Detroit artist paints everyday people to honor their stories, not their status
A Detroit-based artist is on a mission to capture the soul of the city by painting the people who live in it.
Richard Wilson isn't focused on celebrities or influencers; he's painting everyday Detroiters, not because they're famous, but because he believes their lives and stories are worth remembering.
"It's quite niche," Wilson says of his work, "but I think those are the people we should be celebrating, treating as aristocracy, and having paintings of them in public spaces."
Originally from London, Wilson got his start as a graffiti artist. Over time, he shifted to murals, and his most well-known Detroit piece, "A Tribute to Stevie," graces the side of the Music Hall downtown.
But now, he's pivoting once again.
"I've moved away somewhat from the murals," Wilson says. "I'm keen to do the same kind of thing with people around us who are still with us, to have their legacy kept in this classical way."
That vision is what drives his latest project, a portrait series he's calling "Season One." It features Detroiters whose stories might otherwise go untold.
His most recent subject? Flint native and world-renowned muralist Hubert Massey, known for his large-scale fresco installations.
"For me, the narrative is Hubert," Wilson says. "It's not about me. I just want to celebrate Hubert."
Wilson has also painted Detroiters like Jantae' Spinks and her partner, owners of "Someday," an art gallery and bakehouse in the city's North End neighborhood. Spinks says the project is meaningful on a deep level.
"They don't get to see themselves that way," she says. "Especially everyday Black people in Detroit. So to take on that task of ennobling them and ushering them into a realm they might never have seen themselves in, it's kind of heavy."
Wilson hopes to continue the portrait project beyond this initial season. "I've got a list as long as your arm of this other person, this other person, who I'm going to be painting," he says.
His goal is simple: to show people they matter.
"I've never met kinder, lovelier people in the world," Wilson says of Detroit. "And I'm reasonably well-traveled."
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