The Detroit Artists Market is back and better than ever.
When a burst pipe caused massive flooding damage at the DAM in January, the nonprofit art gallery was forced to shut down for most of the year. But on Saturday, it reopens to the public with Hot DAM!, an annual exhibition featuring more than 40 local artists.
DAM executive director Miah J. Davis Gardner says around two thirds of the space had to be rebuilt.
“The water was coming from above,” she says. “So it was raining in the gallery for quite a bit of time, for at least 3-4 hours straight.”
She adds, “We had to redo all the walls, we had to rip up all the flooring. Our entire office space on the second floor had to be gutted as well, since that’s where the bulk of the water landed.”
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But some good came out of the unfortunate accident, Davis Gardner says.
She thanks the Detroit arts community for coming together to help the DAM weather the incident. Planned exhibitions were relocated to the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, the Detroit Historical Museum, and the College for Creative Studies. BasBlue, a nonprofit gathering space where Davis Gardner previously served as an executive, hosted a fundraiser where more than 70 DAM member artists donated work, raising $50,000.
“It was amazing to see that support,” Davis Gardner says, adding, “The community really came through for us and we’re thankful to be back in the space this weekend.”
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The DAM also used the downtime to remodel the gallery. The nonprofit had already earned grant money from the Michigan Arts and Culture Council to reimagine its gift shop.
“The community will experience a space that’s mostly the same,” Davis Gardner says. “However, the biggest change is that we are flipping the location of our gift shop and our featured artist space. We originally had a space right when you walked in that was called the featured artist wall. That space will be converted following this exhibition into our member gift shop, where we showcase between 30 and 50 local artists and sell their work.”
She adds, “We wanted to be able to highlight the gift shop a bit more, rather than having it tucked away.”
On Saturday, the featured artist wall will highlight an installation by Jeff Schofield.
The full cost of repairs and remodeling was around $200,000, Davis Gardner says — but it ushers in a new era for the 93-year-old gallery, one of the oldest arts organizations in the city.
The Detroit Artists Market celebrates its grand reopening celebration from 1-5 p.m. on Saturday, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 1:15 p.m.
It’s located at 4719 Woodward Ave., Detroit.
Davis Gardner says, “We’re just excited to be back in business.”
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