Quinn A. Hunter Exhibits in "The Smoke, the Ghost, the Balm"
Work by Stamps Assistant Professor Quinn A. Hunter is featured in The Smoke, the Ghost, the Balm, a new exhibition opening at Ann Arbor’s CLUSTER Museum on Friday, January 30. Hunter’s textile-based Paradise series combines archival photographic research of Detroit’s Black Bottom & Paradise Valley neighborhoods with technology and African-American quiltmaking lineage.
The exhibition, which also features photography by Eleanor Oakes and cyanotypes and paintings by Haley Darya Parsa, pays homage to the residue that rises from disappearances and forced erasures. “This visually gorgeous exhibition teaches us how artists can resolve narratives and force remembrance through mark-making and intentional documentation. CLUSTER Museum continues to engage our community in artwork that combines lived experiences with broader metaphysical questions,” notes CLUSTER Museum co-founder and exhibition curator Thea A. Eck.
The exhibition opens with a reception from 6 – 9 p.m. on Friday, January 30, and runs through February 28. Additional scheduled events include:
- February 1 at 1 p.m.: The “Celie”: A poetic form of healing Workshop
- February 7 at 1 p.m.: Forbidden Words Workshop
- February 21 at 6:30 p.m.: Smoke & Mirrors Re/Written — author reading
- February 22, 1:30 p.m.: Being in the Actual — workshop
- February 27, 7 p.m. — Love is the Devil — post Q & A with April Baer from Michigan Public’s “Stateside”
- February 28 at 11 a.m.: Arts & Culture Café with Quinn A. Hunter, Eleanor Oakes, and curator Thea A. Eck
Co-founded by Eck (MFA ’08), Kim DeBord (BFA’98), and Chien-An Yuan, CLUSTER aims to create opportunities for exhibition, learning, and community, bringing those in the arts together in thoughtful and innovative ways.
The Smoke, the Ghost, the Balm
Exhibition Dates: January 30- February 28 2026
Opening Reception: Friday, January 30 from 6 – 9 p.m.
CLUSTER Museum, 307 N. Main St. Ann Arbor, MI 48104