In an old boathouse on Detroit’s east side, I.M. Weiss Gallery director Isabelle Weiss is putting the finishing touches on her latest show. Titled Until… and opening on Friday, the exhibition features 2023 Kresge Arts in Detroit Fellow Lauren Kalman, who has presented otherwise meticulous black ceramic pottery intentionally warped with dents, handprints, and other imperfections. The works are displayed on small tables under track lighting in the middle of the boathouse, with some clustered together, as if fitting together like a puzzle.
“Until about two weeks ago, there was a boat in here,” Weiss says. “It was an actively used shop building.”
The show is the first to be held as part of an ambitious new project dubbed Stanton Yards, which aims to open about 13 acres in a marina space along the Detroit River to the public . The project is an extension of what is known as Little Village, a sprawling arts district across Jefferson Avenue in the East Village neighborhood that includes the church-turned-gallery The Shepherd, the Charles McGee Legacy Park, a skate park designed by pro skater Tony Hawk, and more. Additional businesses set to move into the area in the coming months include the Louis Buhl & Co. gallery, the Coup D’état retail store, a cocktail bar called Father Forgive Me, and others, and existing arts-related businesses in the area include Pewabic Pottery, one of the oldest continuously operating potteries in the U.S.