Flint, Michigan—Poet, author, and literary artist Semaj Brown will read excerpts from her new publication, Bleeding Fire! Tap the Eternal Spring of Regenerative Light: Conversations in Poetry and Prose, on Thursday, August 22, 2019 at 6PM at MW Gallery. The program will also feature Dr. Erica Britt, Associate Professor of Sociolinguistics at the University of Michigan-Flint in dialogue with Ms. Brown about her inspiration and creative process. Books will be available for purchase and Ms. Brown will sign copies after the reading and discussion. The event is free and open to the general public. Refreshments will be served.

Bleeding Fire! Tap the Eternal Spring of Regenerative Light is an odyssey in African American history and culture. It is a searing conversation in poetry and prose — part memoir, part social commentary, part magical thinking expressed by literary artist Semaj Brown. These writings rise like flames from the ash and embers of her story. Readers grapple with the intensity of our collective reality while commemorating love and laughter.

This program is presented in conjunction with the new exhibition, Off the Wall: Sculpture from the Mott-Warsh Collection, featuring over 30 sculptures by artists who employ a broad spectrum of styles and techniques to create three-dimensional and wall mounted works of art. Artists represented in the show
include Nick Cave, Barbara Chase-Riboud, Sonya Clark, Mel Edwards, Sam Gilliam, Richard Hunt, Alison Saar, Therman Statom, Bernard Williams, and more. Visit Off the Wall: Sculpture from the Mott-Warsh Collection on view at MW Gallery through January 25, 2020.

The MW Gallery hours are Thursday and Friday, 11:00am – 6:00pm; Saturdays from 11:00am – 5:00pm; and the 2nd Friday of each month from 11:00am – 9:00pm for Flint ARTWALK. The gallery is located at 815 S. Saginaw St., Flint, MI on the corner of Saginaw Street and E. Court Street with the entrance located on E. Court Street. Please call (810) 835-4900 or visit m-wc.org for more information.

About MW Gallery and the Mott-Warsh Collection
The Mott-Warsh Collection, based in Flint, Michigan, is a private collection of fine art created by artists of the African
diaspora. Maryanne Mott and her late husband, Herman Warsh, initiated the Mott-Warsh collection in 2001 as a means of
providing fine art to a broader audience in the City of Flint and beyond. They were troubled by the steady decline of art
education in public school systems across the United States and the lack of art by people of color in many of the nation’s
fine art museums. In response, they committed themselves to developing a first-rate collection and making art accessible
to the broadest audience possible and providing outlets to see visual art created from a unique African-American
perspective. The intent of the collection is to educate viewers in art appreciation, art making processes, art history, 20th
century American history and the history of the African diaspora.