3-12-2025 8:07pm

The Arts Career Forum at Washtenaw Community College

Ypsilanti PressLLC Editor

Kuiko Artist in Japan works with April Christian- Davis

April Christian-Davis: Ypsilanti Press,

Judge at the Arts Career Forum Friday March 21, 2025.

April Christian-Davis is the passionate Publisher of Ypsilanti Press, a publication dedicated to showcasing the positive narratives surrounding Ypsilanti and its neighboring areas. With a deep-rooted commitment to innovation and creativity, April has infused these principles into every aspect of her work.

As the founder of the Ypsilanti Youth STEM Discovery Program, she has made significant strides in promoting science, technology, engineering, and mathematics among local youth. April also serves as a docent at the Ypsilanti Historical Museum, where she shares the rich history of the region with visitors. In addition, she volunteers at the Detroit Institute of Arts, contributing her time to support the arts community.

Currently, April is collaborating with glass artists in Tokyo, Japan, as well as local artists striving to gain recognition. Her keen understanding of the uniqueness of art and its creators drives her efforts to connect artists with opportunities, helping to cultivate a vibrant artistic community. Through her various initiatives, April Christian-Davis continues to enrich the cultural landscape of Ypsilanti and beyond.

Kylee Phillips is a Michigan-native vocalist and songwriter of deeply self-exposing pop music. Armed with an arresting, emotive, laser-focused voice, and an unrivaled ear for hooks and melodic contour, Phillips has garnered cult-like acclaim in the midwest and beyond since her explosive debut EP Long Time Coming. The title is strangely apt, as Phillips was a beloved hidden gem in the Detroit scene for over a decade before materializing as a fresh face and urgent new presence in the indie/pop world.

Kylee’s anthemic, sonically dense songs alchemize the sincerity of a midwest heart with the prowess and unabashed indulgence usually reserved for coastal voices. Here listeners find the body-cleansing catharsis of femme-pop luminaries like Muna and Maggie Rogers, intertwined with the heartstring-pulling, hands-raised surrender of a worship conference. Every track makes equal space for the tears and the pulse-pounding we didn’t realize we needed so badly.

In a world with no shortage of self-help sad-babe pop, Phillips weaves together a sensual, articulate, and unpretentiously therapeutic soundtrack for the lives we live but can’t always verbalize. She lends us an experiential wisdom that could only come from a massive heart that’s seen a lot of garbage and emerged transformed and immovable.