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The Scene: Craft in Detroit

Seven local artists share the people and spaces that define this city, which is built on the handmade.

By Jennifer Vogel
Artist contributors: Zahra Almajidi, Chris Schanck, Kimberly Lavonne, Andre Sandifer, Andy Koupal, Tiff Massey, Gabriel Craig, Brandi Clark
June 7, 2023

Summer 2023

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Photo by Scott Hocking, courtesy of the artist and David Klein Gallery, Detroit

Scott Hocking created Nike of the Strait, a site-specific sculpture along the Detroit Riverwalk, using scrap metal buoys and channel markers.

Each edition of The Scene you’ll get an in-depth look at craft in a single city. Published twice per year, this special section goes beyond traditional travel articles. Instead it offer in-depth look at a city’s craft scene through the voices and perspectives of its artists.

In the following pages you’ll find lists of artists and craft-related spaces in Detroit that are based on the recommendations of local contributors. This coverage is not comprehensive and we encourage you to continue exploring more of Detroit’s craft scene.

In this Scene:

ARTIST CONTRIBUTORS:
Zahra Almajidi, Chris Schanck, Kimberly Lavonne, Andre Sandifer, Andy Koupal, Tiff Massey, Gabriel Craig, Brandi Clark

EXPLORE BALTIMORE:
Where to Buy Supplies, Museums, Artists’ Spaces, Schools and Workshops, Galleries, Studios, and Markets, Coffee, Donuts, Two Cafes, a Bar, and a Hotel

Introduction

by Jennifer Vogel

Detroit has risen, fallen, and risen again. Situated along the Detroit River, which connects Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie and creates a section of the US–Canada border, the city is known as the birthplace of Motown Records and Ford Motor Company, the home of Robert Graham’s Monument to Joe Louis bronze fist sculpture, and the site of the largest municipal bankruptcy filing in American history. Its population is a fraction of what it was in 1950.

Now, with myriad restoration efforts completed or underway—Ford is developing a “mobility innovation” campus in and around the iconic passenger rail hub Michigan Central Station—and a thriving craft art scene, Detroit appears to have found firm footing. “Ten years ago, the city was about to enter a municipal bankruptcy,” says metalsmith Gabriel Craig, a Detroit native who runs Smith Shop with his creative partner, Amy Weiks. “Today, the city is still culturally vibrant and enjoys incredible art, music, and dining. Some of the raw and rough creative scene has been polished as we have seen waves of development and gentrification. Alas, the days of $100 houses and $100-per-month studio rent are gone. The city has made major strides in developing its parks and greenways, particularly along the riverfront.”

“Detroit is the most underrated major city in the country,” Craig says. “We love it here.”

The city’s improvements have come at a cost. As Detroit real estate prices increased, it became tougher for artists to find space in which to work; some artists of long standing were displaced. “It’s very hard to find space in the city of Detroit,” says interdisciplinary artist and lifelong Detroiter Tiff Massey. “There’s so much politics to what’s going on here. There is inflation on pricing, speculation, the cannabis industry—all affecting the spaces that would be potentially desirable for artists.”

Photo by Darrel Ellis

Kyle Dubay in the Woodward Throwbacks woodshop.

Combine gentrification with complex city and county bureaucracies and you have a landscape that can be hard to navigate, says Massey. “We’re trying to adapt. However, this thing changes all the time. It’s definitely not the easiest place.” While a lot of things can turn you off about the city, says Massey, “Detroiters love Detroit. It’s a magical ass place.”

Over several days in early June, Detroit will host the Glass Art Society’s (GAS) annual conference, which will feature speakers, demonstrations, and a mobile hot shop from the Corning Museum of Glass. GAS, which is based in Seattle, timed the conference to coincide with the Michigan Glass Project festival, a raucous music, glass, and art event that raises money for arts curricula in Detroit public schools. A documentary about the project, called Art That Gives Back, will premier during the combined event, which is expected to draw thousands, including glassblowers from across the country.

“Detroit has a long and proud history as an industrial city and a transformative place,” says GAS’s executive director, Brandi Clark. “And in recent years, it has undergone a rebirth and growth as a hardworking city of creatives, innovators, and change-makers.”

“They have such a large flame-working community there,” Clark adds. “The Michigan Glass Project—we are so impressed with what they do for their local community. We feel so lucky to be working with them. They are one of the main reasons we chose Detroit.”

