A new television show called MetroArts Detroit, produced at Wayne State University, will begin airing on Detroit Public Television, Channel 56, Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m., starting on April 25, 2012.

MetroArts is the first show produced with Wayne State student crewmembers at the new 5057 Midtown Studio. The Midtown Studio is a cooperative venture between Wayne State University's College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts, the Department of Communication and Detroit Public TV Channel 56.

MetroArts Detroit is a program that features artists from the Metropolitan Detroit area who represent the disciplines of visual, performing and communication arts. Guests on the first show are film director, Christi Palmer; director of Matrix Theatre, Sean Neathercott; and artistic director of DDC dance Barbara Sellinger. Other guests in later shows include award winning vocal entertainer Stevie Soul; singer- songwriters Sky Covington and Monica Blaire; founder of Art of Motion Dance Theatre, Karen Prall; bluesman, Paul Miles; professor of jazz, Chris Collins; composer James Hartway; actor Steve Blackwood; artist Timothy Orikri; and musicians Rio and the Rockabilly Revival Band. For the complete line-up of guests, visit http://www.metroartsdetroit.com.

The goal of the show is to bring awareness to up-and-coming artists as well as support those artists who've worked their entire lives in the Metro Detroit area by being arts advocates and taking active roles in their communities. Each show is comprised of two or three artist segments, with guests who talk about their current work and their future endeavors. Depending on the discipline, the artists either perform or showcase their creative works during their segments. This season's host is Wayne State student Shayna Fields-Clark. The producers are Gary Cendrowski, Kelly Gottesman and Kim Piper-Aiken.

Established in 1986, Wayne State's College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts serves more than 2,500 students majoring in 16 undergraduate and 13 graduate programs through the Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance, the James Pearson Duffy Department of Art and Art History, the Department of Music and the Department of Communication. The college's size, diversity and creative energy make it a major force in the life of Wayne State and metropolitan Detroit. Wayne State University, located in the heart of Detroit's Midtown Cultural Center, is a premier urban research institution offering more than 400 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 32,000 students.