Our most popular Michigan article and video

Mike Kelley: Breaking American Normative Structures

  • Michigan
  • art
Autobiography and collective history not only inform the practice of legendary artist Mike Kelley, but are used as material and subject in his extensive and various output. Kelley’s legacy lives on in the spirit of the Los Angeles art scene, as Anne C. Surga discovers.

Searching for Sugarman: A Journey into the Unknown

  • South Africa
  • film
Malik Bendjelloul’s documentary Searching for Sugarman depicts the mystery surrounding an obscure American folk singer who unknowingly inspired a generation of South Africans.

Michigan Galleries and Museums

Gallery | David Klein Gallery

David Klein Gallery opened in 1990 in Birmingham. The focus is on Post-War American Art, including painting, sculpture and work on paper. Recent exhibitions have featured the work of Norman Bluhm, Michael Goldberg, Al Held, Milton Resnick and Richard Stankiewicz.

Gallery | Robert Kidd Gallery

Based in Birmingham, the gallery was founded in 1976 by Robert Louis Kidd and Ray Frost Fleming. While exhibiting the work of notable emerging contemporary artists, the gallery roster includes many 20th Century masters including Milton Avery and Helen Frankenthaler.

Gallery | Re:View Contemporary

Re:View Contemporary was opened in 2008 by gallerist Simone DeSouza. DeSouza aims to spotlight conceptual art produced by contemporary Michigan artists, and the gallery has spearheaded the recent evolution of the Detroit art scene.

Museum | The Heidelberg Project

Begun in 1986 by Tyree Guyton, a Detroit native, this vast outdoor art project started as a protest to the overwhelming poverty of much of the city. An entire street of derelict houses has been extravagantly decorated, and it has become a key destination for visitors.

Museum | CCS Center Galleries

An anchor for the arts in Detroit, Center Galleries is dedicated to exploring the relationship between culture and artistic practice, fostering intellectual inquiry, and creating multi-disciplinary exhibitions that facilitate connections between art and everyday life.

Museum | MOCAD

The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit is a non collecting institution that aims to present art at the forefront of contemporary culture. Housed in a simply converted car salesroom, the building hosts a regularly changing program of contemporary works.

Museum | Detroit Institute of Arts

This enormous institution holds one of the largest, most significant collections of art in the United States, at over 60 000 objects. Spanning 100 galleries, it is an encyclopedic museum with works ranging from Ancient Egyptian artefacts to contemporary art.

Museum | Cranbrook Museum

The museum began when the founders of Cranbrook House, George and Ellen Booth, donated a portion of their private collection to the Cranbrook Foundation. Its collections boast examples of art, architecture and design from the 20th and 21st centuries.

Museum | Kunsthalle Detroit

Kunsthalle Detroit documents contemporary visual culture through video and film, photography and light. Since its founding in 2010 it has become an anchor for local cultural renaissance as well as international platform for multimedia art projects.

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Michigan Tours

Detroit’s Rise, Fall and Renewal

This informative tour takes in a large part of the varied history of Detroit. The tour includes the stunning 1929 Guardian Building, an example of 1920s Deco architecture, and takes in the Book Tower, explaining why it and other buildings remain vacant.

Cranbrook House and Gardens

As the oldest of metropolitan Detroit's historic manors, Cranbrook House has a long and illustrious past; built as the home to George and Ellen Booth. The ground floor has been preserved as testament to their involvement in the Arts and Crafts movement.

Downtown Detroit Architecture Walking Tour

Prof. Michael Farrell provides informative walking tours of the city, tracing 140 years of Detroit’s architectural evolution. The tour begins in the 19th century residential area Brush Park, continues to the early 20th century boom years, and ends with the 21st century skyline.

Michigan Hotels

The Westin Book Cadillac

Now included in the National Register of Historic Places, the Italian Renaissance–style hotel was the tallest building in Detroit and the tallest hotel in the world at its completion in 1924. Its rich and varied history is intrinsic to that of the city.

