Events
View upcoming events, and browse galleries from past events below:
Alexander Girard Architect: Creating Mid-Century Modern Masterpieces
During the mid-century period, Michigan attracted visionary architects, designers and theorists, including Alexander Girard. While much has been written about Girard's vibrantly colored and patterned textiles for Herman Miller, the story of his Detroit period (1937-53) -- encompassing interior and industrial design, exhibition curation and residential architecture -- has not been told. Alexander Girard Architect: Creating Midcentury Modern Masterpieces by Deborah Lubera Kawsky is the first comprehensive study of Girard's exceptional residential projects, specifically those concentrated in the ultra-traditional Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe. Join us to hear Kawsky talk about her book and research.
No registration is required.
Alexander Girard Mural Reveal July 20
July 20 marked the second reveal event for the newly-restored mural, created in 1952 by Alexander Girard for the dining porch of his home at 222 Lothrop in Grosse Pointe, MI.
Alexander Girard Mural Reveal May 20
May 20 marked the official reveal of the newly-restored mural, created in 1952 by Alexander Girard for the dining porch of his home at 222 Lothrop in Grosse Pointe, MI.
Detroit's "Design DNA": The DIA's 1949 For Modern Living Exhibition -- and Why it Matters Today
How can the legacy of Detroit's past - its "design DNA" - inspire Detroit artists, institutions and civic/business leaders of today and tomorrow?
Join art historian Deborah Lubera Kawsky to explore a watershed moment in Detroit design history: the 1949 For Modern Living exhibition at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Centered on the DIA’s Great Hall (totally transformed with nine fully-furnished modern-style rooms), For Modern Living marshalled midcentury masters Alexander Girard, Minoru Yamasaki, Eero Saarinen, Florence Knoll, Charles Eames and others to create a “new ideal of beauty” for the modern era.
More importantly, the exhibition - which focused on modern design for the home and employed civic/corporate partnerships, innovative exhibition displays and new technology -- provides lessons for Detroit's design community today. Dr. Kawsky will end her lecture by exploring designs for the home of today - and tomorrow - with a focus on artists trained and/or currently based in Metro Detroit.
The Mind of a Muralist: Exploring Mural-Making with Hubert Massey, Ijania Cortez and Deborah Lubera Kawsky (Copy)
Join art historian Deborah Lubera Kawsky and artists/muralists Hubert Massey and Ijania Cortez for a visual presentation and panel discussion exploring the media, motivations, and messaging behind mural-making in Metro Detroit. Featured artworks, including recent work by Massey and Cortez as well as a newly-rediscovered mural by midcentury designer Alexander Girard (discussion by Girard author/lecturer Kawsky), will provide fascinating visual and conceptual juxtapositions - and hopefully inspire new mural artists/projects/collaborations. Images of murals will be shown on screen but the event will include the display of artworks by Massey and Cortez to demonstrate their artistic process.
Detroit's "Design DNA": The DIA's 1949 For Modern Living Exhibition -- and Why it Matters Today
How can the legacy of Detroit's past - its "design DNA" - inspire Detroit artists, institutions and civic/business leaders of today and tomorrow?
Join art historian Deborah Lubera Kawsky to explore a watershed moment in Detroit design history: the 1949 For Modern Living exhibition at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Centered on the DIA’s Great Hall (totally transformed with nine fully-furnished modern-style rooms), For Modern Living marshalled midcentury masters Alexander Girard, Minoru Yamasaki, Eero Saarinen, Florence Knoll, Charles Eames and others to create a “new ideal of beauty” for the modern era.
More importantly, the exhibition - which focused on modern design for the home and employed civic/corporate partnerships, innovative exhibition displays and new technology -- provides lessons for Detroit's design community today. Dr. Kawsky will end her lecture by exploring designs for the home of today - and tomorrow - with a focus on artists trained and/or currently based in Metro Detroit.
