black to the Land Coalition, Detroit Outdoors, and Detroit Forest School to understand their work to try to afford BIPOC Detroiters opportunities to access Michigan's land, woods, and water.

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