A Taylor Swifty Visiting Detroit Saved the Day on the Q-Line
The Day Ended in Rosedale Park with the Paintings of Errin Whitaker
Saturday, June 10th, 2023 at 9:51 PM
Meijers Thrifty Acres
Old Redford
Detroit Michigan
I had hoped to visit five art galleries today. Evening has arrived, and I have made it to four art galleries. I visited The Gallery at Brewery Park, the Gallery Camille, Detroit Contemporary and Norwest Gallery. I didn't make it down to a Mexicantown Gallery called What Pipeline. I've heard that the owners opened the gallery, and they didn't have a name. Then the plumber came to make a visit, and the plumber asked the question, "what pipeline?"
I wonder how I got stuck in Midtown for almost 2 hours, but that's what happened. I wanted to take the Difficult Dexter Bus 16 to downtown. But two of them showed up while I was almost to the bus stop. The buses shouldn't stack up like that. And then the pipeline of Dexter buses went dry. So I hiked over to Woodward. I missed a Q-Line on the way to the platform. I bought some hamburgers at McDonald's, and I settled in for a short wait. On a Saturday, the Q-Line should come every 20 minutes.
A passenger stepped onto the trolley, and fell like a tree blown down by a wind. The passenger's head made contact with the fare collection box. A physician's assistant, who was on the way to the Taylor Swift concert with a companion, leapt into action. A police officer took charge. And an ambulance showed up. Once relieved, the PA and companion let the emergency medical team take over and called an Uber. The entire emergency required a half hour to handle. I feel sorry for the passenger who fell but the passenger might have been drinking.
I made the last gallery at closing time, Norwest Gallery I had time to grab a glass of wine and to take a close look at about 20 pictures, paintings of African American youth. Errin Whitaker is a genius.
It had taken me an hour by bus to reach the gallery on the west side of Detroit. Norwest is always a bit of a moonshot for me. Yet I think the travel was worth it. I found the portraits to be stirringly evocative. I had worked with African American Cis-Males all year long, and I felt present among them all as I toured the gallery. I had no more than 10 minutes in the gallery before they closed the door. It was barely enough time to contemplate each portrait. Across Grand River Avenue from a pocket park, I sat on a bench awaiting the Grateful Grand River Bus 3, imagining all the beautiful art I had seen that day. The sun had begun to fail.
Paintings by Errin Whitaker, Courtesy of Norwest Gallery
