During Art Basel Paris, Palais de Tokyo welcomed all the American visitors with shows dedicated to Melvin Edwards, transatlantic postwar philosophy and Detroit. “A Blueprint of Resonance: Building Detroit’s Artistic Future” was one of three projects in the city staged by DETROIT SALON, a new effort to promote the city’s art scene that will culminate in a citywide contemporary art show in 2028. Below, we learn more about DETROIT SALON and these Paris exhibitions from its artistic director and chief curator, Juana Williams, and its founder, Julie Egan.
What’s your interpretation of the goals of DETROIT SALON? What problems is it solving in the art world?
Egan: Our goal is to reframe how a city like Detroit is perceived—not as an outlier to the contemporary art conversation, but as a vital engine of creativity, innovation and resilience. By building a platform that connects Detroit artists, curators, designers and thinkers with international audiences, we’re creating space for a different kind of dialogue: one rooted in community, Detroit’s long artistic history and cross-cultural collaboration.
At its core, DETROIT SALON is solving a visibility and accessibility problem. The art world too often revolves around a handful of cities, institutions and markets, leaving extraordinary creative communities on the margins. Detroit has long been producing world-class work across art, design, music and technology—but it hasn’t always had the recognition, infrastructure, or access to share that work globally.
We’re addressing that gap. By partnering with major institutions, developing international exhibitions, cultivating new pathways for exchange and inviting the global art world to Detroit for a permanent flagship contemporary art show, we’re not only amplifying Detroit’s voice—we’re challenging the systems that define where cultural value comes from.
How did you come to choose the themes you want to explore with this Paris debut?
Williams: For our Paris debut, I wanted to share a cohesive narrative centered on the Detroit art community, a community that has deeply shaped my curatorial perspective. It felt important to explore not only its rich legacy but also its present vibrancy and future potential. Each exhibition in Paris highlights a different facet of that story. The theme “Blueprint of Relevance: Building Detroit’s Artist Legacy” (at Palais de Tokyo) is community, which is at the core of Detroit’s creative scene. There’s a longstanding tradition of artists, curators and supporters uplifting one another, creating a resilient and collaborative ecosystem.
“Stitched Into History: The Legacy of the Avenue of Fashion” (at Hotel de Talleyrand) focuses on fashion, a major element of self-expression in Detroit. Fashion in the city is deeply tied to identity and storytelling. There’s a beautiful history of fashion design in Detroit and I wanted to both honor that legacy and highlight what’s being created today. “Domestic Dialogues: The Art of Living in Detroit” (at the DETROIT SALON space during Art Basel Paris) focuses on Detroit’s artists and how Michigan’s collector base supports the arts community in numerous ways. Art Basel provides a unique platform to recognize the role collectors play, not just as patrons but as active participants in the cultural landscape. The exhibition highlights the stories of Detroit artists and the collectors who help sustain the community not only through financial support but also through meaningful relationships with artists, designers and curators. Together, these themes—community, fashion and collectors—build a layered narrative about the Detroit art scene, bridging its past, present and future.
What was the biggest challenge in moving Detroit’s local energy into a European institution like Palais de Tokyo?
Williams: The biggest challenge in bringing Detroit’s grassroots, community-driven creative culture into a European institution like Palais de Tokyo was bridging two very different worlds, translating a deeply embedded, locally specific energy rooted in resilience, Black-led networks and histories of decline and rebirth into a formal international exhibition context without losing its authenticity. This required maintaining the nuance, integrity and agency of Detroit’s voice while navigating a cultural and institutional framework with different expectations and limited reference points, all while ensuring the work remained legible, compelling and respectful to both its origins and its new audience.
How did you decide which artists to include and what kinds of conversations shaped those choices?
Williams: I prioritized artists whose work authentically engages with local themes, reflects the city’s social and cultural dynamics and fosters genuine community involvement. I focused on artists whose practice emphasizes collaboration, inclusion and social relevance, especially around issues relating to neighborhood identity. Artistic quality, ethical engagement and representation were also key in my decision-making. I sought work that would resonate with Detroit’s unique spirit while offering thoughtful, innovative perspectives on what community means. At the same time, I considered how these artists and works might translate across cultural contexts, selecting works that could speak meaningfully to a Parisian audience by highlighting both shared urban experiences and points of difference that invite dialogue.
For the exhibitions at Hotel de Talleyrand and the Grand Palais, the artists were selected through a nomination-based process led by more than 50 community-based organizations and individuals, reflecting DETROIT SALON’s commitment to access and inclusion. Final selections were made by an independent jury of nationally and internationally recognized curators and arts professionals from institutions across Michigan and beyond. Our team (DETROIT SALON) did not participate in the selection to maintain the independence and integrity of the process.
Why start the rollout in Paris rather than in the U.S.?
Egan: This initiative actually launched first in Detroit with a series of large-scale community events and exhibitions. The international rollout involves exhibitions in Paris and seven other cities before culminating in the DETROIT SALON flagship contemporary art show in Detroit. Starting the international rollout in Paris was both symbolic and strategic. Paris has long been a city that understands the power of cultural diplomacy—the exchange of ideas, aesthetics and identities across borders. By beginning there, we’re positioning Detroit not just as a local story but as part of a global conversation about creativity, community and renewal.
In many ways, DETROIT SALON is carrying that legacy forward—celebrating a city built by makers, visionaries and innovators who have always defied expectation. Practically speaking, Paris during Art Basel week offers an unparalleled platform in arguably the world’s top art capital. The world’s cultural eyes are there—artists, collectors, institutions, press. Launching in that context allows us to amplify Detroit’s creative excellence on a scale that simply isn’t possible stateside at this stage. We’ll absolutely bring DETROIT SALON home to the U.S.—the long-term vision is a full-scale biennial in Detroit.
The “salon” model is about conversation. What does conversation mean to you? How are you keeping that spirit alive beyond the exhibitions?
Egan: The salon model has always been about more than gathering—it’s about new ideas, learning and honest exchange. For me, “conversation” means creating the conditions for discovery: a space where artists, thinkers and audiences can meet on equal footing and challenge one another’s assumptions. DETROIT SALON draws from that lineage, but we’ve reimagined it for our time—one where artists aren’t just exhibiting work, but making new encounters, dialoguing across disciplines, geographies and lived experiences.
Beyond the exhibitions, we’re keeping that spirit alive through an ongoing talks and performance program in Detroit and globally, gatherings in homes and intimate spaces, digital storytelling and global partnerships that connect Detroit’s creative community to peers around the world. The conversations happen in museums and galleries, yes—but also over dinners, in studios, in collector homes, in neighborhoods. Ultimately, cultural exchange and conversation is our medium. The exhibitions are the entry point, but the true work happens in the exchange—in what’s shared, debated, questioned and carried forward after people leave the room.
What story about Detroit’s art community do you want people in Paris to take away from “A Blueprint of Resonance” and the other offerings in Paris?
Williams: I want people in Paris to understand that Detroit’s art community is a living ecosystem. It’s made up of artists who build together, lift up each other, challenge each other and keep creating even when resources are limited. That resilience isn’t just survival—it’s innovation.
With “A Blueprint of Resonance” in addition to the other exhibitions, we’re showing how Detroit’s artists are in constant dialogue with the world, even if that world hasn’t always been listening. There’s history, there’s experimentation and there’s a deep sense of care that runs through all of it. The takeaway should be that Detroit isn’t on the margins of the art world—it’s been a center of cultural creation all along.
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