Visions of Our 44th President
Through August 4, 2013
This collective art exhibit was created to honor and celebrate the significance of the first African American President of the United States, Barack Obama.  Forty-four busts were created from a model that served as a blank canvas, giving each of forty-four artists from across the country free reign to creatively interpret this milestone in American history.  The Visions exhibit opens at The Wright Museum before becoming the Museum’s first national traveling exhibit, visiting prestigious museums, libraries, universities and galleries across the country.  At the conclusion of the tour, the exhibit will become a part of The Wright Museum’s permanent collection.  Click here to learn more...

Inspiring Minds: African Americans in Science and Technology
Ongoing
This comprehensive, high-tech and permanent exhibition highlights trailblazers, contemporaries and careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).  African Americans have contributed to the scientific and engineering output of the United States since the 17th century, and this history is brought to life through interactive computer kiosks, a touchscreen video wall, and hands-on activities and play areas teaching basic engineering concepts.  Four disciplines of scientific advancement are explored: Physical Sciences, Earth Sciences, Life Sciences, and Technology & Engineering.  Within these, Inspiring Minds introduces individuals from across the spectrum of fields, levels of renown, and from times past and present, with particular focuses on African American women in science, black aviators, black inventors, medical ethics, and key historical figures such as George Washington Carver.  Free with museum admission.  Click here to learn more...

Moving to His Own Beat - Fela: The Man, The Movement, The Music
Through March 17, 2013
Created in partnership with Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts, this exhibit examines the life of Nigerian superstar Fela Kuti in the realms of music, culture, and politics, and preludes the arrival of the off-Broadway smash musical, Fela!, in February, 2012.  Fela's undying passion for African peoples, understanding of the power of art and politics, and unyielding struggle against the colonial forces in Nigeria during the 1950s and 1960s, solidified his legacy as a shimmering agent of change against the status quo.  He spoke out against the ruling government, returned to African traditions that had been interrupted during Colonialism, and brilliantly used his music as a medium for social change.  Always pushing the envelope, Fela infused traditional African highlife music with classical jazz and funk, which evolved into a unique sound that he called, “Afrobeat.”  The powerful music and social commentary found throughout his vast catalogue of recordings is indicative of his desire to help end oppression among African peoples everywhere.  Click here to learn more...

A Very Present Force: Celebrating a Century of the Detroit Branch NAACP
Through March 3, 2013
Since its formation in 1912 - only three years after the founding of the national association - the Detroit Branch NAACP has been on the front lines of civil rights activism and advocacy, both locally and throughout the nation.  A Very Present Force celebrates this sustained and important century-long struggle for equal opportunity and social justice.  Organized into three sections, A Very Present Force explores the Detroit Branch NAACP’s rich local history while situating it within the broader national and international struggle for civil rights.  Click here to learn more...

Pathways to Freedom in the Americas: Shared Experiences between Michigan and Mexico
Through March 31, 2013
Inspired by the meeting of two women who became fast friends - Patricia Ann Talley, an African American from the United States of America, and Candelaria Donají Méndez Tello, an Afro-Mexican from Mexico (the United Mexican States), this exhibit presents the symbiotic relationship that has existed between Americans and Mexicans but has seldom been told.  Divided into three sections, the exhibition uses video, maps, photographs, art, and music to depict a different aspect of slavery in the Americas, the story of fugitives that escaped slavery in the United States on the Underground Railroad south to Mexico, African heritage as it continues to permeate Mexican culture - especially in the Costa Chica Region of Guerrero, the migration of Mexicans to Michigan and the culture as it has manifested in Southwest Detroit.  Click here to learn more...

Great American Artists - Part III: The Seeds
Through January 6, 2013
This yearlong exhibition features the works of a consortium of Detroit artists in a three-part series subtitled, "Roots, Branches, and Seeds."  This cooperative provides the group a means of documenting and preserving each artist’s image and their careers.  In this third installment, the works of Endia Beal, Sydney James and Mario Moore form the “Seeds” of the group. They have used inspiration derived from the exhibit's first two parts - The Roots and Branches - to create works that address the social issues of today. 
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