Last day to see Olayami Dabls: Grand Vision at the Institute for the Humanities Gallery in Ann Arbor.
Olayami Dabls was born in 1948 in Canton, Mississippi, and built his life in Detroit as a storyteller, artist, curator, educator and mentor. He founded the MBAD African Bead Museum, and this fall he is the 2026 William and Sally Searle Visiting Artist at the University of Michigan.
His exhibit, Olayami Dabls: Grand Vision, runs Sept. 22 to Oct. 28 at the Institute for the Humanities Gallery, 202 S. Thayer in Ann Arbor. It pairs his paintings with African trade beads, carved N'kisi figures from his collections and personal materials from his career. His work uses reclaimed and found materials from Detroit's industrial landscape to honor African cultural memory and resilience.
An outdoor sculpture, Iron Teaching Rocks Table Manners, is on view near State Street and South University through Oct. 11. Dabls will be in the gallery to talk with visitors Oct. 9, 12 and 23 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and an African trade bead workshop and storytelling event is set for Oct. 13, with registration required.
"He made an institution out of what the city left behind."
Detroit is full of makers working with what is already here. Dabls is the proof that reclaimed material, patience and a clear point of view can become a cultural institution that a major university comes to honor.
The ANF Take: Young artists hear that they need the perfect space or the perfect funding to begin. Dabls built his work from the reclaimed material the city left in front of him. The open question is how many more Detroit makers get this kind of room, and how early in their careers.
Source: University of Michigan Institute for the Humanities.
