Image: Ladybug Adventures by Heba Makled
AANM is dedicated to nurturing the next generation of artists. Our award-winning SURA Arts Academy has provided professional photography lessons to middle and high schoolers in metro Detroit since 2000. Professional photographers and educators lead discussions and explorations, helping students gain insight into issues of identity, ethnicity, diversity and community history.
Student work is exhibited at our annual SURA Student Photography Exhibition. Past exhibitions are listed below.
PAST SURA EXHIBITIONS
June 1 – Aug. 31, 2021
Window exhibition in the Museum’s Library window facing Michigan Ave. featuring work from the Spring 2021 semester. Students focused on the question, “Who am I?” by telling their story and capturing experiences through their photographs.
Oct. 2, 2020 – March 31, 2021
Online exhibition featuring work from the Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 semesters as well as Summer Camp 2020.
June 26 – Sept. 30, 2020
Online exhibition featuring work from the Spring 2020 semester, in which SURA partnered with Wayne State University to infuse photography lessons with art therapy for refugee and immigrant teens.
Sept. 8 – Oct. 13, 2019
Students’ work was themed around home and community.
Sept. 9, 2018 – May 30, 2019
Students’ work was themed around synergy, unity and harmony.
April 8 – June 25, 2017 | SURA featuring Reel Stories
Students focused on telling stories through portraiture.
This exhibition also featured two short films created by participants of Reel Stories, a joint endeavor between AANM and the Palestinian Heritage Museum in Jerusalem, designed to empower young women through the art of filmmaking. 32 students – 17 from metro Detroit and 15 from East Jerusalem – created every aspect of the short films.
Sept. 24, 2016 – March 5, 2017
Students were inspired to tell their stories through imagery.
Nov. 21, 2015 – March 30, 2016
Students explored topics of immigration and being first or second generation Americans, and took inspiration from AANM exhibition Stories My Father Told Me by Helen Zughaib. This year included an additional SURA program in rural Coldwater, MI, in partnership with Tibbits Opera House.
Sept. 13 – Nov. 2, 2014
Sept. 14 – Oct. 26, 2013
Oct. 13 2012 – Feb. 3, 2013
Sept. 17 – Dec. 31, 2011
Students studied and experimented with stop-motion animation in addition to still photography.
Sept. 18 – Oct. 31, 2010
Celebrating SURA’s 10th anniversary, this exhibition featured selections of student work from 2010 as well as a look back at the best photos from past years.
Sept. 12 – Nov. 1, 2009
In partnership with College for Creative Studies.
Sept. 13 – Nov. 16, 2008
In partnership with College for Creative Studies. This year featured an online cultural exchange with photography students in the Middle East as part of a program sponsored by the JOHUD organization, based in Amman, Jordan.
Sept. 8 – Oct. 28, 2007
This year featured an online cultural exchange with photography students in the Middle East as part of a program sponsored by the JOHUD organization, based in Amman, Jordan. A video featuring the JOHUD students’ work was part of the exhibition.
Sept. – Dec. 2005
This edition of SURA was held as part of a summer youth program led by AANM and ACCESS.