Pewabic Pottery, the National Historic Landmark ceramics studio that has occupied its East Jefferson Avenue building for more than a century, is opening a second location for the first time in its history. The new Pewabic Neighborhood Studio is under construction inside the Cadillac Arts Centre on Detroit’s east side, about a six-minute walk northwest of the pottery’s longtime home, and it’s designed from the ground up to be fully accessible.
The expansion, first reported by Axios, pairs Pewabic with the Progressive Art Studio Collective, known as PASC, which supports artists with developmental disabilities. The new studio will offer a wider range of public-facing programs for people of all ability levels who want to work in clay, according to the outlet’s report. Pewabic’s original building at 10125 East Jefferson will keep running its normal ceramic production and studio operations, per the same account.
Pewabic Executive Director Jim Leija said the move lets the organization think more expansively about physical accessibility and community engagement alongside PASC in the Little Village corridor, according to a statement from Pewabic Pottery. Pewabic was founded in 1903 by ceramic artist Mary Chase Perry Stratton and Horace Caulkins and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1991, according to the Detroit Historical Society. The studio’s iridescent glazes have appeared in landmark public structures including Detroit’s Guardian Building and Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium, the historical society notes.
A Partnership Built Around Access
PASC, launched in January 2021, is described as the first progressive art studio and exhibition program in Detroit and Wayne County dedicated to supporting adult artists with developmental disabilities and neurodiversity, according to the Progressive Art Studio Collective. The organization works with nearly 200 artists weekly across studio locations in Detroit, Southgate, and Westland. PASC operates as a program of Services to Enhance Potential, a nonprofit founded in 1972 that supports more than 1,100 individuals with disabilities across Southeast Michigan, per Services to Enhance Potential…