Detroit Art Galleries, Museums, Supplies & More

Best art galleries Detroit museums supplies classes your area

Today we will all be going on a deep dive into art in Detroit and our opening section will fully cover the best art galleries and museums near you.

After that we will get into a variety of other topics like local art supply stores, events, festivals, dealers, appraisers, walking tours, sculptures and statues, art classes, studios for rent, and the top frame shops in your area.

If you are after any specific section you can jump straight to it using the table of contents on the left and we are also including a Detroit art map with all of the various places we mention throughout the post pinned on it.

And anyone who is interested is welcome to read about all the best art galleries and museums around the Midwest right there.

Best Art Galleries & Museums In Detroit

If you want to check out the best art galleries and museums in Detroit you can head to:

The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) is home to one of the counties largest and most important art collections that you can check out from 9am to 4pm Tuesday through Thursday, until 9pm on Friday, and from 10am to 5pm on weekends. Expect to find over 65,000 artworks from the ancient civilizations to the present providing visitors with an opportunity to interact with human ingenuity from all over the world.

The N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing people together through the arts. George N’Namdi, a well-known art dealer in your area with over 30 years of gallery ownership experience, designed this cutting-edge complex that features four exhibition spaces as well as indoor and outdoor performance venues while keeping regular hours of 11am to 6pm Tuesday through Saturday.

The Scarab Club has been involved in the local cultural scene for over a century hosting numerous exhibitions, workshops, and events. Simply visiting the Scarab Club facility is an experience in and of itself and can be done from noon to 5pm every day except for Monday and Tuesday when they are closed.

The Heidelberg Project is an outdoor art installation in the McDougall-Hunt neighborhood just north of the city’s historically African-American Black Bottom district. Tyree Guyton was the founder back in 1896 with the help of his wife Karen and grandfather Sam Mackey.

555Arts is a non-profit organization that has quickly expanded to encompass a diverse range of artists and has begun presenting events that provided an alternative venue for rising local artists.

The Museum of Contemporary Art was founded in 1995 by Detroit Free Press art critic Marsha Miro and the late Susanne Feld Hilberry who was the renowned owner of the defunct Susanne Hilberry Gallery. The former auto dealership’s 22,000 square foot structure has been refurbished to retain its original character and you can check it out from 11am to 5pm on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday or until 8pm on Thursday and Friday.

Each year the Elaine L. Jacob Gallery hosts four to five exhibitions featuring works by emerging and established contemporary artists that are viewable from noon to 5pm Wednesday through Friday. Visiting artists and curators give studio visits, gallery talks, lectures, discussions, and performances in conjunction with the exhibitions for students, professors, staff, and the community at large.

Warren Tri-County Fine Arts (WTCFA) is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1967 to improve people’s lives via fine arts. WTCFA has developed programs to encourage artists and fine art for Warren and the neighboring towns throughout its history and the center opened to the public in 2003 as the most recent addition.

Black Box is open from 7am to 6pm Tuesday through Saturday and from 9am to 2pm on Sunday and is Dearborn’s top coffee shop, art gallery, and event space promoting and showing premium handcrafted coffee, the work of local, national, and international artists, and engaging in mind expanding programs.

The Sisson Art Gallery is housed in the MacKenzie Fine Arts Center at Henry Ford College and you can see what they have to offer from 6am to 10pm Monday through Friday or from 6:30am to 5pm on Saturday.

Materials & Supplies Near You

The best places to buy art supplies and materials in your area are:

Arts & Scraps uses recycled materials to assist people of all ages and abilities in thinking, learning, and creating.

The Blick Art Stores near you have a large selection of supplies, craft supplies, and one-of-a-kind gift products providing a great collection for professional artists, educators, and students alike.

Dollar Tree is a good place to buy basic cheap art supplies in your area.

Shows & Events

Some of the top local art shows, festivals, and events would be:

The Palmer Park Art Fair is held at a 200-acre park that is close to many of the city’s wealthiest neighborhoods. It follows Woodward Avenue which is a key commuting route and their 50-100 participants demonstrate that high-quality artwork sells throughout the city.

Detroit Art Week is an annual festival of contemporary art and culture that invites visitors and residents to join exhibitions, studio visits, performances, panel discussions, and different special programs over the course of five days. There will also be various parties, music, nightlife, and gastronomic experiences that make the city so great.

Murals In The Market is a yearly event that takes place in Eastern Market that brings local artists and others from around the world together. Over the last five years 1xRUN and their fine-art gallery Inner State have curated and produced over 50 murals in Eastern Market and over 100 murals throughout the city.

Art Dealers & Appraisers

You can try to buy a new cool piece or find out how much something is worth at these art dealers and appraisers near you:

Jo Griffin established Jo’s Gallery in 1996 and they provide premium art ranging from one-of-a-kind originals to high quality prints, sculptures, and jewelry by artists from all over the country.

The Detroit Artists Market (DAM) was established in the midst of the Great Depression in 1932 when Mrs. H. Lee Simpson organized a group of local art patrons who realized the need for a venue for artists to show and sell their work. Today the market is a non-profit gallery dedicated to modern art and bridging the gap between artists, collectors, and communities.

Walking Tours

On a beautiful day you can find unique art near you at:

Linda Yellin founded Feet on the Street Tours in 2007 bringing new enthusiasm and passion to the city and region. She began organizing events and excursions to encourage friends, family, and community groups to experience, explore, and appreciate the city as a result of her personal interests and as a method to help inspire more positive attitudes about it.

The Lincoln Street Art Park is an abandoned industrial site turned sculpture park with graffiti and art made from recycled materials. The Park is planned to expand over time to satisfy the needs of future explorers and inhabitants.

