On Saturday, the
Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit celebrated the opening of its new installation space, the
Carriage House Gallery on Warren just west of Trumbull. CAID, along with help from neighborhood groups Woodbridge Neighborhood Development Corporation and
Safe in Woodbridge, completed renovations including a new roof, fence installation and improvements to the front entrance.
It was CAID's conscious decision to make minimal changes to the building's appearance. Initially, the non-profit organization planned to white-box the interior, then decided against it. "We wanted to preserve the historical integrity of the building," says Aaron Timlin, CAID's executive director. "This allows the artists to play with the historic architectural elements of the building."
The two artists featured in the first installation, "What is a Carriage House?" have done just that. Jacque Liu framed and covered its exterior with plastic. Kim Faler worked with silicon on the interior, drawing attention to the structure of the mortar between the bricks.
Plans for future installations include one that uses all recyclable materials and another, by a group from New York, that will install sod from Cranbrook. Every installation, as stipulated by CAID, will include a community component such as an open house, presentation or gallery talk.
CAID will open another outpost in Southwest Detroit in September (look for more info on that in the coming weeks).
The gallery will be open Fridays and Saturdays between 4 and 6 p.m. For more information contact CAID at 313-899-CAID or e-mail
[email protected].
Read more about the collaboration between WNDC, CAID and the property owner
here.
Source: Aaron Timlin, CAID
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
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