Little Village Transforms East Detroit into Cultural Arts Community

Community and collaboration abound in the new east side cultural arts corridor with the transformation of the historic Shepherd and its surrounding buildings into vibrant hubs for creativity and engagement.

By Anna Swartz

 Jul 19, 2024 Updated Aug 29, 2024

A view through the main gallery into part of the church. Photo by Jason Keen courtesy of Library Street Collective. 

A cultural arts corridor in East Village — spearheaded by Library Street Collective founders Anthony and JJ Curis — is breathing new life into a community previously laden with abandoned buildings and attracting creative individuals, organizations, and businesses eager to share common ground.   Referred to as Little Village, the neighborhood is anchored by a contemporary art gallery, performance space, and art library housed in the Shepherd, the 110-year-old Romanesque-style Good Shepherd Catholic Church that closed in 2016. 

ANTHONY AND JJ CURIS, the co-founders of Library Street Collective, spearheaded the development of Little Village, a new cultural district in Detroit’s East Village neighborhood. Photo by Kyle Powell courtesy of Library Street Collective.

“This neighborhood was really built around this church when people came together under a common idea, thought process, or goal that informed and created a community,” Anthony says. Similarly, he expects the Shepherd to recreate a sense of belonging through arts and culture.

The Curises originally only planned to utilize the former church and the accompanying assets such as the rectory and a small garage, but other arts organizations and small creative businesses took notice. “It's almost contagious in some ways,” Anthony says. “More and more people have wanted to be a part of this, which is really exciting.” 

In addition to the Shepherd, the Curises’ vision of Little Village expanded to include Lantern — a multi-use arts hub at 9301 Kercheval a few blocks away from the Shepherd. Formerly Blue Bird Bakery, the 22,300-square-foot space contains affordable artist studios, two nonprofits, an art gallery, and creative retail. Assemble Sound, Coup D’etat, Collect Beer Bar, and Cafe Franco are anticipated to open inside Lantern by late summer. The building was transformed by New York-based architectural firm OMA, led by Partner Jason Long.

Two other significant fixtures in Little Village include Louis Buhl & Co., Library Street Collective’s sister gallery that will be headquartered in a former convent, and Stanton Yards, a 13-acre arts and cultural destination along the Detroit River. The Shepherd and Lantern opened in May, while Louis Buhl & Co. is slated to open later this year. If all goes well, Anthony says, construction at Stanton Yards will begin in early 2025.

Converting Historical to Contemporary

Charles McGee Legacy Park on the grounds of the Shepherd. Photo by Jason Keen courtesy of Library Street Collective

View into the apse and transepts of the Shepherd. Photo by Jason Keen courtesy of Library Street Collective

Nathan Rich and Miriam Peterson, co-principals of Brooklyn-based Peterson Rich Office, worked closely with the Curises to transform the Shepherd’s interior. The task of befitting a historical building with a contemporary art gallery posed several challenges the architecture firm solved by adding proper lighting and walls to display art, acclimatizing the space, and addressing the sloped floor common in older churches.

The firm also focused on seemingly small details that make a big impact such as how a person experiences lighting throughout the building. In the gallery, “very cool lighting” was installed, Rich says, as is common in contemporary art exhibition spaces, while “a warmer color of light” in the main church “emphasizes the existing characteristics of the building.” Natural light also filters through the existing stained glass and adds to the ambiance. New surfaces, such as textured cladding, were purposely created “so that as the light rakes across it, you can almost read the texture.”

A view through the main gallery into part of the church. Photo by Jason Keen courtesy of Library Street Collective. 

Meditate, Skate, Create

Photo by Jason Keen courtesy of Library Street Collective.

The former rectory of the Shepherd — known as ALEO, an acronym for the metaphorical symbols of an Angel, Lion, Eagle, and Ox that previously existed on a mural inside the church — has been transformed into a boutique bed and breakfast for visiting artists, those participating in Little Village’s various programming, and tourists who prefer a neighborhood setting. Modern Ancient Brown — artist McArthur Binion’s foundation and nonprofit that provides residencies, mentorship, and resources for Black, Indigenous, and artists of color — is housed on the third floor. 

“The visual arts in Detroit have long been overlooked, and now, along with my good friends and collaborators JJ and Anthony Curis, and many others, we can foresee a visual/cultural revolution in the East Village that will attract a distinguished national and international audience,” Binion says. 

