Tiff Massey’s ‘7 Mile & Livernois’ exhibition isn’t just about a neighborhood – it’s a tribute to Black Detroit

Tiff Massey poses with a Cadillac to promote her exhibition about metalsmithing, jewelry and the city’s streets. Detroit Institute of the Arts by Samantha Noël, Wayne State University “7 Mile + Livernois” at the Detroit Institute of Arts celebrates Detroit as a place for Black women to live and create by elevating both the work of the featured artist, Tiff Massey, and the community from which she comes. The exhibition draws attention to how Detroit is represented in the national – and even global – imagination. As an art historian who specializes in modern and contemporary art of the African diaspora, I found the exhibition absolutely mesmerizing. I appreciate the ways in which the show recognizes the desire for belonging and self-expression among Black people. I also admire how the show empowers and inspires anyone who visits it. Named for an avenue of Black fashion Massey’s exhibition is named for her childhood neighborhood, which is also a vitally important historic, cultural and economic center of Black Detroit. More popularly known as the Avenue of Fashion because of its many clothiers, the area near the intersection of Seven Mile Road and Livernois Avenue was an epicenter of Black commerce until the...