'MetroArts Detroit' celebrates five seasons, 68 episodes, at reunion event

MetroArts Detroit, Wayne State University and Detroit Public Television's program about Detroit artists and the local arts and culture scene, celebrated 68 episodes in five seasons at its annual season wrap pot luck reception April 28, 2016, in WSU's historic Midtown Studio. This year's reception was a five year reunion of past student crew members. An enthusiastic combination of about 20 students and alumni attended and celebrated the ongoing success of the program and studio.

MetroArts features artists from the Metropolitan Detroit area who represent the disciplines of visual, performing and communication arts. The goal of the student-produced and faculty-created series is to bring awareness to up-and-coming artists as well as support those artists who've worked their entire lives in the metro Detroit area by being arts advocates and taking active roles in their communities. Each show is comprised of three artist segments, with guests who talk about their current work and their future endeavors. Depending on the discipline, the artists either perform or showcase their creative works during their segments.

Pictured at right are alums Aaron Amos, Sofia Sanchez and Matthew Morley. Amos graduated last May and works as a news producer for WDIV-TV, Channel 4 in Detroit. The broadcast journalism major worked as a producer at MetroArts for two semesters. Sanchez was a masters student in communication who worked at MetroArts as a producer and as the host of season four. She is a graphic designer/web marketer for Art Van Furniture. Morley earned his undergraduate degree in broadcast journalism at Wayne State and has been in the masters program for two years. He works as a graduate student assistant in the Midtown Studio and will finish his MA in communication in August.

Pictured below, communication faculty member and co-creator of the MetroArts program, Dr. Kimmerly Piper-Aiken, welcomed guests to the reunion event.

The fifth season of MetroArts Detroit will begin airing on Detroit Public Television WTVS this summer. Watch DPTV listings for scheduling to be announced. Visit metroartsdetroit.com for more.

Photo credit: Carmen Garcia, WSU Alumni Affairs