PASC Detroit LANTERN

PASC Detroit LANTERN, is the future location of our PASC Detroit program in the LANTERN building at 9301 Kercheval Ave in Detroit. We are currently building out the studio and gallery, and planning to move into this fully ADA accessible location in the Fall/Winter of 2023. Our participation in this mixed use arts building, located in a newly developing arts district, will provide disabled adults in our program groundbreaking opportunities for professional development, as well as collaboration and integration with the Detroit cultural community. PASC Detroit LANTERN will be the hub for the PASC program, and it will also house our first permanent gallery in Detroit, the first ever permanent gallery dedicated to artists with disabilities in Detroit.

PASC Detroit will feature the following:

• Professional gallery space to exhibit PASC artists and other artists with disabilities from around the world
• Professional studio space to support PASC artists to develop their practice
• A rotating staff of professional artists and visiting artists to provide advice and support to participants
• 2 ADA accessible bathrooms for participants and the public
• Fully accessible gallery and studio following universal design principles
• Storage spaces for finished artwork and materials
• Kitchen for PASC participants
• Interior designed by LOHA architects
• Exterior designed by OMA architects

PUBLIC PROGRAMS AND EVENTS

PASC Detroit will be a nexus for the disabled artist community of Detroit. We will host ongoing public bi-monthly exhibitions, about 10 a year with, 8-10 yearly public programs and talks by disability advocates, artists and theorists, as well as film nights and information sessions on disability issues. We will host open studio days throughout the year to meet new artists and community members. We will utilize the large open outdoor space in the front of the building to host outdoor public events, such as picnics, art fairs and outdoor film nights. Most importantly, as a fully accessible environment we are designing this space to be a constant safe space and resting space for the disability community, a site where visitors to all the art spaces in Southeast Detroit can always stop, rest and refuel.  

• 8 exhibitions yearly open to the public, with opening night festivities
• 8-10 yearly public programs featuring disabled artists, theorists and activists, and others interested in the field of self-taught/outlier artists
• Saturday open studio walk-in program for adult artists with disabilities
• Evenings and weekend teen programs for teen artists with disabilities

The PASC studio and gallery will occupy 1/3rd of the LANTERN building, a mixed-use redevelopment spearheaded by Library Street Collective co-founders Anthony & JJ Curis, which will serve as headquarters for both PASC and the printmaking non-profit Signal-Return. 

In addition to PASC and Signal-Return, the building will include 5,300 square feet of affordable artist studio spaces, an art gallery, and nearly 4,000 square feet of creative retail – all connected by a 2,000 square foot outdoor courtyard that will serve as an accessible community space and open-air lobby. ​

The interior architecture of our gallery and studio has been beautifully designed by Lorcan O'Herlihy (LOHA) Architects to provide space to highlight PASC artists exceptional artworks, excite creativity, and support artistic development in a fully accessible environment. LOHA is an award-winning architecture and urban design firm, with offices in Los Angeles and Detroit, driven to develop works rooted in embracing architecture's role as a catalyst for change.

The LANTERN building will be a beacon for art going audiences, with a bright and inviting exterior designed by the international architecture firm OMA, led by Partner Jason Long, transforming the vacant 22,300 square foot building into a mixed use arts building setting a new paradigm for arts education and public space. 

It will place the PASC studio/gallery amidst a cultural arts destination neighborhood, with neighboring art spaces like, Library Street Collective’s The Shepherd Art Center, Louis Buhl and Co, Modern, Ancient, Brown, Pewabic, Belle Isle Viewing Room, and other galleries relocating to this neighborhood. 

Our move into the LANTERN building will expand our program by providing a more visible and consistent location for PASC, in a very public and well publicized site. A permanent gallery will help us ground our program within a more professionalized setting, build a membership program, establish a steady collector base, significantly increase sales, and broaden audiences for our artists' artwork. In addition the density of cultural offerings on hand in the neighborhood will provide increased opportunities for education, engagement, and the inclusion of the disabled population with the general public. ​