A Love for Design at the LOVE Building🤍

The Opening Night of APEX🍸

Have you ever been invited out time after time by the same friends, yet time after time you still haven't made it out? That was me for a while with my homegirl Tay. But this time!? Oh baby this time I cleared my schedule, marked my calendar, and mentally prepared myself to pop out at the opening for her art showcasing, APEX, for Detroit Month of Design.

It was an end-of-summer, Thursday evening after work and the energy in and around Detroit was still so vibrant. I had thrown on a black velour tracksuit, my Spartan dunks, and a mini black Bottega dupe, just a little too excited for fall considering that it was Indian summer. Surprisingly, I circled the block a few times on Grand River during a not-so-busy moment and finally arrived at the LOVE sign in a field directly across from the Love Building.

Not in the mood to park on the packed street alongside the building and not enough patience to wait for the mini parking lot to have an open space, I was totally comfortable parking away from others even though a group of people were comfortably seated behind the LOVE sign. Nowww if you aren't a woman from Detroit, you might not get this, but any other woman from Detroit would understand my thought process, 'If some sh*t really went down in broad daylight with my car, they would be the ones to know.'

So anyways, the moment I walked into the building, slightly after 6 p.m. an intimate crowd of about 50-60 people, in a room off to the right, were locked into one of Howard King's good friends sharing memories of his legacy as the unknown, known mayor of Corktown…and all of a sudden, the lights seemed to beam brighter. The voices started going mute as colors of silk and assorted fabrics vibrantly came into focus, pulling me into the room and allowing me to see the detailed stitching that pulled together faces, jewels and so much emotion..it was utterly breathtaking. 

Being brought back to the moment by rounds of applause, I turned to focus my attention back towards the intimate crowd that was now preparing to take a collective stroll to the other side of the building and admire the murals on the side of the building. 

Again, getting caught up in my own world, I drifted off into the artwork, admiring each intricate detail and soon making my way past a charcuterie set-up with wine… I immediately spotted the chardonnay and poured me a cup, before joining the others. I quietly graced myself into the crowd, past a beautiful bronzed woman, with a baby swaddled around her, who had poetic words flowing from her mouth like a refreshing breeze against the silenced crowd in the beaming sunlight. 

Realizing that I was part of such an intimate crowd, brought me a sense of belonging, love, and community. After taking a group photo with all in attendance, the rest of the evening grew into a night of exploration and engagement amongst one another and of course with the art displayed throughout the entire building. 

In the midst of it all, I finally took a moment to be still. I sat in front of the art created in light of Apex and really dove into the story of each piece. I had remembered in passing an older gentleman started explaining the history of the building to me as his ride on the elevator began and the door slowly shut, "The space we're in used to be an old bar and lounge, and I believe an art gallery where the artist used to live on the floors above, but it was back when Jews, whites and blacks would get together and ....." his voice trailed off.

APEX is an art installation focused on Taylor Child’s family bar the APEX and the culture of the nightlife in Detroit during Paradise Valley in the 1940s. Childs will showcase fashion inspired by her connection with the bar through the lens of her grandmother's stories about black land ownership. The APEX is located in the North End, a neighborhood composed initially of Jewish and other European immigrants. As Detroit’s population boomed, the North End saw an increasing percentage of black residents from the South. Purchased after their migration from Georgia and renamed the APEX Bar/Lounge, the venue specialized in live blues bands and was a staple of a thriving music community on Oakland Avenue. (Detroit Month of Design, 2024)

In this moment of stillness, I realized that sometimes the beauty in showing up for those we love isn't even about the aesthetic, the location, the parking spot, or any of that…the real beauty in showing up is the love that comes from the authentic desire for connection, ultimately creating this thing we call community, which is exactly what the night was all about. I most certainly felt love.