For American Craft’s first installment of The Scene, which looks at the craft landscape in a single city, we asked seven Detroit artists to share their perspectives on the place they call home. They described what’s most inspirational about Detroit, even including its suburbs and enclave cities such as Hamtramck; the best places to get supplies; where craft artists hang out; and the local artists they most admire. Clark provided picks, too, based on her glass-focused scouting trips. The result is a rich, if subjective, portrait of this complex, ever-changing metropolis.

Jennifer Vogel is senior editor of American Craft.

Photo by Lynne Avadenka

Taylor Jenkins, retail manager at the Signal-Return shop.

Zahra Almajidi

Visual artist, metalsmith

@z.alm.a

Almajidi has lived in Detroit for more than 20 years, since the age of 5. “The city and the art scene seem to go through constant change, and while there is always some art-related thing happening, we seem to have lost quite a few opportunities and spaces as well,” she says. “It’s important to acknowledge that gentrification has played a significant role in the city’s cultural shift. However, there are many people who are truly invested in the city, and many have continuously worked to foster a supportive space for people to make and share work. I’m constantly seeing new residency spaces, galleries, grant opportunities, and creative events popping up. There’s a lot of innovation among the local artist community, and a lot of people are making really exciting and impactful work.”

ARTISTS ALMAJIDI ADMIRES:
“Lately, I’ve been most excited to engage with sculptor and metal fabricator Caroline del Giudice; jewelry maker, performance artist, and sculptor Lauren Kalman; and furniture maker, functional sculptor, and designer Aaron Blendowski. They’re all consistently experimenting with form, taking risks in their practice, and maintaining a high level of craftsmanship in whatever they make. They’re somehow doing all this while also working full-time jobs. And they’re just good people, so that’s a plus.”

Photo by Rebecca Frantz

Portrait of Zahra Almajidi.

Chris Schanck

Furniture designer

@chrisschanck

Schanck came to Detroit in 2007 to attend Cranbrook Academy of Art. In 2011, he moved to an eastside neighborhood known as Banglatown, which is home to many Bangladeshi immigrants. “When I first moved into the city, there were nearly no commercial galleries supporting the local scene—and the larger cultural institutions seemed willfully ignorant of the creative community in their own backyard,” Schanck says. “Despite this lack of support, the artists themselves endured, innovated, and persisted. This is a community of the most resourceful, committed, and tenacious artists I’ve ever met. If New York is about finding a place in a status-driven art world, in Detroit one will find an enduring belief in community, self-sufficiency, and in art as an end in itself.”

ARTISTS SCHANCK ADMIRES:
“Jack Craig is the hardest-working designer I know; his works are on another level, and he’s my most trusted confidant as well. The textile work of Carole Harris is beautifully layered and textured, from a master’s hand. Brian DuBois, a Detroit native and fellow Cranbrook alum, is best described as a techno craftsman for his love of music and his mastery on the keyboard or the table saw.”

Photo courtesy of Friedman Benda and Chris Schanck

Chris Schanck among works including The Universe is Left-handed (hand in left foreground and white “totem” at back left), steel, polystyrene, aluminum foil, resin, glass; Fluorescence (chandelier), steel, sticks, found objects, polyurea, resin; and The Eye of the Little God. (mirror on back wall), steel, wood, polystyrene, polyurea, aluminum foil, resin.

Kimberly Lavonne

Ceramist

kimberlylavonnestudio.com | @kimberly_lavonne

LaVonne moved to Detroit in 2020. “There is so much to explore and discover in Detroit,” she says. “The architecture alone stands out, from the Fisher Building to the Guardian Building downtown. I’ve also fallen in love with biking on the riverwalk, which runs from downtown toward Belle Isle and the Dequindre Cut. The amount and variety of work being made all over the city—its hubs of creativity are inviting and inspiring. The support for the arts also seems to be really strong.”

ARTISTS LAVONNE ADMIRES:
Visual artist and metalsmith Zahra Almajidi; the Glastonbury Collective, founded by clay sculptor Sean VandenBrink and located in an old stone house; interdisciplinary artist and metalsmith Tiff Massey; sculptor Ebitenyefa Baralaye; furniture makers Bo Shepherd and Kyle Dubay of Woodward Throwbacks; the metalsmiths at Smith Shop; and furniture designer Chris Schanck.

Photo by Bruno Torres

Kimberly LaVonne with recent works Still Life (left), ceramic, 12.25 x 12 x 7.5 in., and Double Neck Pitcher (right), ceramic, 21 x 11 x 10 in.

