#pewabicpottery

[kristinnicolefehrman]

Visiting Pewabic Pottery

After admiring the colorful tiles throughout the city, I had to finally treat myself to a visit to the Pewabic studio.

Pewabic Pottery is located at 10125 E Jefferson Ave, a short trip on the 9 Jefferson bus. I will be back soon for a tour and to meet the team!

[loveinthed]

Attended the book launch of the new @wsupress title, "The Detroit Public Library: An American Classic" yesterday and had a rare opportunity to tour the grand second floor open loggia. The ceiling was designed by Frederick J. Wiley and features seven panels, each based on William Shakespeare's Seven Ages of Man from his play As You Like It. The mosaic tile was created by Mary Chase Perry Stratton and Horace J. Caulkins, founders of Pewabic Pottery. #Detroit #CulturalCenter #MidtownDetroit #ItalianRenaissance #Neoclassical #CassGilbert #PewabicPottery #WoodwardAvenue #archi_ologie #RawDetroit #PureMichigan #PureMittigan #MotorCityShooters #PureDetroit #PureDetroit313 #DepictTheD #VisitDetroit #Michiganders #TheMidwestival #IGersDetroit #IGersMidwest #detroit_igers #ThisPlaceMatters #ThisPlaceMattersDetroit #MichiganPlacesMatter (at Detroit Public Library)

[kristinnicolefehrman]

Art in the Stations: Renaissance Center

As I got off the People Mover at Renaissance Center, I was lead down a tunnel walkway from the platform and into a colorful tiled space. Home to the General Motors Headquarters, this is the same station you'd be able to use if you lived, worked, and played in the neighborhood. Home to restaurants and shops, the "Ren Cen" is a staple in the Detroit skyline.

"Path Games" by George Woodman features 2,625 ceramic tile modules, silk screened and manufactured in Italy. The vibrant design represents the connectivity of cultures in Detroit, linking together to create multi-colored orientations of continuous pattern. Throughout his 60-year career, Woodman explored color and abstraction in a variety of forms, including landscape, geometric, and patterned, and later pivoting toward figure, sculpture, and architecture. 

Standing strong is "Siberian Ram," a cast-bronze sculpture by Marshall Fredericks with a Pewabic tile backdrop. The green tiles behind Siberian Ram were donated from Stroh's Brewing Company and can also be seen in this unique green color at Cadillac Center.

Fredericks was one of Michigan’s most prolific sculptors, with 29 in total. Known for his sculptures depicting animals and nature, the original Siberian Ram was first completed in 1941 and on display at Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids. Hosting the largest collection of his work, you can also see "The Boy and the Bear" and "Seven Saints and Sinners" at Meijer Gardens.

The green tiles behind Siberian Ram were donated from Stroh's Brewing Company and can also be seen in this unique green color at Cadillac Center.

[kristinnicolefehrman]

Pewabic Visit

Learn more about Pewabic and Mary Chase Perry Stratton 💚

[kristinnicolefehrman]

It's All in the Details

Admiring “In Honor of Mary Chase Stratton,” co-founder of Pewabic Pottery, in the Cadillac Center Station People Mover. 🦚 

[kristinnicolefehrman]

I’ve been reading about Pewabic Pottery and recently discovered the tiles at Comerica Park are, in fact, Pewabic (thanks to a follower!). 

Pewabic is a Detroit-based nonprofit “dedicated to enriching the human spirit through clay.”

[macdetroit2019-blog]

Pewabic Pottery

While you’re in Detroit, consider a visit to Pewabic Pottery. For over a century, Pewabic ceramic tiles have graced the walls of Detroit homes and buildings around the country. Known for its iridescent glaze, Pewabic was known as one of the most innovative potteries of its time.

Founded in 1903 by Mary Chase Perry and Horace James Culkins, the company was first known as Stable Studio. The next year, the studio was renamed Pewabic, the Native American word for the copper mine in Perry’s hometown of Hancock, Michigan. Their offerings expanded, with the Griswold Hotel in Detroit becoming one of their first major customers. As business prospered, a local architectural firm, Stratton and Baldwin, designed a new Tudor revival studio that was built on Jefferson Avenue. It was here in 1909 that Mary Perry discovered the iridescent glaze that would become Pewabic’s trademark finish.

Throughout all of this, Mary Perry became a notable figure in the Detroit arts scene. She was a founding member of the Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts and a trustee for the Detroit Institute of Arts. Additionally, she established the ceramics department at the University of Michigan and taught ceramics at Wayne State University. In 1918, Mary Chase Perry wed William Buck Stratton, one of the architects who designed Pewabic’s Jefferson Avenue home.

Mary Chase Perry Stratton died in 1961 at the age of 94, but Pewabic, and her legacy, continue. The Jefferson Avenue studio is listed on the State Register of Historic Places, the National Register of Historic Places, and in 1991, the building and its contents were designated a National Historic Landmark. Examples of Pewabic Pottery can be seen at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., the Edward McNamara Terminal at Detroit Metropolitan Airport, and Comerica Park in Detroit.

Pewabic Pottery is open Monday through Saturday, 10-6, and Sunday from 12-4. Stop by and find a piece of Detroit artisan history to take home.  

-J. Unger

Photo of Pewabic Pottery mural at the Plymouth District Library. Taken by J. Unger.

[coffeebeanner-blog]

About last night... Raku, henna, tarot readings and later on the best chicken shawarma. #pewabicpottery #food #friends #family #summersolstice #firstdayofsummer