S. Kay Young

S. Kay Young and her family came to Detroit from Tennessee in 1953. She worked at the Detroit Institute of Arts for 10 year in the photo department and attended the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. Her photographs are in numerous private and corporate collections including The Detroit Institute of Arts, The University of Michigan, TCF Center in Detroit and the Kresge Foundation. Young has curated and judged numerous art exhibitions.

Kay’s large scale abstract tree images are included in ‘Lay of the Land’ 2025 at M Contemporary Art, Ferndale, MI, which also represents her work. Kay was featured in a digital exhibition at Holy Art in Barcelona, Spain in 2024. Her work was included in The Center for Creative Studies, Detroit, Alumni show in 2024. Kay co-curated and was a major contributor for the exhibition ‘Detroit Underground 69, the First Wave of Punk’ at metropolitan Museum of Design Detroit in 2022. Young was one of the cofounders of the Mighty Reel, Queer Detroit exhibition in 2022. Her large scale images were featured in 8 galleries throughout the greater Detroit area. In 2019 Young created a DNA quilt, 99 13inX19in self portrait shadow images, creating a106ft X155ft photographic installation at Detroit Artist Market.

In 2014, Young and her neurodivergent students were featured and won an Emmy on PBS 'Detroit Performs’ for an episode using photography as the art form.

Watch Detroit Performs Episode on PBS

Young has been a speaker at many non-profits across the country addressing her work, her identity and advocating for neurodivergent artists, and the LGBTQIA, community. Her images have graced the covers of numerous books and magazines on music, poetry and art. She has had five solo shows, including The Detroit Institute of Arts in 1998, sponsored by the Fuji and Chrysler Corporation.

S. Kay is an educator and activist. From 2019-2026 Young has held an artist residency with Michigan Arts Access, teaching photography and multi-media disciplines to neurodivergent adults and children. Young has taught a multi-media neurodivergent class in Milford for 15 years and teaches adult classes in photography. She curates exhibitions for her students in various spaces across the country which allows them to increase their income and gain confidence in their art.

Artworks are available for purchase through M Contemporary Art. Click below to browse, or email mc@mcontemporaryart.com for inquiries.

© S. Kay Young Photography LLC, 2026