Andre Sandifer

Furniture designer, woodworker

sandiferstudio.com | @sandifer_studio

Sandifer grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and moved to Detroit in 2011 with his then creative partner Abir Ali. The two launched the furniture studio Ali Sandifer. That effort was put on hold, and Sandifer recently started his own studio. “Detroit is very big and very small at the same time,” he says. “It’s a sprawling place, but sparse. The resilience of Detroit is very true. It cultivates this kind of determination.”

ARTISTS SANDIFER ADMIRES:
“I really like Smith Shop. I love their work. I love the husband and wife team of Gabriel Craig and Amy Weiks. I love that they employ local people, too. They are true to their craft. I also like Donut Shop design,” which is run by Jake Saphier and Ian Klipa.

Photo by Ali Lapetina

Portrait of Andre Sandifer.

Andy Koupal

Glass artist

andykoupal.com | @andykoupal

Born in Illinois, Koupal grew up in Metro Detroit. In 2012, after working elsewhere, he returned to the city. During Detroit’s hard times, he says, “There were a lot of generalizations being brushed by the media that I think missed the complexities of the city, its history, and its potential, which are important to plenty of individuals in the area experiencing these events differently. Relative to the art scene, it’s undeniable that these events put a magnifying glass on the city and coalesced the movement of people, studios, and galleries. Through it all, Detroit continues to be a vibrant, creative community. I feel very fortunate to be part of a close-knit local glass community. People in all mediums are more than willing to help out, answer questions, lend supplies in a pinch, bounce ideas, and overall support each other.”

ARTISTS KOUPAL ADMIRES:
Interdisciplinary artist and metalsmith Tiff Massey; installation artist, photographer, and sculptor Scott Hocking; sculptor, glass artist, and furniture maker John Rizzo; ceramist Tom Phardel; multimedia artist Tyrrell Winston; and letterpress artist Amos Paul Kennedy Jr., proprietor of Kennedy Prints!

Photo by Ryan Thompson

Portrait of Andy Koupal.

Tiff Massey

Interdisciplinary artist, metalsmith

tiffmassey.com | @tiff_massey

Massey is a Detroit native. “I am from Detroit-Detroit,” she says. “What’s so interesting is, as Detroiters, we have been getting our ass beat by Detroit. But we are so loyal. We believe in it and know there is no other place like it. It’s really the people. I hear, ‘I went here and met these people and they are so nice.’ That’s how we are. The majority of us came from the South. We are a small country town, but it’s huge. The culture and the vibe—there is no beef here. It’s nothing but love in the arts community all the time.”

ARTISTS MASSEY ADMIRES:
“Graem Whyte is dope as hell. He makes sculptures. The first time I got introduced to his work, I was like ‘oh yeah.’ He and his wife are in Hamtramck; they started Popps Packing.

They have a residency. They bought a couple of cribs. They are physically turning those places around. Also, Mario Moore, Jamea Richmond-Edwards, and Ijania Cortez. Rashaun Rucker. My friend Logan Merry, he’s a fabricator but he’s dope. Deep End Studio is his company. He’s dope and I love him. His spirit is sweet. I have love for a lot of artists. I just can’t do a dissertation on who the hell is dope. There is a lot of sauce in Detroit. It’s something in the water.”

Photo courtesy of Tiff Massey

Tiff Massey wears her Double Strand necklace, brass, 13 x 16 x 3.5 in., and various rings she designed and made.

Gabriel Craig

Metalsmith

smithshop.com | @smithshopdetroit

Craig is a fifth-generation Detroiter. He’s lived in the city his whole life except during a brief period in his 20s. “We’re a city built for two million people with less than half that population now,” Craig says. “We have all the arts and cultural institutions of a city several times our size but without the crowds and exorbitant cost of living.”

ARTISTS CRAIG ADMIRES:
Hunt & Noyer Furniture, launched by Kyle Huntoon; the furniture design and build studio Donut Shop; Ceramics School, cofounded by Virginia Torrence and Henry Crissman; fashion accessory designer and maker Darrin Brouhard and his Daylight Factory; and bladesmith Niko Nicolaides.

Photo by Nate Johnson

Portrait of Gabriel Craig.

Brandi Clark

Executive Director of the Glass Art Society

glassart.org | @glassartsociety

Clark lives and works in Prague, Czechia. GAS chose Detroit for its June conference because of “the strong sense of community, connection, and crossover that is so prevalent in the city. Detroit has a thriving arts scene, with a wide range of artists, musicians, and performers working in a variety of mediums and a host of strong arts and community organizations helping to support them. The stars aligned,” Clark says. “There was no way we couldn’t have our conference there.”