Warda Bouguettaya, the James Beard Award-winning pastry chef of Warda Pâtisserie in Detroit, provides breakfast to ALEO guests. She will open a new pâtisserie and community kitchen by late summer in BridgeHouse, the two former residential structures behind the Shepherd that have been transformed into commercial culinary spaces. A project led by architect Ishtiaq Rafiuddin of Detroit-based Undecorated, BridgeHouse includes a two-story deck connecting the structures, offering another space for performances or viewing of the grounds. Father Forgive Me, a new cocktail bar by Anthony Curis and Joe Robinson who have partnered on the opening of other Detroit restaurants, will open in the former garage across from BridgeHouse.

McArthur Binion, Founder of Modern Ancient Brown Foundation. Photo by Pasquale Abbattista courtesy of the artist. 

CHARLES MCGEE LEGACY PARK features three large-scale sculptures that McGee conceptualized before his passing in 2021. Photo by Jason Keen courtesy of the artist's estate and Library Street Collective

“This was the last project that Charles had his hands in, and my wife and I would go visit him in his home before he passed,” Anthony says. “It was just the most enlightening conversation. … And he would just get so excited with the idea of this project.”

“The sculpture garden is a place to contemplate, meditate and seek peace,” says April McGee-Flournoy, McGee’s daughter. “The inspirational components within the Little Village cultural hub implore the creative community to utilize artistic means to interact with nature, push parameters, achieve unity and togetherness.”

View of BridgeHouse and the Shepherd grounds. Photo by Jason Keen courtesy of Library Street Collective

Simon David, principal of Office of Strategy + Design, was tasked with the transformation of the Shepherd grounds. He refers to his initial introduction to the Shepherd as “a kind of archeological experience” to unearth “this stunning artifact.” He wasn’t just enamored with the church, though — he found beauty and vitality in the overgrown lots, dilapidated buildings, and vestiges of fences. “An insensitive mind might go there and think, ‘Oh, this is empty,’” David says. “But to the contrary, I think it's really rich with stories for hundreds of years, but certainly over the last 50 years of people who've looked after this place who make it a real home. It's really special to be in the middle of a city and yet also feel like you're kind of in the countryside too.”

The Detroit-Windsor Dance Academy performs in Charles McGee Legacy Park during the grand opening celebration held on May 18. Photo by Kyle Powell courtesy of Library Street Collective.

David and the Curises agreed to incorporate a fallow and overgrown aesthetic for the landscape design. On the Shepherd campus, “it feels kind of like an overgrown meadow, an overgrown hedge, almost like it's been there for two years untended,” David says. “Maybe a little bit like Sleeping Beauty's castle, but once you step through it, you read the intention. And we've created basically an outdoor gallery or an outdoor kind of museum-like space where there's an interconnected series of rooms that can host both fixed program and flexible program, knowing that Anthony and JJ have both in mind.”

Office of Strategy + Design also converted a desolate alley into a pedestrian walkway called the Nave, a primary element of the Shepherd campus. “You may not notice it if you go there,” David says. “It's preserving a municipal thruway for things like fire access, but it's treated in a way that feels integrated with the rest of the campus.”

An aerial view of Little Village and the grounds. Photo by Jason Keen courtesy of Library Street Collective.

The Curises intentionally chose the east side as the location for Little Village, due in part to strong relationships with local community groups, some stemming back to Anthony’s childhood when he would accompany his father to various meetings. “My dad was really active on the east side as a member of Jefferson East Inc. and he's very involved in Belle Isle on the board there,” says Anthony, who refers to Jefferson East, The Villages CDC, and East Village Association as the primary community groups in the area. The Curises consulted each group before work on Little Village began. Everyone was “not only accepting of the idea but also supportive,” Anthony says.

The Shepherd’s grand opening celebration on May 18 featured performances by the Detroit-Windsor Dance Academy and Dames Brown and the Urban Art Orchestra. Photo by Kyle Powell courtesy of Library Street Collective

“These neighborhoods in Detroit have always been very important to us,” JJ says. “Particularly with so much attention always being paid to the Downtown area, we thought we could make a more considerable impact by doing this project on the east side. What really inspires us is seeing the various artists’ reactions to the neighborhood and how immediately they fall in love with the new Little Village features and sense of community.”

