MetroArts Detroit
Featuring a diverse group of artists from the metro Detroit Area
Presto Baker
Presto Baker is an R&B artist and has been performing since he was four years old. Presto’s music can be found on Spotify, Soundcloud, and Apple Music.
Cheryl Marie Freeman
Cheryl Marie Freeman began her costume designer career 17 years ago when her daughter began performing in school plays. Since then, she has grown to costume countless films, theatre productions, and music videos in the Metro-Detroit area, including the 2016 Film Challenge Detroit winner AKOMA. From westerns to 50s vintage to designs for the Insane Clown Posse, Cheryl Marie is an expert in using sustainable materials to create her top-notch designs. She has worked with notable actor David Carradine (Dark Fields, the last movie filmed before his death) and for Mimesis, an homage to The Night of the Living Dead, which required her to match costumes to the original movie. In addition to her independent work, Cheryl Marie also works as the Unit Production Manager for Lutheran High North’s theatre department.
Bayan Founas
Bayan Founas is an educator and poet in metro-Detroit. Passionate about making educational reforms in communities of color, Founas created a creative writing and arts program, “Writing for Freedom,” in 2016 for youth of color to creatively and collectively heal. She teaches high school English in Detroit using culturally-relevant and transformative-justice approaches in the classroom for students to self-actualize and reach their full potential. She is a writer-in-residence with InsideOut Literary Arts, creating and leading youth poetry programming across the city. In 2018, she published her first book Diary of a Daughter in Diaspora – a collection of her poems on diaspora, love, healing, and teaching. Founas has performed and led workshops for high schools and universities, nonprofits, Greek life, faith conferences, art and cultural spaces, and museums across America.
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