Ian John Solomon is an award winning multidisciplinary artist-journo from Detroit. Receiving his MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2024, Ian holds land as the vehicle to communal actualization. As the founder of ‘Amplify Outside’, a community organization exposing and educating Black Michiganders to natural spaces, his art practice extends from connecting Black Michiganders to the land around them. Utilizing his background in broadcast journalism, Ian often speaks on panels, podcasts and social media to advocate for environmental justice efforts within the great lakes. In 2024, Ian won an Emmy as host of PBS’s ‘Ian Outside’, 1st Place in Environmental Reporting from Society of Professional Journalists, a Playground Detroit Fellowship, the Talking Dolls Incubator Residency and a Cranbrook Art Museum Purchase Nomination.