Detroit and Environs
IAC’s 25th Annual Arts & Crafts Conference
September 27 – October 1, 2023
The 2023 Conference will travel to Detroit to examine the central role the City played in the American Arts & Crafts Movement. Over the course of 5 days, we will explore the following:
- The Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts (DSAC) and its founding in 1907
- The Scarab Club (founded 1907 as the Hopkins Club) and other institutions closely tied to the furtherance of the Movement in the City
- The cultural life in Detroit at the turn of the century including forces leading to the founding of the Detroit Institute of Arts
- George Booth’s founding of Cranbrook Educational Community based on William Morris’ philosophy that all the arts should have equal recognition
- Women who played major roles in the expression of the Movement in Detroit, including Mary Chase Perry Stratton, co-founder of Pewabic Pottery, Katherine McEwen, a British artist who was instrumental in the administration of the DSAC upon her emigration to Detroit, and May Morris, William Morris’s daughter who had a personal and business relationship with George Booth and his wife.
- Additionally, we will consider the relationship between Detroit architects and those whose national footprints (such as Cass Gilbert) create links between the cities in which they worked.
For updates on the program, please complete the following form:
