Cranbrook Alumni Featured in Detroit Month of Design Highlights from Surface Magazine

Exhibition view of “Outside in the Middle” at Materia Gallery. Photo by Erik Henderson.

Several Cranbrook Academy of Art alumni were spotlighted in Surface magazine’s roundup of cultural highlights from this year’s Detroit Month of Design.

At Matéria Gallery in Core City, Outside in the Middle featured works by Sophie Yan (MFA 3D Design 2017) and Aaron Blendowski (MFA 3D Design 2006). The exhibition explored sustainable design through recycled textiles, CNC-milled wood, and craft-based pieces, emphasizing Detroit’s distinctive relationship to open green spaces.

Exhibition view of “Eventually Everything Connects: Mid-Century Modern Design in the US” at Cranbrook Art Museum. Photo by PD Rearick.

Meanwhile, Andrew Satake Blauvelt (MFA Design 1998), Director of the Cranbrook Art Museum, was noted for the exhibition Eventually Everything Connects, which presented more than 200 works of mid-century modern design and underscored Cranbrook’s pivotal role in shaping the movement.

Together, their contributions reflect the lasting influence of Cranbrook alumni on Detroit’s evolving design landscape and influential canon.

Learn more:

Cultural Highlights from This Year’s Detroit Month of Design – Surface Magazine

Industrial Design (formerly 3D Design) at Cranbrook Academy of Art