DESIGN STUDIO 6 – 8626 W. MCNICHOLS (6 MILE) – DETROIT, MI 48221
Design Studio 6 was the studio of the legendary artist and visionary, Charles McGee. Preserved and carried on by his daughter, April McGee, the studio is a sacred space to be shared with local artists and designers to inspire our youth and others in creative pursuits.
Charles McGee’s career spanned seven decades. He remained true to a practice informed by ‘the energy of life’: interdependence, equality, and connection among all living things.’ These ideas were the driving force in his life as he moved across artistic styles and media with curiosity over his lifetime. Through his work, McGee encouraged peace, balance, and harmony, with the desire to make the world a better place to live.
Celebrate Detroit’s Black Art, Culture and Sacred Spaces during the McGee: Urban Synthesis 2 Exhibit with over 35 local artists
February 1 – 9, 2025
Opening Reception: Saturday, February 1, 2025
4:00PM to 8:00 PM
Hours of Operation:
Saturday February 8th: 1:00 – 5:00PM
Sundays February 2nd and 9th: 1:00 – 5:00PM; Artist Talks: 2:00PM to 4:00PM
Tuesdays, Thursdays through Fridays by appointment during the hours of 4:30PM to 6:30PM
A Bit of Detroit Art History:
Charles McGee Oil Painting “Squares and Things” African-American 1967
“Squares and Things” painted by the eminent artist, Charles McGee, literally breaths his African American heritage and his extraordinary vibrant use of colors. This early painting of McGee’s shows his mastery in creating a painting in the style of the French Impressionist Edouard Manet, “Still Life with Melon and Peaches” located in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, and in the style of Fauvist/Expressionist painter Henry Matisse, “Still Life with Blue Tablecloth”, located in the Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia. McGee makes the well-known genre of still life his own creating an exciting, marvelous work incorporating the homely quilt – the powerful symbol of the African American road to safety from slavery – as his main focus. Quilts symbolize warmth, comfort, and as shown by the collection of quilts gathered by the artists in Gee’s Bend the designs on the quilts hung outdoors at locations along the Underground Railroad showed fugitives the road north and to safety.
“Squares and Things” was first shown at The Arwin Galleries, Inc., Detroit, Michigan, one of the stops along the Underground Railroad. This piece is an extraordinary example of his early work before he moved into Abstract Expressionism and his many sculptural works now located throughout Michigan.