Touring the Detroit Design Renaissance with Buick

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The week before last, Buick kindly flew me to their headquarters for an event. I'll admit I was a little skeptical. Not because it was Buick–my grandma has always driven their cars so I have a huge nostalgia for the brand–but because I was curious about how much there would be to see in Detroit. Yet when it comes to travel I'm up for anything, so I hopped a plane to Motor City! 

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I quickly changed my mind. The event was organized around something that's been brewing in Detroit for the past number of years: a bonafide design renaissance, the likes of which many other midwestern cities are also experiencing. The Buick team partnered with Re:View Contemporary Gallery to take bloggers on a tour of Detroit-based artists' studios. I was in post-industrial heaven.

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Creatives are flocking to Detroit largely because studio space is so inexpensive, the fabrication tools they need are readily accessible, and because there's a huge community of like-minded makers. They're hungry to create 'something out of nothing', as the founder of the Re:View Gallery put it. I was impressed and humbled by the talents I met on the tour.

Plus I was thrilled to see how supportive Buick is of this community–how the same furniture designer who made the woven stool in the first image collage also works with Buick's designers on automotive interiors, for example–and how a big company is helping small individuals pursuing careers in the arts. And I'm not gonna lie, I was thrilled to drive those fancy-pants cars too 😉

P.S. The four studios we toured were those of letterpress printer Bryan Baker, furniture designer Andy Kem, sculptor Adam Shirley, and sculptor Graem Whyte. Photos and very amateurish but endearing video by me. Thank you SO much to the Buick team for inviting me to Detroit. This really was a job very well done by all.

  1. Cool little trip to Detroit! Actually, I love it cause as a European I only relate the automobile industry to Detroit and its slow and steady downfall. But sometimes a downfall on one hand ignites an uprise on an other end! Like the flocking creatives settling in Detroit. Interesting!

  2. Detroit has been on my list for a while because Husband lived there for a few years, but it definitely just went up a couple notches. What fun!

  3. Too cool! I love that this is happening in Detroit, and it’s amazing that the auto industry is supporting it.

  4. Good for Detroit. Welcoming in the art scene with cheap studio space is definitely the way to revive your city. I’ve found some great industrial-inspired wall art that seems like it has the same vibe as your photos. I’m excited to see what the art scene is like in ten years in Detroit.

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  6. How exciting! I really hope Detroit gets the surge of talent, creativity, and business that it deserves. I really hope to be reading more about them in places like Design Sponge, Dwell, and other design hot spots.

  7. i just happened upon your blog and read this entry..as a detroiter, it makes me happy to hear that you enjoyed your visit. so many people (including people who live here) love to kick detroit while it’s down. as an artist, i see it’s beauty and potential and i’m glad to know i’m definitely not the only one.

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