Issue 95 - Behind the cover
You have most likely seen our latest cover featuring Randy “Detroit” Hayward and his 1929 all electric “Endian” but did you know that it was painted by a former student of his?
Desiree Kelly is an award winning artist and a native to Detroit. Pursuing her love of arts, Kelly attended Marvin L. Winans Academy of Performing Arts, where she met Randy Hayward, who was then the Principal of the Academy. Raised on the Eastside of Detroit, she became inspired by the environment and developed a style of storytelling through portraits. Her portraits of public figures icons are historically immersive & reflect on the narrative of her subjects by including artifacts & phrases within each piece. She is known for her distinctive mixture of “street art” & traditional oil technique.
Desiree Kelly
Her work is in Permanent Collections of museums such as Charles H Wright Museum of African American History and Flint Institute of Arts. She has been commissioned by a growing number of private collections.
Website: desireekellyart.com
Instagram: @desireekellyart
Randy Hayward:
Instagram: @detroit_antique_motorcycles / @traveling_black_history_museum
