Season Talks

Presented by The Shepherd, Season Talks comprises eight panel discussions to be held at Season Fair on Friday, September 26, and Saturday, September 27, 2025. All talks are included with fair admission.

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Drawing in the Embodied Field

Friday, September 26
1:00 - 1:45 p.m.

Art critic and historian Lee Ambrozy engages artist Chris Pinter about the intersections of his Detroit-based studio practice with the cave drawings at the Grotta dei Cervi (Deer Cave). Dating to 6000 BCE, the Neolithic drawings at this cave complex are among the world’s richest sources of early pictorial narratives and evidence of early human cognition. By unpacking Pinter’s essentialist practice blending gesture and materiality, they ask how prehistoric, animist beliefs continue to shape our reality. His canvases attempt to translate distant, embodied memories into our sociopolitical present. How else can ancient modes of expression be engaged to aid our contemporary struggles to find empathy, resilience, and collective storytelling in a world increasingly mediated by automation?

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Reframing Detroit: Narratives of Place and Power

Friday, September 26
2:00 - 2:45 p.m.

This panel explores the evolving narratives that shape Detroit’s cultural identity, with particular attention to who has the power to tell the city’s story—and to what ends. Framed through the lenses of art, urbanism, and social history, the conversation will examine how artists, organizers, and institutions are actively reshaping dominant perceptions of place. The panel considers how reframing Detroit can inform more equitable cultural and civic futures by interrogating legacy media, development discourse, and grassroots memory-making.

Moderator

Panelists

  • bree gant — Artist

  • Jova Lynne — Artist; Curator; Co-Director, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit

  • Aleiya Olu — Designer; Owner, Periodicals; Partner, Olu & Company

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Where’s the Writing?

Friday, September 27
3:00 - 3:45 p.m.

This panel convenes writers and editors to explore the evolving role of art criticism, publishing, and narrative in shaping contemporary art discourse. At a time when traditional media platforms are shrinking and public-facing criticism is increasingly rare, panelists will reflect on the challenges and urgencies of writing today. The conversation will address the visibility of critical voices, the economics of publishing, and the importance of language in constructing meaning, context, and cultural memory within the art ecosystem.

Moderator

Panelists

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Detroit as Curator

Saturday, September 27
12:00 - 12:45 p.m.

This panel considers Detroit as a site of cultural production and an active curatorial force, shaping artistic discourse through its histories, communities, and spatial politics. Panelists will explore how the city operates as a framework for selection, interpretation, and meaning-making across disciplines. From artist-led spaces to public programming and citywide initiatives, the conversation will reflect how Detroit’s cultural logic influences what is seen, valued, and remembered—locally and globally.

Moderator

Panelists

  • Taylor Renee Aldridge — Independent Curator, Executive Director, Modern Ancient Brown Foundation (MABF)

  • Neil Barclay — President (ex-officio), Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History

  • Katie Pfohl — Associate Curator of Contemporary Art, Detroit Institute of Arts

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Collecting Outside the Coasts

Saturday, September 27
1:00 - 1:45 p.m.

This panel brings together collectors based outside traditional art world centers to discuss their approaches to building meaningful collections. Through personal reflections and shared experiences, panelists will explore what motivates their acquisitions, how they engage with artists and art communities, and how collecting can serve as a form of cultural investment and civic commitment. The conversation will highlight the distinct perspectives and priorities that emerge when collecting is shaped by proximity, purpose, and personal conviction rather than prevailing market trends.

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Panelists

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Who Is the Art World For?

Saturday, September 27
2:00 - 2:45 p.m.

This panel invites a critical examination of access, equity, and power within the structures of the contemporary art world. Through the perspectives of gallerists and cultural workers, the conversation will interrogate who benefits from existing systems and remains excluded. Topics will include gatekeeping in institutions and markets, the role of education and social capital, and emerging strategies for building a more inclusive and accountable art ecosystem. Panelists will reflect on how the art world might be reimagined to better serve its publics.

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Panelists

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Beyond Praise: Rethinking Criticism in Communities of Color

Saturday, September 27
3:00 - 3:45 p.m.

Supported by Critical Minded.

In cultural discourse, there is often an unspoken expectation that critics of color should unconditionally celebrate artists of color—especially when so few have achieved mainstream recognition. But must acclaim be the only form of engagement? This panel will explore the complicated dynamics of writing about artists of color from within communities of color, where the tension between loyalty and honesty can shape public dialogue.

Drawing from recent debates—such as Viola Davis’s remarks about not needing critics—participants will examine how society increasingly conflates criticism with promotion (or regards them as diametrically opposed, which is also one-sided), and how analytical rigor is lost in the noise of hot takes and personal opinions. Together, we will ask: What makes for exemplary criticism that challenges us to think deeply and collectively? What models exist, and why do they so often go ignored? By interrogating these questions, panelists will explore how critics of color can assert the value of speaking to everything we see, moving beyond one-sided admiration toward a more robust and nuanced cultural conversation.

Moderator

Panelists

  • Camilee G. Bacon — Writer; Co-Founder/Editor-in-Chief, Jupiter Magazine

  • Devin T. Mays — Artist

  • Seph Rodney — Art Critic, The New York Times

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Reimagining the Artist’s Economy

Saturday, September 27
4:00 - 4:45 p.m.

This panel examines emerging models that center artist sustainability through alternative economic frameworks. As traditional market structures prove increasingly inaccessible or insufficient, artists are forging new pathways—leveraging collective infrastructure, technological tools, and interdisciplinary networks to reshape how creative labor is supported, valued, and distributed. The conversation will consider the implications of these shifts for long-term career viability, equity, and institutional engagement.

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Panelists