One Of America's Premier Pottery Destinations Is A Michigan Gem With An Interactive Studio And Historic Museum

If your favorite trips end with a handmade souvenir instead of a generic trinket, Detroit has just the place. Even better, that place, the Pewabic Pottery studio, is loaded with history. Drive about 15 minutes northeast of Downtown Detroit (or take a roughly 20-minute bus ride), and you'll find the historic pottery studio. From the outside, your first guess for what's inside might not be an artisanal workshop at all. The building has the look of a Tudor Revival cottage set amid greenery. It is, nevertheless, an active studio, where visitors can watch the kiln get fired up or even participate in a ceramic workshop. Inside the building, you can explore galleries and historic rooms where Pewabic's signature architectural tile appears, while exhibits trace more than a century of handcrafted ceramics in Detroit.

The Pewabic Pottery building visitors see standing today was built in 1907 and still looks nearly the same as it did then, according to the National Park Service. Cabinets, machines, and tables that ceramicists still use are originals. The studio was built for Mary Chase Perry to work in, who had already achieved some renown among the nation's craft community for her luminous, iridescent glazes and tiles. Some of those tiles can still be seen ornamenting Detroit landmarks like the Guardian Building, Downtown Detroit's Art Deco crown jewel. Pewabic Pottery's legacy as the place where Perry crafted her hallmark ceramics has earned it a National Historic Landmark designation.

Pottery lovers or curious museum-goers don't need to invest much to see some of the unique ceramics produced at Pewabic Pottery. Once at the building — located near the stunning homes of Detroit's Indian Village neighborhood — you can head upstairs to view a rotating selection of archival pieces for free. The galleries include displayed pottery works, with some that were created during the pottery studio's earliest days, and informational panels detailing the building's history and the pottery-making process. Many reviewers online have also noted that the gift shop is worth checking out — if not to buy something, then simply to see some of the impressive works it holds. "The shop is like an art museum," a Google Maps reviewer described.

In Pewabic Pottery's active studio, you can see ceramicists at work or take a workshop yourself. Self-guided tours through the studio are allowed every Friday, according to the Pewabic Pottery website. You'll get to see artisans glazing tiles by hand and loading up kilns much as generations before them did. Take note of the clay mixer machine, which has remained in use since 1912. If you're interested in taking home a tile that you glazed yourself, the studio offers workshops that last an hour. You choose a tile design, glaze it, and then get to keep it after it gets fired in the kiln.

The pottery site also has some fun events during the year you might want to time a visit around. On select Saturdays in the summer, the building's courtyard hosts a market with artisan demonstrations, food stalls, and live music. Beyond the historic building itself, Pewabic staff lead tours around some of the stunning architecture of Detroit (aptly called "the Paris of the Midwest") that feature Pewabic tiles.