Cranbrook Artists at Detroit Month of Design 2025
August 27th, 2025
Each September, Design Core Detroit presents Detroit Month of Design, a citywide celebration of creativity that gathers designers and the greater community to celebrate Detroit’s role as a national and global design capital.
Cranbrook Academy of Art alumni and students representing 10 of our programs can be found in special events, exhibitions, installations, and open studios throughout the city. See below for how to catch them all. And if you are an alumnus and missing from this list, please let us know at artalumni@cranbrook.edu.
Open Studios
- September 6: Nine and One: Exhibition and Open Studios at Grand on River
Visit multiple artist studios at the Grand on the River Building, a multi-purpose venue for art studios, gallery, events, living space, and now, wine bar. Participating Academy artists include Nicholas Tilma (MFA 3D Design 2023). - September 13-14: Live/Work Cranbrook Academy of Art Alumni Studio Crawl
Visit Cranbrook Academy Alumni in their studios across Detroit and Pontiac. 30+ alumni are participating, including Ayako Aratani (MFA 3D Design 2016), Corrie Baldauf (MFA Fiber 2009), Lynn Bennett-Carpenter (MFA Fiber 2003), Tomas Caycedo (MFA Ceramics 2023), Sam Dienst (MFA Fiber 2021), Lisa Farris (MFA Ceramics 2024), Evan Fay (MFA 3D Design 2016), Amy Feigley-Lee (MFA Sculpture 2007), Jenn Gerrity (MFA Ceramics 2025), Nickie Gunning (MFA Ceramics 2021), Olivia Guterson (MFA Painting 2024), Brooke Herzing (MFA Ceramics 2023), Laith Karmo (MFA Ceramics 2006), Kira Keck (MFA Fiber 2022), Linda Kentoffio (MFA Print Media 2022), Steven Kuypers (MFA 4D Design 2021), Holliday Martindale (MFA Fiber 2016), Bradley Oechsler (MFA Ceramics 2021), Andrew O’Mara (MFA 3D Design 2014), Tryst Red (MFA Photography 2023), Hayden Allison Richer (MFA Ceramics 2018), Jeff Schofield (MFA Sculpture 2019), Lindy Marshew Shrewbridge (MFA Painting 2021), Ian John Solomon (MFA Photography 2024), Kim Swift (MFA 3D Design 2024), Benjamin Teague (MFA Ceramics 2006), Brach Tiller (MFA Painting 2021), Gregory Tom (MFA Ceramics 2005), Kesiena Wanogho (MFA 4D Design 2025), Mark VanderHeide (MFA Ceramics 2022), and Sophia Wojovich (MFA 3D Design 2021). - September 13: Open Studios at DIVE Studios
Resident artists Claudia Rivera Plaza (MFA Painting 2024), Martyna Alexander, Emilia Yang, S. Barber Kennedy, Cydney Camp (MFA Painting 2023), Cheyenne Lee, Marceline Mason (MFA Painting 2017), Joe Jagos, and Daniel Ribar (MFA Photography 2025) will showcase recent artworks as well as in-process projects. Light drinks will be available.
Exhibitions, Experiences, Fairs
- Sept. 4: The Art of Taste: Roaming Small Plates, Cocktails, and Wine Experience
ELYSIA (MFA Ceramics 2021) is among the collaborators of this celebratory culinary experience at the Detroit Foundation Hotel. - September 5: Design by Desire Exhibition
Participating Academy artists include Kate Donoghue (MFA Painting 2025) and Jeremy Noonan (MFA Fiber 2003). - September 6: MMODDULAR at the Metropolitan Museum of Design Detroit (MM-O-DD)
Among the featured works is a ceramic installation by mother-daughter collaborators Liisa (MFA Design 1996) and Elizabeth Salonen utilizing industrial mold-making techniques. - September 12 – October 4: Outside in the Middle at Matéria Gallery
Participating Academy artists include Aaron Blendowski (MFA 3D Design 2006) and Sophie Yan (MFA 3D Design 2017). - September 19: Candy Fashion Experience
Taylor Childs (MFA Fiber 2024) reflects on her family’s roots in Detroit’s hair industry, examining the rich relationship between Black hair and the city in this fashion experience at The Village Beauty & Barber Salon. - September 19-21: Art Clvb’s Detroit Warehouse Art & Design Fair
Explore contemporary, affordable works by emerging to mid-career artists in the iconic Boyer Campbell Building. Participating Academy artists include Ayako Aratani (MFA 3D Design 2016), Lilian Crum (MFA 2D Design 2012), Caroline Del Giudice (MFA Sculpture 2020), Sam Dienst (MFA Fiber 2021), Kate Donoghue (MFA Painting 2025), Lisa Farris (MFA Ceramics 2024), Maha Hmayed (MFA Photography 2025), KESSWA (MFA 4D Design 2024), Evan Mazellan (MFA Painting 2024), Maryangela Sanchez Rocca (MFA Industrial Design 2026), Rebekah Sweda (MFA Ceramics 2020), Hannah Vaughan (MFA 3D Design 2016), among others.
Talks and Workshops
- September 6: PIN-UP: An upcycling and pin felting workshop with Sophie Yan (MFA 3D Design 2017)
Sold out! - September 10: Free Contemporary Artist Prints at LANTERN
Participants will work with staff from Signal-Return and the Progressive Arts Studio Collective (PASC) to create one original artist print at no cost. Featured artists include PASC artists Nathaniel McNeal Jr. and Eric Green, and resident LANTERN artists Paul Verdell and Olivia Guterson (MFA Painting 2024). - September 17: Inclusion by Design: Artists, Community and the Creative Economy
Panel members Jova Lynne (MFA Photography 2017), Paulina Petkoski, and John Sloan III will focus on how artists, designers, and cultural leaders are using creative practices to build thriving communities and drive economic growth in Detroit. - September 20: Eventually Everything Connects: Collecting Design Panel Discussion
Join us in deSalle Auditorium for a discussion on collecting design with Andrew Satake Blauvelt (MFA Design 1988), Director of Cranbrook Art Museum, Katherine White, Curator of Design at The Henry Ford, and Shelley Selim, Curator of Automotive, Industrial, and Decorative Design at Detroit Institute of Arts. - September 28: Detroit Fiber Festival at the Fisher Building
Deborah Kawsky, Chapter President, Michigan Chapter of Docomomo US, gives the keynote address on the life and legacy of Ruth Adler Schnee (MFA Design 1946), including how she used Detroit as a backdrop and muse for her fabric and textile design. The festival will also feature live demonstrations and a vendor/maker market.
Learn more:
