Fall is almost here, which means a retreat indoors for the next few months. Fortunately, the Detroit area has plenty of art galleries and venues to keep you visually stimulated. (Did we forget anything? Let us know at tips@metrointhed.com and we’ll add online!)
Detroit Month of Design
Now celebrating its 15th year, Detroit Month of Design honors the Motor City’s title as the only UNESCO City of Design in the U.S. Exhibitions, installations, workshops, panel discussions, and other artistic events are cropping up around Detroit all month long. This year’s Detroit Month of Design includes work from more than 500 artists and 95 events.
Ongoing; full schedule of events at detroitmonthofdesign.org for more information.
Murals in the Market
Returning to its original location in Eastern Market for its 10th anniversary, this popular street art festival will feature murals by local artists like Amy Fisher Price, Bakpak Durden, and Sheefy McFly. The event will also include panel talks, exhibitions, and a Block Party with DJs.
Through Monday, Sept. 22; Eastern Market, Detroit; muralsinthemarket.com. No cover.
Renaissance Festival
Step back in time to a festive village where jousting knights clash, belly dancers enchant, and turkey legs reign supreme. The Michigan Renaissance Festival turns Holly into HollyGrove — a whimsical world of fantasy and festivity where costumes are welcome, and fun is guaranteed.
From 9 a.m.–7 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays through Sept. 28 (plus Friday, Sept. 26); 12600 Dixie Hwy., Holly; michrenfest.com. Tickets are $18.95.
Eastern Market After Dark
This annual tradition sees the Eastern Market district transformed for one night with art installations, brand activations, open studios, DJs, food trucks, and more.
From 6-11 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 18; Eastern Market; easternmarketafterdark.com. No cover.
ArtPrize
This annual art festival in Grand Rapids is worth the trip from Detroit. ArtPrize draws more than 800,000 visitors each year to the city for a global art competition that brings exhibitions and installations to galleries, restaurants, parks, and other venues.
From Thursday, Sept. 18-Saturday, Oct. 4 in Grand Rapids; artprize.org. No cover.
DIY Street Fair/Funky Ferndale Art Fair
This weekend, Ferndale offers two unique art festival experiences. The DIY Street Fair is the place to support indie makers, enjoy food from local vendors, and catch a diverse music lineup with bands like Michigan Rattlers, JR JR, and Agent Orange. If you’re in the mood for a fine art experience, the Funky Ferndale Art Fair is steps away, highlighting the work of over 140 juried contemporary artists.
From 6-11 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 19, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20, and 11 a.m.- 9 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 21; Nine Mile Road and Woodward Avenue; ferndalediy.com, funkyferndaleartfair.com. No cover.
Detroit Warehouse: Art and Design Fair
Presented by Artclvb, this three-day art fair showcases contemporary, affordable work by emerging and mid-career artists in the historic Boyer Campbell Building. The fair also includes a performance by Battle Elf at 2 p.m. on Saturday and a performance by Ackeem Salmon at 3 p.m. on Sunday.
From 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 19; noon-7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20; and noon-5 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 21; Boyer Campbell Building, 6540 St. Antoine St., Detroit; artclvb.xyz. No cover.
Victorian Festival
A cherished tradition since 1989, Northville’s historic downtown comes alive for a charming celebration of local heritage, which includes a parade, live entertainment, vintage baseball, and traditional food.
From 5-9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20, and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 21; downtown Northville, Main St., Northville; northvillevictorianfestival.com. No cover.
Nostalgia Nationals and Car Show
Rev up your engines and step back in time at this high-octane happening. Held at the recently rechristened Darana Dragway (formerly Milan Dragway), this event celebrates the golden era of drag racing with vintage dragsters, classic muscle cars, and motorcycles thundering down the track as well as a classic car show, showcasing gleaming chrome and polished paint from the ’50s through the ’80s.
From noon-9 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20; Darana Dragway, 10860 Plank Rd., Milan; milandragway.com. Tickets are $15-$60.
Season Fair
A new art fair in the renovated Michigan Central. The inaugural edition features Detroit-based artists Carole Harris, Alberte Tranberg, Lynn Bennett-Carpenter, and Jova Lynne.
From Thursday, Sept. 25-Sunday, Sept. 28; Michigan Central, 2001 15th St., Detroit; season-fair.com. Tickets are $24-$75.
Frankenmuth Fire Arts Festival
This two-day festival sits at the intersection of creativity and fire with glassblowing, blacksmithing, ceramics, fire dancers, smoked cocktails, and more. The event also features hands-on workshops, live demonstrations, vendors, and the Iron Pour — where molten iron is poured into molds created by festival-goers. A unique weekend of family-friendly fun.
From 2 p.m.-11 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 26-Saturday, Sept. 27; Heritage Park, 601 Weiss St., Frankenmuth; frankenmuthfire.org. No cover.
Detroit Institute of Arts
The Detroit Institute of Arts is gearing up for Contemporary Anishinaabe Art: A Continuation, its first major Native American art exhibition in over 30 years and one of the Midwest’s largest showcases of contemporary Indigenous art. Featuring around 90 pieces by more than 60 Anishinaabe artists from the Great Lakes region, the exhibition spans painting, sculpture, photography, beadwork, film, and more. Created in collaboration with Anishinaabe advisors, including members of the Ojibwe, Ottawa, and Potawatomi tribes, the show will be presented in both English and Anishnaabemowin.
Opens 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 28 (runs through April 5, 2026); Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Ave., Detroit; dia.org. No cover for residents of the tri-county area.
The Detroit Fiber Festival
Presented by the Peacock Room, this one-day event highlights the city’s textiles scene with vendors, live demonstrations, lectures, a keynote presentation on Detroit designer Adler Schnee, and more — all held inside the fabulous Fisher Building.
From 11 a.m.-5 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 28; The Fisher Building, 3011 W. Grand Blvd., Detroit; eventbrite.com. No cover for festival, tickets are $10 for “Detroit’s Own Ruth Adler Schnee” presentation.
Michigan Fall Festival
It’s time to get into the spirit for the most wonderful time of the year in the Midwest. This family-friendly outdoor event welcomes the autumn season with traditional fall fun and festive Halloween activities like cider and doughnuts from Yates Cider Mill, kid’s games and activities, a petting zoo, bounce houses, and more.
From 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 2 and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 3; Canterbury Village, 2359 Joslyn Ct., Lake Orion; michiganfallfestival.com. Advance tickets start at $5 (veterans and active-duty members get in free with military ID, plus children under 5).
Color | Ink Studio
Seeds of Inspiration features new work by printmaker Celeste Roe, and the title of the show is quite apt: she literally took inspiration from seeds. “I am interested in their shapes and the potential they hold to unfold into something new,” she said in a statement, adding, “There is a certain mystery involved in making prints, in that all the work is created on the plate, not on the paper. It’s not until the paper is placed on the plate and run through the press that the image appears.” The exhibition features original hand-pulled prints that have not been previously shown.
Opening reception from 2-4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 4 (runs through Oct. 31); Color | Ink Studio, 20919 John R Rd., Hazel Park; colorinkstudio.com. No cover.
Matéria Gallery
Outside in the Middle features work by Aleiya Lindsey Olu, Bilge Nur Saltik, Sophie Yan, and Aaron Blendowski, who have created an indoor installation.
Through Oct. 4; Matéria Gallery, 4725 16th St., Unit B, Detroit; materia-art.com. No cover.
Riverbank Arts
Flint Atelier: Creative Practice & Pedagogy highlights what organizers call “Flint’s cultural guardians”: leaders connected to the University of Michigan and Mott Community College that show “how artist-educators shape both their own creative practices and the cultural future of their students and communities.” The exhibition features works across mediums from artists including Guy Adamec, Jjenna Hupp Andrew, Rob Carter, Yazmin Dababneh, and others.
Runs through Oct. 24; Riverbank Arts, 400 North Saginaw St., Flint; riverbankarts.org. No cover.
A2 Artoberfest Fine Art Fair
This art fair features 100 jury-selected artists, hands-on workshops, youth exhibits, live music, food, and more.
From 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 11 and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 12; downtown Ann Arbor; a2artoberfest.org. No cover.
MOCAD
Ahead of its 20th anniversary, the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) is closing its main building down for renovations, from infrastructure to its Woodward Avenue facade, including adding a window to invite the public into its gallery. In the meantime, MOCAD will continue to hold programming in its Mike Kelley Mobile Homestead including Heart Land, a solo exhibition by Detroit-based artist Mary-Ann Monforton that features sculptural works built around themes of wealth and power.
Opens Friday, Oct. 24; Mike Kelley Mobile Homestead at MOCAD, 4454 Woodward Ave., Detroit; mocadetroit.org. No cover.
Signal-Return Gallery
Printmaking typically involves creating an edition of identical works of art, but this exhibition leaves things to chance. Curated by Elizabeth Isakson-Dado, Chance Operations: Monoprints, Make Ready, Test Prints, and Artist Proofs features ten unique printmakers “celebrates the anti-edition, an exploration of the range printmaking can take when we eschew the perfect image and honor the parts of the process many artists try to hide — the states, the proofs, the mechanical press malfunctions, the fingerprints — and see the layers as a new composition, greater than a sum of their parts.”
On view through Dec. 19; Signal-Return Gallery, 9301 Kercheval Ave., #1, Detroit; signalreturnpress.org. No cover.
Norwest Gallery of Art
Curated by Oshun Williams, Rooted tells the story of the artist Joe Cazeno III. “Shaped by the soil of the ’80s, their culture, family, and the people who poured into them, these pieces honor where he comes from — the lessons, the love, the labor, and the legacy,” the gallery says.
Open from noon-6 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and noon-4 p.m. Sundays; Norwest Gallery of Art, 19556 Grand River Ave., Detroit; norwestgallery.com. Donations are encouraged.
David Klein Gallery
Prometheus, Absence of Light presents work by Puerto Rican artist Emanuel Torres, a series of abstracted paintings that the artists says are inspired by light — or its apparent lack in our current moment in society.
Through Oct. 11; David Klein Gallery, 678 Livernois St., Ferndale; dkgallery.com. No cover.
Cranbrook Art Museum
Haas Brothers: Uncanny Valley highlights the whimsical, Seussian art of twin brothers Nikolai and Simon Haas. The exhibition includes works from the last 15 years while highlighting the brothers’ creative process.
From Nov. 2-Feb. 22; Cranbrook Art Museum, 39221 Woodward Ave., Bloomfield Hills; cranbrookartmuseum.org. Tickets are $8-$12.
This article appears in Sep 17-30, 2025.