Marcus Glenn, shown in 2011, has a painting at the Wright Museum and a
A one-car downtown Detroit crash that killed a passenger this month leads to a felony charge against a nationally prominent painter and sculptor who was driving.
Marcus Glenn, shown in 2011, has a painting at the Wright Museum and a mural at Fiat Chrysler headquarters. (Park West Gallery photo)
Daniel Bethencourt of the Free Press reports on the case:
Marcus Glenn, 48, was charged with operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol causing death.
The crash happened on the night of Feb. 4, when Glenn was driving his wife and Hatta Olivia Funches, 44. While driving near West Jefferson and Griswold after 11 p.m., Glenn crashed into a guardrail, said Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office spokesperson Maria Miller in a news release.
Funches was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
One of Glenn's musical theme paintings.
The weeknight wreck occurred as he was entering or leaving the Lodge Freeway at Jefferson Avenue.
Glenn was arraigned Thursday morning before a magistrate at 36th District Court and released for a March 3 hearing after posting $7,500 of his $75,000 cash surety bond.
The lifelong Detroiter, who has a Corktown studio, attended the Center for Creative Studies on a full scholarship, according to a biography at Park West Gallery's site.
He has sold art in 67 countries to thousands of clients, the Southfield gallery says. The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit displays one of his works, and a 1998 mural is at Fiat Chrysler headquarters in Auburn Hills .
Clients include the Recording Academy, which showcased one of Glenn's mixed-media works -- a colorful acrylic on wood painting -- on its 2014 Grammy Awards program, posters and tickets.
Glenn's two-minute interview below was conducted in 2013 by Park West:
-- Alan Stamm