Lincoln Park Artist Illuminates Detroit's Emerge! Art Festival

Marta Carvajal, a Lincoln Park artist, is captivating audiences at Detroit's Emerge! Art Festival with her evocative mixed-media pieces.

 

“Art, for me, is storytelling and healing, a bridge between generations and cultures,” Carvajal shares.

 

Her work seamlessly blends her Spanish heritage with Detroit's vibrant creative scene.

 

The Emerge! Art Festival, hosted by the Hannan Center, celebrates artists aged 55 and older.

 

Running from October 18, 2025, through January 14, 2026, the exhibition showcases over 170 works that embody a lifetime of experience and resilience.

 

For Carvajal, participating in this festival is the realization of a long-held dream.

 

Having studied fine art in Madrid and worked in publishing, she moved to metro Detroit years ago.

 

“When I came to Detroit, everything changed. I found new layers of inspiration in identity, diversity, and memory,” she reflects.

 

Her distinctive “documentary portrait” style merges painting and collage to tell personal histories.

 

“Instead of simply painting a likeness, I include letters, photographs, and fragments from a person’s life. The piece becomes a conversation, not just with the subject, but with time itself,” Carvajal explains.

 

Carvajal's connection to the Hannan Center began through fellow artist and curator Richard Reeves, director of Hannan’s Kayrod Gallery.

 

“The Breakfast Club is this incredible community,” she says, referring to the Detroit Fine Arts Breakfast Club.

 

“It’s where artists of every background, all ages, all styles, come together.”

 

Now 57, Carvajal embraces the festival's celebration of age.

 

“This makes me happy to be older. Truly! There’s beauty in celebrating age, in seeing that creativity never stops growing,” she remarks.

 

The Emerge! Art Festival coincides with the 100th anniversary of the Hannan Center, an institution founded in 1925.

 

“The Hannans built this place with the belief that every person—regardless of race, creed, or background—deserves dignity, care, and opportunity,” says Vincent Tilford, president and CEO of the Hannan Center.

 

Carvajal’s two works in the exhibition draw directly from that legacy.

 

One features a “house of light” illuminating silhouettes of Luella and William Hannan, with embedded blueprints of Detroit from 1925 to the present.

 

“It’s my way of showing how their light still shines,” she says.

 

Her second piece combines archival images, handwritten letters, and mixed-media textures that evoke time and memory.

 

“When people stand before it, I want them to feel the pulse of a century; to see how art connects us to those who came before,” she expresses.

 

For Carvajal, the festival is about more than visual beauty; it’s a statement on aging as vitality.

 

“When you go to Hannan, you see people who are radiant,” she observes.

 

“They dress up, they laugh, they create. The atmosphere is full of life. It reminds you that art and age have no limits.”

 

Though her studio is in Detroit, Carvajal finds peace in her Lincoln Park home.

 

“It’s where I slow down, where I think and write,” she says.

 

“The community here has this quiet charm, but I’m always close enough to feel the heartbeat of Detroit’s art scene.”

 

In Carvajal’s eyes, the Hannan Center’s centennial is not a conclusion but a continuation.

 

“Luella Hannan believed in building bridges—between generations, between people,” she says.

 

“That’s exactly what art does. It’s a bridge of empathy.”

 

For visitors, Carvajal hopes her work offers both reflection and renewal.

 

“I want people to leave feeling connected—to their own memories, to their communities, to the idea that creativity doesn’t fade with age,” she says.

 

“It grows richer, like a story retold through generations.”

 

EMERGE! ART FESTIVAL AT THE HANNAN CENTER

 

Kayrod Gallery, Hannan Center

 

4750 Woodward Avenue, Detroit

 

Now open through January 14, 2026, the Emerge! Art Festival celebrates the creativity of artists aged 55 and older, featuring painting, photography, sculpture, fiber art, and mixed media that explore the themes of aging, identity, and transformation.

 

The exhibit is part of the Hannan Center’s 100th anniversary celebration and is free to the public.

 

Visitors can explore the Kayrod Gallery Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., or by appointment.

 

For more information, call (313) 833-1300.