Detroit artist Eleanor Oakes contacted The Get The Lead Out Coalition in order to promote lead safety. Oakes became aware of and interested in lead safety after buying and renovating a home in Detroit.
Her works featuring lead were in a solo show mounted in June at Belle Isle Viewing Room where Get the Lead Out representatives were invited to speak about lead safety.
When initially tackling her home renovations, Eleanor, like many of us, admitted to not knowing how to identify and most importantly remove in a safe manner lead paint. Her home is among the more than 80% of homes built in Detroit before 1978 when lead paint was outlawed.
The discarded paint became an inspiration for her art. The unique pieces in Oakes’ exhibit captured the fragments of lead paint (some almost life like) that she carefully removed from her home. These photographs were printed on fabric and draped from frames.
Oakes is Assistant Professor of Photography at College for Creative Studies and was the founder of Darkroom Detroit, a 501(c)3 non-profit with the mission of making photography more accessible in Detroit. Her work has been exhibited and published internationally, including solo exhibitions at Belle Isle Viewing Room (Detroit), Tyler Wood Gallery (New York and San Francisco), and the University of Notre Dame (Indiana). She is a 2023 recipient of a Flourish Fund grant from Culture Source and the Andy Warhol Foundation.