Grand Hotel

Grand Hotel was named by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as one of a Dozen Distinctive Destinations. Based on the Island of Mackinac, the hotel has been in operation for over 125 years, and its original architecture is offset by avant-garde interiors.

Inn on Ferry Street

East Ferry Avenue was developed into an upper-class neighbourhood in the late 1800s. The six historic buildings that form the Inn were renovated in 2000, and the Inn was given a National Trust Honor Award for their meticulous restoration.

Michigan Restaurants

Prime 29

Prime 29 Steakhouse focuses upon impeccable aged steaks and fresh seafood. Chef Hai Ying works directly with the butcher to monitor the conditions of the beef, ensuring every cut on the menu is of unparalleled standard.

Green Dot Stables

When owner Jacques Driscoll purchased Green Dot Stables, he decided to maintain the kitsch horse-and-jockey interior. The menu of gourmet sliders, salads and soups has attracted a large following and gained a number of rave reviews, as one of the most fashionable Detroit eateries.

The Whitney

Based in The David Whitney House, built 1890-94, The Whitney was converted to an upscale restaurant in 1986. It is an iconic and renowned destination, considered Detroit’s grandest restaurant, with impressive interiors and classic American menu.

Destination Michigan

We think you will enjoy our budding collection of articles on local art and culture and our unique curation of books and films set in or about Michigan.

We also recommend some great local travel apps and music for smart phones and tablets; and introduce some delightful local galleries, events, hotels, restaurants and tours.

We love receiving your recommendations and articles, so keep sending them in at info@theculturetrip.com

For now, have a great Culture Trip!

Michigan Events

Michigan Shakespeare Festival

Running for a four week season in the summer, the festival stages a number of plays by the Bard.

Waterfront Film Festival

Based in the village of Saugatuck, this annual film festival screens independent films from across the US.

Detroit Jazz Fest

Running since 1980, this huge event sees jazz musicians converge from across the country for Labor Day Weekend.

Michigan Blogs and Apps

Blog | Nightlight Revue

Blogger Megan Schaffer provides insight to the literary scene of Detroit and Michigan, including new launches, publications and events.

Blog | Faded Detroit

Faded Detroit provides photographic portraits of many of Detroit’s now derelict or ruined buildings, along with their histories.

Blog | Detroit Institute of Arts

The blog of the Detroit Institute of Arts updates news, events and discussion in and around this vast institution.

App | Sauve Art Foundation

Download some of our selected travel, art and culture apps for your smart phone or tablet computer before you travel and skip roaming charges.

App | Michigan Lighthouses

Download some of our selected travel, art and culture apps for your smart phone or tablet computer before you travel and skip roaming charges.

App | Detroit Symphony

Download some of our selected travel, art and culture apps for your smart phone or tablet computer before you travel and skip roaming charges.

App | The Castle Museum

Download some of our selected travel, art and culture apps for your smart phone or tablet computer before you travel and skip roaming charges.

Michigan Profile

Michigan Flag

Michigan is made up of two peninsulas which fit into the Great Lakes, the name Michigan unsurprisingly comes from a distortion of the Ojibwa name meaning ‘large water’.

Cited when Toni Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1993, Song of Solomon is about an African-American who lives in Michigan. A very different book, also set in Michigan, is Elmore Leonard’s Swag.

Multi-award winning teen-comedy American Pie presents a well-worn image of what high school graduation is considered. Anatomy of Murder gives a very different image of Michigan, which is a courtroom trial drama.

Michigan offers a diverse music scene, mainly focused around the main city of Detroit, ranging from Eminem, The White Stripes and The Stooges, as well as being home to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

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Michigan Venues

Cliff Bells

Cliff Bells is a legendary Detroit Jazz Club, originally founded in 1935. It continues to provide a unique dining and entertainment experience.

The Fox Theatre

The Fox Theatre has played host to some of the biggest names in show business and is one of the top-grossing theaters of its size in the nation.

Detroit Opera House

Opening in 1922, this ornate opera house is now home to the Michigan Opera Theatre and its productions.