Journalist Susan Whitall Features In Birmingham Lecture Series

BIRMINGHAM, MI - From the Birmingham Museum: A joint lecture series sponsored by the Birmingham Museum and the Baldwin Public Library focuses on the theme of art and activism. The next lecture in the series, entitled “Art and Activism: Music”, will feature Susan Whitall and is scheduled for Thursday, November 9 at 7 p.m. at the Baldwin Public Library, located at 300 West Merrill Street in Birmingham.

Whitall is an award-winning journalist and author who was editor of the iconic Detroit and Birmingham based rock magazine CREEM in the 1970s, as well as a Detroit News journalist for three decades. Her presentation is the second in a three-part series on this timely theme that takes a closer look at the tradition of the arts challenging the status quo and making us think. Whitall will be discussing music as the second of the three art forms of theater, music, and the visual arts to be explored.

“Susan’s grasp of American music culture from decades of covering music and entertainment in Detroit and beyond is extraordinary,” said Leslie Pielack, Director of the Birmingham Museum. “We are excited to have her and invite the public to be part of the conversation through our Art and Activism series.”

Whitall is the author of Fever, a biography of Little Willie John, and Women of Motown, which has just been reissued. Women of Motown is an oral history of the girl groups and female artists at Detroit's legendary record company. Whitall is currently working on the CREEM documentary, as well as several book projects, including Joni on Joni: Interviews and Encounters, an anthology of Joni Mitchell interviews that will be published by Chicago Review Press in November 2018. Pielack noted that theCREEM magazine collection, a permanent exhibit at the Birmingham Museum, is the most significant collection of CREEM materials at any public museum.

On December 14, Birmingham artist Victor Pytko will present his current art exhibition at 7 p.m. at the Birmingham Museum through the perspective of activism in “Art and Activism: the Visual Arts”. All presentations are free to the public. To find out more, call the Birmingham Museum at 248-530-1928 or visit www.bhamgov.org/museum.

The Birmingham Museum is located at 556 West Maple. Exhibit hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., and until 8:00 p.m. on the second Thursday of the month. Two hours of free parking is available at the Chester Street Parking Deck; credit card required for entry and exit. For more information, call 248-530-1928 or visit www.bhamgov.org/museum . Museum admission is $7 for adults; $5 for students and seniors. Kids 5 and under and Friends of the Birmingham Museum members are free.

Photo courtesy of the Birmingham Museum