Pewabic Pottery, the National Historic Landmark ceramics studio that has occupied its East Jefferson Avenue building for more than a century, is opening a second location for the first time in its history. The new Pewabic Neighborhood Studio is under construction inside the Cadillac Arts Centre on Detroit's east side, about a six-minute walk northwest of the pottery's longtime home, and it's designed from the ground up to be fully accessible.
The expansion, first reported by Axios, pairs Pewabic with the Progressive Art Studio Collective, known as PASC, which supports artists with developmental disabilities. The new studio will offer a wider range of public-facing programs for people of all ability levels who want to work in clay, according to the outlet's report. Pewabic's original building at 10125 East Jefferson will keep running its normal ceramic production and studio operations, per the same account.
Pewabic Executive Director Jim Leija said the move lets the organization think more expansively about physical accessibility and community engagement alongside PASC in the Little Village corridor, according to a statement from Pewabic Pottery. Pewabic was founded in 1903 by ceramic artist Mary Chase Perry Stratton and Horace Caulkins and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1991, according to the Detroit Historical Society. The studio's iridescent glazes have appeared in landmark public structures including Detroit's Guardian Building and Chicago's Shedd Aquarium, the historical society notes.
A Partnership Built Around Access
PASC, launched in January 2021, is described as the first progressive art studio and exhibition program in Detroit and Wayne County dedicated to supporting adult artists with developmental disabilities and neurodiversity, according to the Progressive Art Studio Collective. The organization works with nearly 200 artists weekly across studio locations in Detroit, Southgate, and Westland. PASC operates as a program of Services to Enhance Potential, a nonprofit founded in 1972 that supports more than 1,100 individuals with disabilities across Southeast Michigan, per Services to Enhance Potential.
The Pewabic Neighborhood Studio is currently under construction at the Cadillac Arts Centre and plans to open later in fall 2026, per the Axios report. Pewabic is designing the space to be fully accessible, extending its footprint into a district that has become one of the fastest-changing corners of Detroit's east side.
Little Village's Rapid Rise
The Cadillac Arts Centre itself is a 25,000-square-foot adaptive reuse building at 1533 Cadillac Blvd., designed by Detroit architecture firm M1DTW in collaboration with Castor Design, according to Little Village Detroit. The building houses 15 artist studios along with space for local nonprofits like InsideOut Literary Arts and Black Art Library. It held its official public grand opening on May 16, 2026, launching its studios, community garden, and retail shop, with opening tenants including concept space Take Me Home, bookstore In Thicket, and design gallery Bowerbird Home, according to the Villages of Detroit CDC.
The broader Little Village cultural district, which includes The Shepherd — a repurposed 1911 Romanesque church turned gallery — was assembled by Library Street Collective co-founders Anthony and JJ Curis, who acquired nearly 100 properties in the area between 2021 and 2023, according to reporting cited by DETROITography. TIME Magazine named Little Village to its international list of the World's Greatest Places for 2025, a recognition that highlighted adaptive reuse projects turning historic neighborhood sites into public galleries, skateparks, and community spaces, as noted by WXYZ-TV Detroit.
Part Of A Larger Cultural Shift
Pewabic's move lands amid a wave of arts organizations gravitating toward Little Village. Detroit Metropolitan Dance, the 35-year-old company formerly known as Eisenhower Dance Detroit, announced plans to relocate from suburban Bloomfield Hills to the district's Stanton Yards site, a 13-acre former riverfront marina being converted into an 80,000-square-foot cultural and public park campus. Detroit remains the only U.S. municipality designated a UNESCO City of Design, a title that anchors annual programming such as the city's Month of Design each September, according to Axios reporting relayed by Hoodline.
For now, Pewabic's expansion keeps its historic production home intact while testing a new model of public-facing, barrier-free ceramic education just a short walk away. The Cadillac Arts Centre was photographed by Frances Ma as part of the Axios coverage documenting the studio's construction and the neighborhood's ongoing transformation.
