Art collectors Anthony and JJ Curris may be Detroit’s greatest cultural ambassadors. Their Library Street Collective launched in 2012, boosting cultural tourism, promoting local artists and raising funds for contemporary art programs. On May 18, 2024, it will reach another milestone with the launch of The Shepherd, a new cultural center in the heart of Little Village, a neighborhood arts “campus” and long-term revitalization project.
Shepherd’s headquarters is the former Good Shepherd Church, an East Village Romanesque heritage remodel by architects at Peterson Rich Office. PRO has reimagined the imposing space with two new galleries, an art library and performance spaces in the apse and mezzanine.
“The Shepherd is reshaping an institution that built a community around religion into one that will build a community around the arts,” says PRO co-founder Miriam Peterson. “Anthony and JJ’s commitment to expanding access to the arts in the city of Detroit is nothing short of transformative.”
View of the entrance to the main gallery and the staircase to the mezzanine level. Photo: Jason Keane. Courtesy of The Library Street Collective
Installation view in the main gallery at Shepherd, featuring the work of Charles McGee. Photo: Jason Keane. Courtesy of The Library Street Collective
The small village library is located between the restored church confessionals and a new bookcase. Photo: Jason Keane. Courtesy of The Library Street Collective
Portrait of Charles McGee, 2017. Photography: Sal Rodriguez
Charles McGee, McGee Giants, 2022. Photography: Jason Keen. Courtesy of The Library Street Collective
View of Charles McGee Legacy and Shepherd Park. Photo: Jason Keane. Courtesy of The Library Street Collective
The late Charles McGee, who died in 2021, will headline Shepherd’s inaugural exhibition, which runs from May 18 to July 20. Charles McGee: The time is now will examine the artist’s paintings, assemblages, sculptures and public work chronicling the black experience and love of nature. The time is now will explore the materiality of McGee’s career while highlighting points of tension between figuration and abstraction. A related exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) will run from June 28 to September 23, 2024.
Along with Shepherd, Library Street Collective will also unveil more than 3.5 acres of public space reclaimed from vacant lots by the Office of Strategy + Design, and a skate park designed by artist McArthur Binion and skate legend Tony Hawk. The central element of the landscape design is a public walkway called the Nave, a former avenue connecting Shepherd with the surrounding neighbourhood.
Other adaptive reuse projects will appear in Little Village in the coming months, including a bed and breakfast and cultural retreat called ALEO and studio spaces carved out of an old bakery.
