Current Exhibitions

This exhibition emerges from The Amplification Project, a living, crowd-sourced digital archive documenting art shaped by forced migration, displacement, and cultural survival. Focusing on contemporary Arab women artists connected to Detroit, it explores migration, inheritance, and life between cultural geographies.

The fifth exhibition in the Wayne County History Project features Grosse Pointe, Grosse Pointe Woods, Grosse Pointe Shores, Grosse Pointe Farms, Grosse Pointe Park, and Harper Woods, six communities that helped shape Wayne County. 

During National Prohibition, Detroit and its neighboring cities became notorious for their role in the illegal alcohol trade. Whether they were running cases of beer across the river border with Windsor or selling whiskey in the back rooms of restaurants and homes, Michiganders skirted the alcohol ban in a variety of ways, and women were involved in every aspect of the illicit industry.  

View mid-century Detroit through the lens of photographer Norman Zadoorian, tracing a journey from the shadowed, noir-inflected images of the immediate post–World War II years to the vibrant, optimistic street scenes of the 1950s and beyond. 

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. 

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!