Like-minded individuals who are eager for collaboration and fellowship are discovering Little Village and putting down roots, says Lynne Avadenka, director of Signal-Return. “I think it's now become desirable to be part of it. So I think it's attracting other artists.”

Signal-Return teaches the craft of traditional letterpress printing, and the nonprofit excitedly snagged a spot in the new Lantern building two blocks from the Shepherd. Founded in 2011, Signal-Return had outgrown their long-time space in Eastern Market. They offer free tours, workshops, open studio time twice per week for independent artists, and a retail store offering work from more than 50 artists.

SIGNAL-RETURN, a nonprofit letterpress print shop, is located in the Lantern building. Photo by Jason Keen courtesy of Library Street Collective.

The organization looks forward to collaborating with Progressive Art Studio Collective aka PASC, the second nonprofit anchoring Lantern. “We've written a grant and have gotten funding from the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan to invite some of their artists to come and make prints with us,” Avadenka says. Progressive Art Studio Collective, a Wayne County-based program of Services to Enhance Potential, is dedicated to supporting artists with developmental disabilities and mental health differences to advance independent artistic practices and build individual career paths in the art and design fields.

“PASC has quickly grown since launching in 2021, and we’ve been eager to find a permanent studio and gallery space,” PASC Program Manager Anthony Marcellini says in a statement. “We’re grateful to find partners in the Curises who share our vision of fostering an inclusive and diverse arts community in Detroit. We can’t think of a better place that will offer this level of access to a growing and vibrant arts community in the city.”

LANTERN, a multi-use arts hub near the Shepherd, is named for its many lights formed by the 1,500 holes that have been drilled into the structure’s concrete walls and filled with cylindrical glass blocks. Photo by Jason Keen courtesy of Library Street Collective

The arts community consists of not only organizations moving into buildings such as Lantern but also individuals putting down roots in rehabbed homes, some owned by the Curises. 

Artist Paul Verdell moved into a triplex owned by the Curises in 2021. He was convinced to make the move after meeting Anthony earlier that year at his exhibition at Louis Buhl & Co., sister gallery to Library Street Collective. Verdell lived in Toledo, Ohio, at the time, but quickly became interested in joining Detroit’s art scene after Anthony shared his plans for Little Village. 

PAUL VERDELL moved to Little Village in 2021 and now works in one of the art studios in the Lantern building. Photo by Ryan Ddebolski courtesy of the artist and Library Street Collective

“The only way to make very large works is to have a large studio,” says Verdell, who paints in his 1,200-square-foot studio at Lantern. “It's really difficult to do something like that in the art meccas which would be like Los Angeles or New York, maybe Chicago. …Every time I talk to my artist friends in New York, they're having a hard time finding a studio, or they just had to leave their studio because they can't afford it anymore.”

Verdell, who has created everything from plant still lifes to figurative paintings, says he’s currently exploring shape, color, method, and movement in abstract works by “throwing everything but the kitchen sink at it.” Verdell adds: “I'm using oil; I'm using acrylic. I'm gluing different types of fabric onto the surface, just kind of seeing how the paint reacts to it. So yeah, it's really just kind of like a gigantic collage of madness sometimes.”

Isabelle Weiss lives behind Verdell and utilizes a room in her home as the I.M. Weiss Gallery. She represents about 20 artists who are “all based in Detroit or connected to Detroit in some way,” Weiss says. She focuses on craft and design disciplines such as ceramics, fiber arts, and glass. The exhibit La Sala, which translates to “The Room,” is ongoing but will be curated to fit each season. “It's this kind of fluid curatorial concept really rooted in the idea of creating a domestic space in which objects interact with one another in a real way,” Weiss says.

ISABELLE WEISS, founder of I.M. Weiss Gallery, lives in one of the renovated houses near the Shepherd where she curates La Sala, an ongoing exhibition series, in her living room. Here she is pictured with works by Forrest Hudes, Seth Keller, Todd Erickson, and Paula Schubatis. Courtesy of I.M. Weiss Gallery

As a ’90s kid who grew up touring galleries, participating in artist walks, and visiting the Detroit Institute of Arts with a sketchbook in hand, Weiss feels an attachment to the downtown art scene. So, Little Village seems like the perfect spot for her gallery to land. The mission alignment with Little Village isn’t something that could have been planned, Weiss says.

