Grosse Pointe Art Center Relocates in Village

Employees of the are still unpacking following their quick move from one end of the Village to the middle--and only days before opening their next show, Our Rivers Our Lakes.

The Art Center has called home a storefront closer to Cadieux Road for a few years at 16900 Kercheval Ave. It moved into the former that space after Village Toy moved closer to CVS.

Housing artwork of the members of the Grosse Pointe Artists Association, the store offers a wide variety of artwork, jewelry, blown glass and more.

The executive director of the center, Amy DeBrunner, said the move was spurred by an expansion happening with .

The Artists Association is a non-profit organization and needed a location to display and sell the work of the artists, which is how they ended up in the former Village Toy store front on a revolving 90-day lease. Essentially the building remained open for lease by a for profit business but was occupied until such interest was expressed.

City Kitchen is expanding its bar area into the front portion of the store at 16900 Kercheval Avenue, spurring the Art Center's relocation.

The new location is in the former Hickey Walton Pierce store, which closed several years ago, at the corner of St. Clair Street and Kercheval Avenue. The building has remained vacant since that store's closure but a neighboring business began displaying wedding dresses in the storefront windows in the last year or so.

DeBrunner said she is excited about the new space as it is much larger, allowing easier display of the artists' work. The move happened quickly however, so much of what needs to be unpacked and set up is still being worked on.

Employees concentrated first on the work for the Center's upcoming show, Our Rivers Our Lakes, which opens Friday, DeBrunner said, noting all of that artwork has been hung and is ready for the opening night.

Additionally, DeBrunner said she's already noticed an increase in the amount of pedestrian traffic entering the store as compared to her former location, which had a recessed entrance as compared to neighboring retailers.

The new location offers two entrances--one on Kercheval Avenue and one side door on St. Clair Street. It also has a great deal of natural light.

Part of the agreement for the new location, where the Art Center will be guaranteed a home through Dec. 31 and then return to its revolving 90-day lease, is that a neighboring business will still be allowed to display wedding dresses in one of the windows, DeBrunner said.

It's already caused some confusion as women have entered the center believing they could find wedding dresses when in fact the dresses belong to Boutique Bellissima, DeBrunner said.

The new address is 17051 Kercheval Ave. and the new phone number is 313-881-3454.