image: Motawi Tileworks
Motawi Tileworks Tour
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
Morning Tour – 8:30am to 12:00pm
Afternoon Tour – 1:00pm to 4:30pm
Fee – $55 per person. Lunch will NOT be provided.
Here is your chance to visit the manufacturing facility of Motawi Tileworks in Ann Arbor. Learn about Nawal Motawi, who, after learning tilemaking at Pewabic Pottery, began making her own tiles in a garage and selling them at a local farmers market. She still designs them, now in a 12,000-square-foot facility. You will tour the manufacturing area and the kilns, observe how they hand make and paint each tile, and see their current stock. Motawi is well-known for their meticulously designed Art Deco-, Art Moderne-, or Prairie-style tiles. You will have time to shop at the company store located within the plant. Each tour is capped at 24 people. Please plan to dress appropriately for the weather and wear comfortable and sensible shoes. Note that the manufacturing area will be rather warm due to the proximity of the working kilns, so please arrive hydrated!
Motown Mosaic Tours
image: Tim Stassines
City Tour 1 – Features Detroit Library
Thursday, May 4, 2017
8:00am to 5:00pm
Fee – $95 per person
Lunch will be provided.
This tour does not visit the Detroit Institute of Art but duplicates remaining stops on City Tour 2.
Come tour Motown and explore the amazing mosaic and tile installations it has to offer. The tour will start in the Detroit suburbs and work its way back to downtown. You will see the extensive “Art in Healing” program at St Joseph’s Hospital, and the exquisite mosaics at the Detroit Main Library (Tour #1 only), which include a tile fireplace which depicts scenes from favorite childhood literature, and the exterior Loggia ceiling and floor. Additionally, you will experience the impact that Pewabic Pottery (a National Historic Landmark, which has innovated techniques that have changed the face of contemporary ceramics) has had on Detroit, and their incredible tile installations downtown. The Fisher, Maccabee, and Guardian Buildings all contain significant Pewabic tile and glass mosaic installations.
This is an all-day tour. Boxed lunch is included. Please plan to dress appropriately for the weather and wear comfortable and sensible shoes.
City Tour 2 – Features Detroit Institute of Art
Sunday, May 7, 2017
8:00am to 5:00pm
Fee – $95 per person
Lunch will be provided.
This tour does not visit the Detroit Library but duplicates remaining stops on City Tour 1.
Come tour Motown and explore the amazing mosaic and tile installations it has to offer. The tour will start in the Detroit suburbs and work its way back to downtown. You will see the extensive “Art in Healing” program at St Joseph’s Hospital. Additionally, you will experience the impact that Pewabic Pottery (a National Historic Landmark, which has innovated techniques that have changed the face of contemporary ceramics) has had on Detroit, and their incredible tile installations downtown. The Fisher, Maccabee, and Guardian Buildings all contain significant Pewabic tile and glass mosaic installations.
The Detroit Institute of Art collection (Tour #2 only), is regarded as among the top six museums in the United States with an encyclopedic collection which spans the globe from ancient Egyptian and European works to contemporary art. The collection of American art at the DIA is one of the most impressive, and officials at the DIA have ranked the American paintings collection third among museums in the US. Additionally, the tour will stop at the Hellenic Museum of Michigan for a special mosaic exhibition from Mosaic Artists of Michigan (MAM).
This is an all-day tour. Boxed lunch is included. Please plan to dress appropriately for the weather and wear comfortable and sensible shoes.