“It's going to be a really beautiful fabric here of different brick and mortar businesses all doing something different but really wanting to support each other, wanting to support small businesses, independent labels, or nonprofits, wanting to support people just doing productive and beautiful things,” she says.

ASMAA WALTON, curator of Black Art Library and Little Village Library, recently moved to Little Village. The house she resides in will officially open as Black Art Library in 2025. Photo by Sarah Fleming.

Asmaa Walton, curator of Black Art Library, is another community member adding to the gorgeous tapestry of creativity in the neighborhood. She and her husband moved into their Little Village home a few months ago — it will serve as a temporary space for them and a permanent one for Black Art Library officially opening sometime in 2025. The library’s origins stem back to February 2020 when Walton began showcasing her growing collection of mostly used books on the Instagram account @blackartlibrary. It gained momentum during the pandemic when Walton says “it was just me, my cat and no car.” 

Motivation to build the library stemmed from discovering the lack of resources available on Black artists while earning both her BFA at Michigan State University and her one-year grad program at New York University. “I wanted to figure out how to make it easier for other people to find the information, and I thought that art books would be a good way to do it,” Walton says.

The library includes more than books — it also contains an archive of materials such as exhibition brochures, T-shirts, and specialty items like two dolls of famed artist Faith Ringgold. “She just passed away, and one of them is actually signed. …These are materials that nobody has ever seen, so I’m excited about the opportunity to make those available as well. 

Black Art Library has traveled to various museums in the form of an exhibit, locally at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, and to galleries in cities such as Washington, D.C., and Chicago. Even now with a permanent home in Little Village, Black Art Library exhibits will continue to travel to other cities.

LITTLE VILLAGE LIBRARY inside the Shepherd includes books on individual artists and artistic movements, children’s books, and items that “appeal to a lot of different people and a lot of different interests,” says curator Aasma Walton. Photo by Jason Keen courtesy of Library Street Collective

Little Village Library, the public library inside the Shepherd, is also curated by Walton. Housed within one of the church’s transepts, the Little Village Library includes 100-plus replicas of those in Black Art Library, books on individual artists and artistic movements, children’s books, and items that “appeal to a lot of different people and a lot of different interests,” Walton says. While the space allows for 700 books, the current collection numbers about 400 to leave space for eventual community donations and additions.

Walton has purchased books from local institutions such as Detroit Institute of Arts, Cranbrook Art Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, and Flint Institute of Art. Walton is also prioritizing books focused on Michigan artists or those with a connection to the state, like Black artist Nick Cave who studied at Cranbrook.

“I do want to pilot a lending program, but need to figure out logistics,” Walton says. “I would really love to be able to offer that especially to people in the surrounding community.”

Rich, who led the modification of the Shepherd, says that he aimed to make the library feel connected to the “broader big spatial experience of the church” by separating the space with a simple bookshelf clad in a stone related to other details in the building. The church’s confessionals have been repurposed as reading booths and may eventually be turned into listening stations, Rich says.

The former convent building adjacent to the Shepherd will serve as the new headquarters of contemporary art gallery and project space Louis Buhl & Co. Designed by LA-based firm Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects and projected to open later this year, the building will be utilized as an extension of the programming at the Shepherd and will include an in-house production studio managed by a resident master printer.

The former convent building adjacent to the Shepherd will be transformed into the new Louis Buhl & Co gallery and event space in fall of 2024.

LOUIS BUHL & CO. is projected to open in the former convent building adjacent to the Shepherd later this year. Renderings courtesy of Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects (LOHA). 

“It's a much more democratic model in terms of affordability and trying to access more collectors and people who want to support artists in different ways,” Anthony says. Historically, Louis Buhl & Co. has worked with vendors based in locations like Detroit, LA, and Hong Kong. “Now, this new space will really give us the ability to work on a number of the projects in-house in our own studio space.”

STANTON YARDS, which is anticipated to open in spring 2026, will offer public access to the arts, ecology, boating, and waterfront activities along the Detroit River. View of Stanton Yards with design contributions from SO – IL and OSD. Image by bloomimages

Detroit’s Little Village will also be home to Stanton Yards, a 13-acre cultural arts destination along the Detroit River. Located directly across Jefferson Avenue from the Shepherd and Lantern, Stanton Yards will feature more than 80,000 square feet of commercial and creative space, 85 boat slips, and waterfront parks. Upon completion, Stanton Yards will offer public access to the arts, ecology, boating, and waterfront activities. 

Named after the waterway’s original title of Stanton Canal while honoring the site’s industrial history, the Stanton Yards project has been placed in the hands of architecture firm SO – IL and multidisciplinary design firm Office of Strategy + Design.

View of Stanton Yards with design contributions from SO – IL and OSD. Image by bloomimages

According to Anthony, “Porosity is a big conversation — really trying to break down some of these walls and barriers and facades that were put up and kind of stripping back to the original buildings.” Each of the property’s four structures — a former theatre, marina showrooms, service shops, and a navy shipyard utilized during World War II — will receive new exteriors. David of Office of Strategy + Design, is tasked with creating the master plan and grounds for the project, which will include a new waterfront restaurant and office building. 

View of Stanton Yards with design contributions from SO – IL and OSD. Image by bloomimages

According to David, a primary focus of the project is reconnecting the city with the water and “creating meaningful open space and profound urban design that creates mobility and accessibility from, for example, the Shepherd and beyond.” David describes the site as “quite stark” with an all-paved, infrastructural environment. “For the sake of human experience and for the sake of sustainability, we are reengaging or reintroducing nature into this experience.” The design firm's plan will bring “softness, planting, shade, microclimate, reasons to linger, and a subdividing of the site” while also “drawing you to the water’s edge.”

View of Stanton Yards with design contributions from SO – IL and OSD. Image by bloomimages

“It's a marina but it's also an inlet canal that comes pretty far in and so it has the opportunity to provide access to the waterfront for this immediate neighborhood,” Anthony adds.

“The idea of the plan is that for too long the community has been separated from the waterfront,” David says. “And, of course, it's an incredible move across the city to kind of reconnect this city and people with the experience of the water, right?” In terms of impact, he compares Stanton Yards to other highly successful local projects such as West Riverfront Park and Detroit RiverWalk.

According to Anthony, the renovations at Stanton Yards are targeted to be complete by spring 2026.

THE DISTINGUISHED CAREER of Charles McGee spans seven decades and includes an extensive collection of paintings, assemblages, sculptures, and public works. Photo by Sal Rodriguez courtesy of Library Street Collective. 

The Shepherd’s inaugural exhibit, Charles McGee: Time is Now, opened in May and ends July 20. Jova Lynne, artistic director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, curated this survey of McGee’s work (1924–2021) that includes 30 pieces ranging from drawings, mixed media works on panel, maquettes, and sculptures.

Photo by PD Rearick courtesy of the Charles McGee Estate and Library Street Collective

“You will see in the exhibit the result of how my father excelled in creating masterpieces of quality about life, the pursuit of new possibilities, and nature’s interconnection with humanity,” McGee-Flournoy says. “He had extraordinary drive, enthusiasm, and discipline needed to create excellent drawings, paintings, assemblages, and sculptures.”

McGee-Flournoy describes the exhibit’s theme as “Time is now for a better Detroit.” She says: “My father hoped for and was excited to see Detroit become anew. … He hoped his life and work would promote togetherness, peace, balance, and harmony in making the world a better place.”

The Curises are bringing McGee’s vision for the city to life by a commitment to creating opportunities at the intersection of community and the arts, an emphasis on preserving existing structures, and intentionally planning the next cultural arts district in Detroit. Together, with the collection of artistic-minded individuals putting down roots in the form of homes and businesses, a better Detroit is not only possible but a growing reality.

“I think it's a really remarkable gesture of love towards the city,” Rich says of the Curises’ work on Little Village. “...It's really hard for a single project to impact a neighborhood as much as I think this one might.”

Before the Little Village project materialized, Anthony and JJ considered that the next step for Library Street Collective may include a second location in a different city, state, or even country. But their thoughts kept coming back to Detroit. “We felt like our work here wasn’t done, and there was so much more that we could do,” Anthony says.

The Shepherd, 1265 Parkview St, DetroitWednesday - Saturday, 11 am - 5 pm

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