ARTISTS GAS RECOMMENDS:
Axiom Glass, featuring the talents of Andrew and Robert Madvin; the glassblowing school Michigan Hot Glass Workshop; Epiphany Studios, run by April Wagner; Glass Academy, the studio of Michelle Plucinsky and Chris Nordin; glass artist Kim Harty; Drew Kups, cofounder of the Michigan Glass Project; Christian Hedman; Jeremy Ross; and Adam Thomas.

Photo courtesy of Brandi Clark

Portrait of Brandi Clark

Places and Spaces

Where to Buy Supplies

“I go to Acrylic Specialties & Plastics in Madison Heights when I need acrylic for projects,” says Almajidi.

“I do woodwork. I use Armstrong Millworks. It’s a fourth-generation, family-owned business. They are supportive and really nice, and they have a great selection of wood,” says Sandifer.

“I get most of my metalsmithing and jewelry making supplies from Armstrong Tool & Supply in Livonia and CR Hill Co. in Berkley,” says Almajidi.

“Federal Pipe & Supply Co. is right down the street from our shop on East McNichols for most of our steel and metal needs,” says Koupal. Craig adds, “Leon and Debbe Saperstein are the proprietors. It’s been a locally owned business” since 1920.

“We go to Hamtramck Hardware for basic tools and supplies and to Larry’s Welding Supply for gas and propane,” says Koupal.

“A big shout-out to my dudes in the warehouse at Performance Packaging in Taylor, Michigan, where we get bubble wrap,” says Koupal.

“I go to Rovin Ceramics in Ann Arbor for supplies and Dick Blick in Detroit,” says LaVonne.

Photo courtesy of Dabls MBAD African Bead Museum

Founder and curator Olayami Dabls at the Dabls MBAD African Bead Museum in Detroit.

Museums

The Arab American National Museum in Dearborn is dedicated to recording the Arab American experience through its extensive collections of historical documents, artifacts, and Arab American art.

“Local artist Olayami Dabls and his ongoing installation and museum, Dabls MBAD African Bead Museum, should be high on the list for any local or visiting craftsperson,” says Koupal.

The venerable Detroit Institute of Arts is located in a century-old Beaux-Arts building covered in white marble; several years of renovations were completed in 2007.

The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Dearborn features interactive exhibits on agricultural machinery, American furniture, presidential vehicles, Buckminster Fuller’s circular aluminum house, and more.

The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, housed in a 22,000-square-foot former auto dealership reimagined by architect Andrew Zago, features exhibitions and public events that further social change and understanding.

Photo courtesy of Dabls MBAD African Bead Museum

The museum covers nearly a city block.

Artists’ Spaces

“Although potentially unrecognizable to many artists who came up in its community, the Cass Corridor has to be mentioned as an immensely important artistic hub,” says Koupal.

“Simone DeSousa Gallery often exhibits longtime Detroit artists and craftspeople who honed their careers there. Dally in the Alley, an arts and music festival in the neighborhood,” has been taking place for more than four decades.

“Omnicorp Detroit is a mixed studio space,” says LaVonne. “My boyfriend works out of this studio, which is located in Eastern Market. It’s a really interesting space, with a mix of metalsmiths, furniture makers, mapmakers, and photographers working alongside each other.”

“Although going through changes, the Russell Industrial Center still houses hundreds of artists and musicians in a sprawling multimillion-square-foot former auto plant. One of its longtime tenants, Michigan Hot Glass Workshop, hosts events that bring the local glass community together,” says Koupal. June’s Michigan Glass Project festival is also scheduled to take
place there.

The Scarab Club, founded in 1907 by a group of artists and patrons, includes a gallery, studios, a walled garden, and community space where groups such as the Fiber Club gather.

“Spot Lite basically became one of the hottest spaces, period. They curate art exhibitions, music shows—all genres get played there. It’s one of those places where I will see quite a bit of art that’s outside of a designated gallery,” says Massey.

Talking Dolls is an experimental studio and community space on Detroit’s eastside.

Photo courtesy of Russell Industrial Center

The Russell Industrial Center, spanning several buildings. and millions of square feet, provides artist work space.

