Art collectors Anthony and JJ Curis might be Detroit’s greatest cultural ambassadors. Their Library Street Collective launched in 2012, kickstarting cultural tourism, boosting local artists and raising funds for contemporary art programming. On 18 May 2024, it’ll reach another milestone when it launches The Shepherd, a new cultural centre at the heart of the Little Village, a neighbourhood arts ‘campus’ and longtime revitalisation project.
The Shepherd’s headquarters is the former Good Shepherd church, a Romanesque-style heritage site in the East Village neighbourhood, transformed by architects at Peterson Rich Office. PRO reimagined the imposing space with two new galleries, an arts library and performance spaces in the apse and mezzanine.
‘The Shepherd reshapes an institution that built community around religion, to one that will build community around the arts,’ says PRO co-founder Miriam Peterson. ‘Anthony and JJ’s commitment to expanding access to arts in the city of Detroit is nothing short of transformational.’
View of the entry to the main gallery and stairway to mezzanine level. Photography: Jason Keen. Courtesy The Library Street Collective
Installation view into the main gallery at the Shepherd, featuring Charles McGee’s work. Photography: Jason Keen. Courtesy The Library Street Collective
The Little Village Library sits between the restored church confessional booths and a new bookshelf. Photography: Jason Keen. Courtesy The Library Street Collective
Portrait of Charles McGee, 2017. Photography: Sal Rodriguez
Charles McGee, McGee Giants, 2022. Photography: Jason Keen. Courtesy The Library Street Collective
View of the Charles McGee Legacy Park and the Shepherd. Photography: Jason Keen. Courtesy The Library Street Collective
The late Charles McGee, who passed away in 2021, will headline the Shepherd’s inaugural exhibition, on view from 18 May to 20 July. Charles McGee: Time is Now will survey the artist’s paintings, assemblages, sculptures and public work, chronicling the Black experience and a love of nature. Time is Now will explore the materiality of McGee’s career while highlighting points of tension between figuration and abstraction. A sister exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) will run from June 28 to September 23 2024.
Alongside the Shepherd, Library Street Collective will also unveil more than 3.5 acres of public grounds, recouped from vacant lots by Office of Strategy + Design, and a skatepark designed by artist McArthur Binion and skate legend Tony Hawk. The centerpiece of the landscape design is a community promenade called the Nave, a former alley connecting the Shepherd with the surrounding neighbourhood.
Other adaptive-reuse projects will appear across Little Village in the coming months, including a bed & breakfast and cultural retreat called ALEO, and studio spaces carved out of an old bakery.
