Leap of Faith

Anthony and JJ Chris, owners and co-founders of downtown Detroit’s Library Street Collective , weren’t looking for a church when they began thinking about expanding their gallery, which has presented exhibitions and featured programming that has supported the local creative community since 2012.

“We thought long and hard about what should be our next chapter,” Anthony Curis explains. He says they considered other locations, including New York and Puerto Rico, before ultimately deciding to renew their commitment to Detroit and “double down in the city.”

In 2019, the couple started exploring a number of sites before they were tipped off about a former Catholic church for sale on Detroit’s east side. Originally known as Annunciation, and later as Good Shepherd, the 16,000-square-foot brick structure was built in 1911 in the Romanesque revival style but had been empty since 2016.

Once inside, they found soaring arches, stained glass, and Pewabic tile from the landmark pottery. “We were looking for a certain scale and historical significance,” Curis shares. The vast church offered both, as well as plenty of room in which to spread out. “We knew we needed something with space not only for galleries but for collaborative performances and music,” he says.

The plan was to develop a new cultural campus known as Little Village and center it on art, architecture, the landscape, and waterfront access, Curis says.

Blurring the lines between gallery, institution, and community arts center, the site would be anchored by the former church, renamed the “Shepherd,” with two gallery spaces, a library dedicated to artists of color, a community workshop area, and multifaceted programming. Also included would be an outdoor sculpture garden, the Charles McGee Legacy Park; a Tony Hawk and McArthur Binion-designed public skate park; two eateries; a bar (aptly titled Father Forgive Me); and ALEO, a boutique bed-and-breakfast housed in the adjacent former rectory.

Curis knew the vacant church was right the first time he toured it, he says. “There was an aura,” he remembers, adding, “It’s hard to explain. … It gave us this feeling that it was special, and we immediately knew this was where we wanted to be.”

Inside Out

When the couple purchased the church, it was a long way from the soaring, whitewashed space visitors see today. “The condition wasn’t great,” Curis acknowledges. “It had a grand beauty but had fallen into disrepair.” The roof was damaged, the original flooring had been covered, and all of the infrastructure had to be upgraded. Old photos, however, confirmed its possibilities. “When it was first built, it was very much like you see now,” Curis says.

Returning the building and its environs to its original architectural intent as a community gathering space — albeit with a different function — was the goal. To help, the new owners brought in Miriam Peterson and Nathan Rich, of Brooklyn-based architects Peterson Rich Office, who had experience in both historic buildings and adaptive reuse.

“It wasn’t hard to see the potential from the beginning,” Rich says of the project. Removing the furnishings and questionable later additions only confirmed that assessment. “Taking things out made it easy to see both the raw potential and the amazing natural light.”

Two galleries were carved from the onetime church floor, with an unusual mezzanine — Curis’s favorite feature, he says — offering a bird’s-eye view of the soaring space. Fittingly, the opening exhibition (on view through July 20) is a retrospective of the work of Charles McGee , the renowned Detroit-based artist and educator, who designed the nearby outdoor sculpture park’s three large-scale works prior to his 2021 passing at age 96. Former confessionals now offer reading room spaces for the library, located on one side of the church.

Stay Awhile

ALEO (short for Angel, Lion, Eagle, and Ox, images originally depicted on a mural in the church) is housed in the adjacent former 5,500-square-foot rectory, which was built a year after the church. With interiors by Holly Jonsson Studio, of Detroit-based Rossetti, the renovated bed-and-breakfast includes a first floor with communal areas for events and programming, and a second floor with four guest suites. The third floor houses the headquarters of the Modern Ancient Brown Foundation , which offers two artist residencies, one out of ALEO.

“JJ and Anthony were some of the first people I met when I moved to Detroit from Dallas 10 years ago,” designer Jonsson says of her involvement. “I knew that anything they were working on would be amazing, and I was very excited to play a small part in their vision and this incredible arts development.”

Like the church, the rectory “was in pretty rough shape,” Jonsson says. She followed the lead of the rest of the project team when working on interiors. “I knew the art should be the focus of the space,” she explains. “I wanted to keep the palette timeless so the art, rotated in and out, [and] the furnishings wouldn’t compete.”

Art by Detroit-based artists or those with roots in the city is drawn from the Curises’ enviable collection. “I wanted the furniture to augment the art and for the spaces at ALEO to be cozy and comfortable for guests to relax, work, connect, and collaborate,” Jonsson explains of her clean-lined, often midcentury modern, aesthetic. “A lot of the furniture and accessories were sourced at local estate sales. I also source a lot from IME and Le Shoppe. There are classic pieces by Saarinen and Eames, and chairs recovered in Nick Cave’s fabric, which was a collaboration between Cave and Knoll [Textiles].”

It Takes a Village

After almost five years of planning and restoration, Little Village officially opened in May. The team and its community partners are excited about both the project’s completion and its potential as an arts-focused gathering spot.

New York landscape designer Simon David, of OSD , was “really moved by the energy” of the project and says the landscape design — including red twig dogwood inspired by the church’s original brick — ties the disparate pieces together. “The need for public space is so important for community connections and our own physical and mental well-being,” he says.

The architects agree. “The church and surrounding land represented a great opportunity to give Anthony and JJ the space to do what they do best,” Peterson says. “They took an incredible leap of faith.”

“I like to think of the Shepherd as serving both global and local audiences,” Rich adds. “On the one hand, Anthony and JJ are staging world-class exhibitions for international audiences. On the other, the Shepherd has grown out of collaborations with local partners and will be a new anchoring institution in the neighborhood, echoing the role the church once played as a space for community gathering.”

Rich continues to be inspired by the project and its scope. “Every time I walk in, I’m almost surprised by it,” he says. “There’s really nothing like this out there.”

This story originally appeared in the July 2024 issue of Hour Detroit magazine. To read more, pick up a copy of Hour Detroit at a local retail outlet. Our digital edition will be available on July 8.

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