Schools and Workshops

“At Ceramics School, which is the studio I work out of, Henry and Virginia have created a really lovely community environment and hold classes in throwing and hand-building. They also have several artists in residence throughout the year,” says LaVonne. Schanck adds, “Ceramics School teaches classes to community members and artists and also has a residency program. They are incredibly generous and talented. Their practice is centered on how their lives and work dovetail to make a more familiar community.”

“The College for Creative Studies and Wayne State University are directly next to each other and have each fostered countless artists, designers, and musicians in their classrooms and studios,” says Koupal. “The Woodward Lecture Series is an unbelievable example of CCS showcasing visiting speakers, all free to the public.”

Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, with its classes, programming, and art museum, is a significant part of Detroit’s creative ecosystem.

Pewabic Pottery is a ceramic art and architectural tile studio and school established in 1903. One of the oldest continuously operating potteries in the country, Pewabic played a significant role in Detroit’s Arts and Crafts Movement.

“I suggest POST, which is a shop as well as a space that holds workshops on embroidery, screen printing, tapestry weaving, woodworking, and jewelry,” says LaVonne.

Photo courtesy of Ceramics School

The communal studio at Ceramics School in Hamtramck.

Galleries, Studios, and Markets

David Klein Gallery, with locations in Detroit and Birmingham, champions local and national craft artists.

The nonprofit DetroitArtists Market, founded in 1932, showcases local work in its gallery and gift shop.

The Detroit Urban Craft Fair, launched almost two decades ago by Carey Gustafson and Bethany Nixon of Handmade Detroit, features everything from jewelry to leather goods. It takes place every December.

“One space where you can sell your goods is Eastern Market. It’s one of the oldest markets in the country. On the weekend, you can go and get fresh vegetables. People sell craftwork, too. It’s a pretty big space. It comes alive on the weekend,” says Sandifer.

Established in 1971, Habatat Detroit Fine Art in Royal Oak is the largest and oldest glass art gallery in the country.

Hatch Art, housed in a former police headquarters in Hamtramck, is a gallery with studios and a shared workspace that hosts events and classes. It also maintains the folk art installation Hamtramck Disneyland.

I.M. Weiss Gallery is on a mission to nurture a new generation of Detroit craft artists and designers.

Library Street Collective presents programming and exhibitions that connect local and international arts communities and support the work of nonprofits.

Playground Detroit is a creative agency, art gallery, and event space.

“Popps Packing has been a pioneer in fostering the community around them. They rehabilitated a foreclosed home into a gallery and residency program,” says Schanck.

Signal-Return is a nonprofit print shop that preserves and teaches traditional letterpress techniques, selling prints, posters, cards, and maps.

Wasserman Projects is an evolving program of art, design, and music that hosts exhibitions and conversations.

Photo courtesy of Habatat Detroit

Inside Habatat Detroit Fine Art, featuring North Carolina artist Alex Bernstein’s Neo Half-Moon, 2019, cast and cut glass, 6 x 18 x 2 in.

Coffee, Donuts, Two Cafes, a Bar, and a Hotel

The Congregation is a coffee shop in a converted and restored church that features a stainless steel art window made by renowned local sculptors the Nordin Brothers.

“The Detroit Foundation Hotel has a beautiful bar and restaurant in an old converted firehouse. Kim Harty, head of glass at the College for Creative Studies and co-chair of the GAS conference, has a glass installation of ‘cumulus bulbs’ on the first floor,” says Clark.

“The Skip bar, which is an alley full of public art and tables, is a wonderful place to hang out and talk and spend an evening,” says Clark.

Trinosophes is an artist-run cafe inside a former spice-processing warehouse that serves vegetarian fare and hosts exhibitions, readings, concerts, and film screenings. The affiliated Trinosophes Projects runs a record label and publishes a quarterly arts and literary journal.

“This place I hang out, Two Birds, is a little bar. It’s a hole in the wall. They are just selling drinks. They sell soft serve, too. It’s in a family-oriented neighborhood. Everybody gets what they want. They do pop-ups. Every day there is a new small business selling food there,” says Massey.

“When I’m in a conference city, I feel that I have to try out bars and restaurants. One of my favorites is Yellow Light Coffee & Donuts, which is owned by Niko Dimitrijevic, a former glassmaker who became a donut maker,” says Clark.

Jennifer Vogel is senior editor of American Craft.

Photo courtesy of the Detroit Foundation Hotel

The Apparatus Room at the Detroit Foundation Hotel.

This article was made possible with support from the Windgate Foundation.

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