The Mind of a Muralist: Exploring Mural-Making with Hubert Massey, Ijania Cortez and Deborah Lubera Kawsky
Join art historian Deborah Lubera Kawsky and artists/muralists Hubert Massey and Ijania Cortez for a visual presentation and panel discussion exploring the media, motivations, and messaging behind mural-making in Metro Detroit. Featured artworks, including recent work by Massey and Cortez as well as a newly-rediscovered mural by midcentury designer Alexander Girard (discussion by Girard author/lecturer Kawsky), will provide fascinating visual and conceptual juxtapositions - and hopefully inspire new mural artists/projects/collaborations. Images of murals will be shown on screen but the event will include the display of artworks by Massey and Cortez to demonstrate their artistic process.
Threads: The Life, Career, and Legacy of Ruth Adler Schnee.
Join art historian Deborah Lubera Kawsky for a presentation on the inspiring life and career of Detroit design icon, Ruth Adler Schnee, with a focus on her legacy as a Jewish woman in the field of design. Schnee, who recently celebrated her 99th birthday, is best known for her boldly-designed textiles and architectural interiors and for the ground-breaking Adler/Schnee retail store, which brought modern design to Detroit.
The registration info will be available next week.
Design Core Detroit's Drinks x Design: Arts & Culture
Visit Design Core Detroit’s Eventbrite for more information and to REGISTER. The event is FREE with limited space.
Architecture on the Page: Recent Books from Wayne State University Press
Visit this the Albert Kahn exhibition at the Detroit Historical Museum from April through June.
On Sunday, May 15th I will be part of a panel discussion located in the museum’s auditorium about Kahn’s legacy and how his work has made an impact on the city of Detroit.
Stick around after the event for tours of the Albert Kahn exhibit.
Instruments of Justice: The Civil Rights Imagery of Artis Lane
How can art/artists act as instruments of social justice?
This talk, which complements the exhibition "Steps toward Justice," will focus on Artis Lane's images of Civil Rights icons/issues, including Rosa Parks, Sojourner Truth and Nelson Mandela. It will also explore the deeper parallels between Lane's art and her own inspiring life story.
2:00PM 3:00PM at Collected Detroit
Steps toward Justice: Artis Lane’s Portraits of Rosa Parks Exhibition Opening
This exhibition features multimedia imagery of Rosa Parks - from paintings, sculptures, drawings, historic photographs to a Presidential medal - by renowned 94-year-old artist Artis Lane, who was a close friend of the Civil Rights icon and whose bronze bust of Parks was chosen for President Biden's Oval Office. Experiential activities in the gallery will allow viewers to engage with social justice issues, past and present.
6:00PM - 9:00PM at Collected Detroit
Inspired: the Art and Life of Artis Lane
Join art historian Deborah Lubera Kawsky to explore the inspiring life and art of Artis Lane, who studied Painting at Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1951 and was presented with an Honorary MFA from CAA in 2021.
Free admission: REGISTRATION REQUIRED
De Salle Auditorium Cranbrook Art Museum
Threads: The Life, Career, and Legacy of Ruth Adler Schnee. - Lecture by Deborah Kawsky
Join art historian Deborah Lubera Kawsky for a presentation on the inspiring life and career of Detroit design icon, Ruth Adler Schnee, with a focus on her legacy as a Jewish woman in the field of design.
Ruth Adler Schnee: Modern Designs for Living - Exhibition Opening
Join me at Cranbrook Art Museum for a special exhibition showcasing the work of textile and interior designer, Ruth Adler Schnee.
Detroit's Design DNA: The 1949 For Modern Living Exhibition- Legacy & Lessons
How can the legacy of Detroit's past- its "design DNA-" inspire Detroit artists, institutions and civic leaders of today and tomorrow? Join art historian Deborah Lubera Kawsky to explore a watershed moment in Detroit design history: the 1949 For Modern Living exhibition at the Detroit Institute of Arts, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary this fall.
An Architects Dream - Rediscovering Alexander Girard’s Residential Architecture (1947-1951)
During a 1949 visit to Detroit, illustrator Saul Steinberg was a guest in the home of Susan and Alexander Girard, which he described as “an architect’s own dream house.” Indeed, while Girard is best known for his boldly colored and patterned textiles, his architectural training was the foundation for every aspect of his career. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that Girard’s independent residential architectural projects – particularly those designed at midcentury in Michigan – represent the most cohesive expression of his design mastery.
