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Ian John Solomon

@ian.outside

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🏆 Emmy Award Winning Outdoorsman
🎙️ Host / Founder @amplifyoutside
📸 Art & Living @1anjohn
🎥 Ian Outside w/ @planetdetroitnews @greatlakesnoworg

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I won my first Emmy!!! Still processing, but just want to share immense gratitude for everyone along this path. While I did go to school for broadcast journalism, I took a detour of passions that eventually led me to the arts + outdoors. Thank you to everyone who shared their curiosity in the spaces I was moving through. I remember beginning to make tik toks to share my experience and thinking “oh yeah I got a degree in this” 😂, I truly never thought that would lead here. Even after serendipitous meetings lead me to working with the incredible team at @greatlakesnoworg, I still never thought it would I’d be here. (I got to explore my passions and act as a representation of my community on tv— what else could I want?!). All this to say, following your intuition and what ignites you over the path of clarity will always bring sweetness when you know why you’re doing it, even if it takes some time. I am incredibly grateful for this moment.

HUGE shoutout to the team that made it possible especially the folks on the ground with me. @annaaaaaaaaahhh @aaronpeterson.studio @dadrynschulte every shoot has been so much fun with genuine connection, this is so much sweeter winning with you all. I get to be in the screen, but it’s all possible through your hard work and talent— so grateful for yall!

To the friends and family who have probably more than once thought “what the hell is Ian doing”, thank you for the continued unwavering support. I love all of you so deeply and it’s a driving force of what keeps me going. It’s an honor to make you proud. Special shoutout to my mom @drrosemoten who forced me to make this night a big deal when I didn’t want to lol— you were right, this is special (swipe to see her crying on the Jumbotron 💀).

To everyone who has ever shared a kind word, like a tik tok, watched the show, come to an @amplifyoutside event or even thought a positive thought for me. THANK YOU. The support I’ve gotten these past few days is hard to even process and reinforces what we already know: community is everything. I’ll see y’all outside! taken in Little Caesars Arena by @ian.outside

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2 years ago

MABF 2026 RESIDENT ANNOUNCEMENT ✨

Join us in welcoming Ian Solomon, ( @ian.outside ), one of our artists-in-residence at the Modern Ancient Brown Foundation!

Ian John Solomon is an Emmy Award-winning interdisciplinary artist, journalist & organizer from Detroit, Michigan. As the founder & host of ‘Amplify Outside’, a Detroit based outdoor organization, and the Host of PBS segment “Ian Outside” his visual art practice extends from a social practice of connecting Black Midwesterners to natural spaces.

Ian’s interdisciplinary lens-based practice explores themes of identity, ancestry, environmental justice, and ecology. Deeply motivated by the environment, Ian’s artistic and social practices assert that a relationship to the natural world is a necessary vehicle for personal and communal actualization. His work utilizes space and place as a foundation for urgent conversation spanning the spiritual to the political.

🔗 Learn more about Ian & the Residency, link in MABF’s bio! taken in Detroit, Michigan by @ian.outside

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22 days ago

Have never seen anything like this! Quiet lightening storm? I’m gagged! taken in Detroit, Michigan by @ian.outside

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a month ago

Join myself, @planetdetroitnews & @arbdetroit for a group hike around the Poletown East neighborhood! Since 2019 Arboretum Detroit has been transforming vacant lots into intentionally stewarded green spaces. The Poletown East neighborhood is both an example of industrial pollution’s impact and the power of community stewardship. Head over to PlanetDetroit.org to register for the walk & read the article. Hope to see you there! taken in Detroit, Michigan by @ian.outside

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2 months ago

Let’s talk about coal! In an era of overwhelming news cycles it’s easy to lose track of everything in the mix that impacts our daily lives. We see a lot of talk about data centers and rate hikes driving our utility bills sky-high, but we can’t forget about the role coal is playing. Seriously… It’s time to shut the J.H. Campbell coal plant in West Olive down! taken in Detroit, Michigan by @ian.outside

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2 months ago

Spring recap (2/?) Find myself yelling to the mountains in the morning. Such a grounding, regenerative time in Creston, BC at @empireofdirtresidency. Two weeks of reaffirming my favorite part of making is the new people & places it brings me to. Immensely grateful for the time spent with these folks @fadwa_bouziane @iamnataliewood @gadepabouleje Marnie & Jim. It’s so special to find immediate synergy with strangers, spending time excavating Blackness and land and all the places that leads to. Thinking differently about ecology & visual media thanks to Esery, reaffirmed my pull to blue thanks to Natalie, imagining the possibilities of community thanks to Marnie, critiquing the institution thanks to Fadwa, and contemplating burning it all down thanks to a trip to a fresh wildfire burn thanks to Jim. Endless thanks to the Yaqan Nuki people for sharing space, time & culture with us— I’m still hearing the sounds of the Pow Wow. All I can say is thank you, thank you! taken in Creston, British Columbia by @ian.outside

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3 months ago

Late Spring recap (1/?). So so grateful for my time as a resident at @pghglasscenter by way of @crafting_the_future! Not enough words for how much was learned and shared so graciously. Big thanks to @dot_mark the magician for being such a crucial studio mate & teacher— you’re a genius. (peep our altar cup collab pic #5 🤝🏾). Amazing watching @ayaokidoki & @glasshishido do what they do best! Got a chance to check out @ajamux incredible show at the amazing @silvereyecenter. So so much love for Pittsburgh, its landscape & its art spaces/ people! ❤️ #RustBelt4Ever taken in Pittsburgh Glass Center by @ian.outside

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3 months ago

Incredibly excited to be selected as a 2026/27 resident with @modernancientbrown! Feels like the perfect time as I’ve been toying with some new mediums and forms in the background, making sense of shapes and stories coming into a greater clarity. The past few years have seen me bouncing around the country in pursuit of craft, very happy to have this opportunity at home to continue honing. Huge congrats to my fellow cohort— honored to share space and expand along side everyone 💫 taken in Detroit, Michigan by @ian.outside

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3 months ago

THIS SATURDAY 6/20: Come learn about East Canfield Art Park with myself, @planetdetroitnews and @canfieldconsortium from 11-1! East Canfield Art Park is a formerly vacant lot turned into critical community resource merging art, public health and cultural pride. This merger is represented best by its largest sculpture “New Forest, Ancient Thrones” by @jordan_j_weber. taken in Detroit, Michigan by @ian.outside

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4 months ago

LEEWAY (n) /ˈlēˌwā/ “The Time, Space, or Freedom to Pursue”

The more I make and share it becomes clear my favorite way to see the work live is *with* people; The gallery is great, but home is where the heart is. For me, LEEWAYS is another avenue to connect people to place and for you, more accessible way to collect my works.

Launching with custom steel polaroids from my “Iron, Copper, Steel” (2024) installation featuring all Michigan landscapes originally shown at my solo show “CITY WILD” with @playgroundDetroit. This is a first offering of what will be intentional collections of pieces rooted in my explorations of place. Look out for more places for your wall, desk or body soon. Thank you for everything .🌱 taken in Michigan, USA by @ian.outside

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4 months ago

Join @planetdetroitnews for a walk & learn this Saturday at Detroit’s newest park: The Ralph C. Wilson at @detroitriverfront! We’re learning about the infrastructure, art and intention of this beautiful space for its inaugural Summer season. If you haven’t been yet, you don’t want to wait much longer— and if you have been, stop in to learn something new! taken in Detroit, Michigan by @ian.outside

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4 months ago

I’m late but…bears yall?? Do I need to bring the mace back from British Columbia?? 😂 taken in Detroit, Michigan by @ian.outside

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5 months ago