Current Exhibitions

Centerpoint: Mapping Detroit’s Ceramic Legacy traces Detroit's deep history with clay and the local institutions and creators that shaped it along with works by nine contemporary ceramicists.

Presented in partnership with National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) and Volumes, their 60th annual conference.

Leni Sinclair arrived in Detroit from East Germany in 1959 with only a suitcase and a Zeiss Ikon 35mm camera. She was drawn to Detroit at a moment when the city’s cultural and activist voice was coming into focus, and jumped right in. She recorded creativity around her, from cultural and political events of the time to daily life and street people, police interactions, and musical performances of all kinds. 

The fourth exhibition in the Wayne County History Project features Woodhaven, Gibraltar, Wyandotte, Grosse Ile, Riverview, Trenton, and Rockwood, seven communities that helped shape Wayne County. 

Founded in 2010, the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame was created to honor and preserve the legacy of R&B artists and influencers whose impact has often gone under-recognized. The Hall was founded by LaMont Robinson, a former professional basketball player, R&B historian, and collector whose passion for the music grew from Cleveland’s storied R&B club scene and decades of collecting rare artifacts.

Celebrate the pioneering and inventive work of Palladium Books and the wider tabletop roleplay gaming community in Detroit in this new exhibition. Founded in Detroit by Kevin Siembieda, Palladium has grown into a premier publisher of tabletop role-playing games.

On November 18, 1926, the Detroit Cougars played their first game in the National Hockey League. In the century since, the Cougars became the Red Wings, the most storied of all American hockey clubs, winning 11 Stanley Cup championships. The Red Wings have produced some of the game's all-time greats and created a distinctly Detroit hockey culture. 

Come explore how Detroit became Hockeytown in this special centennial exhibition!

In the 1960s, Chrysler hand-built 50 turbine-powered vehicles at their Highland Park Design Studio for an intensive two-year research test program. The identical cars featured an eye-catching “turbine bronze” metallic paint finish and aircraft-inspired styling by designer Elwood Engle and Italian body fabricator Ghia. Consumers across the country were given the opportunity to drive the revolutionary cars for their day-to-day needs and report their findings. When the test program concluded in 1966, the cars were rounded up and most were destroyed. Our Chrysler Turbine is one of only nine remaining.

The J.W. Westcott Company has been an active and beloved presence on the Detroit River for over 150 years. Casually referred to as the “mail boat,” the Westcott is the U.S.A.’s only floating zip code – 48222. Westcott staff deliver mail, packages, crew members, and even pizza to the vessels that journey across the Great Lakes during shipping season from April to December, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Still a family company today, the Westcott has evolved with the times. In this new exhibition, learn how Captain John Ward Westcott started his business in 1874 as a marine reporter, documenting river traffic and delivering company communications to ships via rowboat.