Between the years 1947-51, Girard designed private residences for his own and the Jackson, McLucas, and Rieveschl families in the ultra-traditional Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe, MI. Featuring wood and glass structures, open floor plans, multi-level spaces, custom-designed furniture, and bold color accents, Girard’s homes departed dramatically from their historically-inspired neighbors. Some have even questioned how Girard convinced his conservative clients to accept such “radical” domestic designs.
Nevertheless, Steinberg’s descriptor “dream house” can be equally applied to Girard’s other Grosse Pointe homes, which embodied not only Girard’s core design principles but also the aspirations – practical and aesthetic — of his clients. Sadly, only one of the houses designed entirely by Girard – the McLucas house – survives intact. However, Girard’s evolving design for each residence, documented in drawings, blueprints and photographs (some never seen before), demonstrate the architect’s expansive conception of architecture, integrating site, structure and interior into a cohesive whole. They also reveal Girard’s skill in addressing his clients’ needs, with the goal of enhancing life in the modern world.
Alexander Girard Architect - A Midcentury Master and his Grosse Pointe Pasterpieces
During the midcentury period, Michigan attracted visionary architects, designers, and theorists, including Charles and Ray Eames, Minoru Yamasaki, Eero Saarinen, and Alexander Girard. While the terms modern and Grosse Pointe may seem antithetical, they merge seamlessly in Girard, who lived in Grosse Pointe with his family between the years 1937-53.
Much has been written about Girard’s vibrantly colored and patterned textiles for the Herman Miller furniture company. However, his design work in Michigan at midcentury — encompassing interior design, exhibition curation, and residential architecture – has never been fully explored. Perhaps surprisingly, Girard created his greatest architectural masterpieces in Grosse Pointe during the years 1947-51.
Using archival images, original Girard drawings and new photographs, Kawsky’s lecture will bring to life Girard’s exceptional Grosse Pointe architectural projects. Special focus will be placed on the John and Kathleen McLucas house, the sole-surviving private residence designed entirely by Girard, which was recently rediscovered and restored in consultation with Detroit design icon, Ruth Adler Schnee.
*Sponsored by the Grosse Pointe Historical Society as part of the Bicknell Lecture Series:
Midtown to Motown - Alexander Girard's Midcentury Masterpieces
Alexander Girard is best known for injecting bold color and pattern into mid century textiles. However, his earliest masterpieces – in architecture, interior design and exhibition curation – were done during his time in Detroit (1937-53).
*Sponsored by Tri-state DOCOMOMO
Book Signing at DOCOMOMO Tour Day Event - Back to the Future: A New Vision for two Yamasaki Masterpieces
Sponsored by DOCOMOMO in partnership with The Book Beat; architectural historian Dale Gyure and Southfield, MI mayor Ken Siver will lead a series of tours featuring Minoru Yamasaki's Reynolds and American Concrete Institute buildings.
“The tours will be followed by book talks, sales and signings by Michigan authors whose recent publications are expanding our understanding of Modernism and its Michigan roots.” - Docomomo
Come get your copy of my book, Alexander Girard, Architect: Creating Midcentury Modern Masterpieces, signed in person from 4-5PM at the DOCOMOMO Michigan Chapter: Ecoworks Detroit, 22400 W. Seven Mile.
Motown Modern - Alexander Girard's Detroit Masterpieces
Alexander Girard is best known for injecting bold color and pattern into mid century textiles. However, his earliest masterpieces – in architecture, interior design and exhibition curation – were done during his time in Detroit (1937-53).
Join art historian Deborah Lubera Kawsky for a behind-the-scenes view of Girard’s Detroit-era projects, including the McLucas house (1950) — featured in Dwell magazine — and the ground-breaking For Modern Living exhibition (1949) at the Detroit Institute of Arts.
* A Nora Design Talk
Alexander Girard, Architect Book Launch at the DIA
The book launch for Alexander Girard, Architect will be held at the Detroit Institute of Arts, Kresge Court, on Wednesday, June 13th 2018. Many thanks to Wayne State University Press for sponsoring this event!
RSVP here: https://alexandergirardlaunch.eventbrite.com