Murals In The Market from the events section also offers a great opportunity to get some sun and see all kinds of creative things each September at Eastern Market.

Sculptures & Statues

Framing art supply stores Detroit lessons near you studios

There are some really nice sculptures and statues in your area like:

  • City Sculpture Park at 955 W Alexandrine St
  • Josephine F Ford Sculpture Garden at John R St & E Kirby St
  • The Spirit of Detroit at 2 Woodward Ave
  • Michigan Soldiers’ & Sailors’ Monument at 800 Woodward Ave
  • Hart Plaza at 1 Hart Plaza
  • Menorah In The D at 1 Cadillac Sq

City Sculpture is an art park that features large-scale works by Cass Corridor artist Robert Sestok. The park is committed to exposing the public to experimental sculpture work through a rotating exhibition schedule and a visiting artist program.

DIA collaborated with the College for Creative Studies to develop the Josephine F. Ford Sculpture Garden in 2005 while all of the pieces in the garden are from the DIA’s collection and have been loaned to CCS.

The Spirit of Detroit is a monument with a massive bronze figure made by Marshall Fredericks that is located on Woodward Avenue near the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center.

Randolph Rogers created and then unveiled the Michigan Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument on April 9, 1872.

Hart Plaza has long been a major riverfront destination as well as a location for summer festivals, concerts, and special events having opened in 1975 and accommodating up to 40,000 people. The 14-acre plaza was named after the late U.S. Senator Philip Hart and is located immediately south of the intersection of Woodward and Jefferson Avenues.

During Chanuka the Menorah In The D is a 26-foot-tall menorah that stands in downtown.

Detroit Art Classes

Whether you need lessons for kids or are an adult who wants to grow their skills you have some options. Some of the best Detroit art schools and classes can be found at:

The Detroit Academy of Arts & Sciences is a tuition-free public school district that serves all children in Michigan which was launched in 1997 by Rev. Jim Holley.

On the Avenue of Fashion Art in Motion is an independently operated ceramics studio and gallery.

Art Shed Detroit was founded by a collaboration between an art teacher and a student in order to give the best learning environment for creatives to develop. Because they are a small studio they are able to truly adapt their lectures to provide chances for pupils that other art centers do not.

The Detroit School of Arts is a nationally recognized arts and academic high school that provides a strong college preparatory academic and arts curriculum along with pre-professional study in vocal music, instrumental music, music technology, dance, theater, speech, radio and tv production, visual arts, and visual communications.

Lil’ Dumplins introduces youngsters to the arts in your area through play by offering ballet and creative movement classes.

Glass Academy has a variety of class experiences which are meant to provide you with a unique introduction to the world of glassmaking. You can try out different techniques in each unique class or for a more hands-off approach BYOB and play designer to your own one-of-a-kind glassware that they build for you during their Happy Hour event.

Painting with a Twist is a local painting studio where clients can come in and create a work of art with the assistance of their employees. You will use acrylic paints in their workshops, normally on a 1620 inch canvas, and they will teach the class step by step how to accomplish the specific painting for the day.

Studios For Rent Near You

When you can’t wait to get that next project started rent out space at one of these art studios:

Corktown Studios is an artist collective in the re-emerging North Corktown neighborhood that provides cheap studio space for its members as well as exhibition space for local artists and the community.

Fortress Studios was founded in 2010 by Steven Kuypers and Steven McShane and is dedicated to offering low-cost housing and studio spaces for budding and established artists working in their industry.

Over 35 talented artists in your area including painters, sculptors, photographers, and woodworkers have studios at the Pioneer Building.

The Detroit Artists’ Test Lab is a business incubator for artists offering tools, space, and an environment creating a space that stimulates them.

555 Art also has studio space available.

Framing

A frame can transform a regular looking piece or picture to that next level and some of the best places for local art framing in town are:

Eric’s I’ve Been Framed specializes in the one-of-a-kind employing a number of techniques including shadow boxes, plexiglass boxes of varying depths, complicated frame layouts, and other aesthetically unique designs to make your piece a one-of-a-kind work of art without overshadowing the focal point.

Sherwood Forest Art Gallery is a family-run art studio located in the historic Avenue of Fashion that specializes in picture framing, photo enlargements, restorations, engraving/awards, photo mugs, and a variety of other unique art pieces.

Village Picture Frame & Art Gallery has been providing excellent service to consumers in the Metro area for all of their framing, art, and interior design needs since 1984.

Frame World features one of the best ranges of custom frames and mat boards near you. They can frame anything including posters, photos, and paintings, as well as unusual items such as dishes, shirts, badges, flowers, masks, and more. Jo’s Gallery who we mentioned earlier is another good place for framing.

Some of you may also want to read our posts on:

Have Fun Enjoying The Detroit Art Scene

After reading all of that you should have a much better understanding of the full art scene near you. We listed the best local galleries, museums, events, shows, supply stores, dealers, appraisers, walking tours, sculptures, classes, studios, and framers that you may want to check out.

Those who are still reading this probably love art as much as we do. If so go ahead and use the comments to share your own tips or to let us know if you think we got anything wrong.

We hope you enjoy your time at the best Detroit art galleries, museums, supply stores, or doing whatever else you plan to do with the info.

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This post and all of the posts on our site are edited by Dan Soloman who has been a huge fan of art since he was a little kid. His mother was a good local artist, and she taught him the trade from a very early age. He studied art and its history in both high school and college, has worked at multiple galleries, and recently has begun creating and editing online content for this site and some other online media platforms.

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