MOCAD summer party hosted by Hill Harper at Charles T. Fisher Mansion delivered great art

July 13, the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit held its first Summer Arts Soirée at the historic Charles T. Fisher Mansion in Detroit’s Boston Edison neighborhood. The fundraising event was attended by a number of notable community figures and artists, and hosted by the homeowner, actor/author/entrepreneur Hill Harper.

Detroit chef Kate Williams provided a meal inspired by what people in Detroit would have been eating during the early 1920s, when the mansion was built. The menu included: Asparagus with lemon vinaigrette and sauce; Parisian potato salad with sherry and onion; a combination of local farm greens including apples, radish, pistachio and tarragon; walleye almondine; and spiced lamb chops, and ended with fresh chocolate chip cookies and milk.

Elegant live music was provided by neo-soul singer Vespre and harpist Ahya Simone.

MOCAD artistic director Jova Lynne said, “The community that MOCAD cultivates is special. Our founders wanted us to focus on the radical possibility that dreams could come true because their dream came true in founding MOCAD. Tonight embodied to me that reality of possibility and community, and what happens when that intersects.

“What I love about MOCAD is that we want to collaborate, be in partnerships, bring folks together,” she continued. “That we were able to be together tonight and acknowledge that is just the beginning, and I have no doubt will add to that incredible, rich legacy of artistic practice, knowledge sharing and community building is so important.”

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Harper stars in ABC’s drama series, “The Good Doctor,” and recently announced a run for the U.S. Senate. Arguably, though, the real star of the evening was the stunning art collection he has collected and hung throughout the mansion.

“The ability to have events like this and fill this home has always been the goal,” Hill said. “The first floor and the downstairs ballroom or gallery, I see as public floors. The second floor is the private, family floor, where we live. Then the third floor is a floor for artists and residents.

“I believe, truly, that Detroit is the epicenter … of, certainly, African-American contemporary art right now, and we can build it and grow it and make it a destination. The goal for me with this house, one day, would be to … open it up on the weekends, and people could just walk around and look at tons of art. That’s a longer-term goal.”

Contact Free Press arts and culture reporter Duante Beddingfield at dbeddingfield@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: MOCAD summer party hosted by Hill Harper delivered style, great art