Northville's Emerging Arts Community

Don't let downtown Northville's Victorian homes and quaint tree-lined streets fool you. This isn't the same country, knick-knack town it once was. Northville has art. Serious art.

Though much of its small town flavor is still intact, Northville has begun to carve out a niche as an upscale, modern art town --boasting three performance theatres, six art galleries, one arts commission and a monthly art walk where galleries stay open late and serve up wine and eats, all within a one mile walk-able urban downtown.

But the cultural scene doesn't end there.  Northville is also home to public art in the town square where the Friday Night Concert Series brings new bands every Friday night during the summer. Even local businesses like Bee's Knees, Stamp Peddler, Broughton Music Center and Awakening the Artist Inside are getting in on the act, offering art classes for every age.    
 
Things started to change with the rebirth of The Marquee Theatre when it became a well-regarded children's theatre in 1973. An instant attraction, it was the lone voice of culture in a downtown dotted with brick-a-brack shops. Hardly the beginnings of a sophisticated arts movement, the theater served as an anchor. When The Dancing Eye Gallery, specializing in handmade art tiles, moved in over a decade ago, people started to recognize how things could change.
 
Soon, a few more galleries popped up as the antique shops closed down, and the downtown started attracting visitors. In the last three years, Northville has seen a veritable boom in art related businesses. In 2005, The Northville Arts Commission established The Art House which offers workshops, lectures and a store where people can buy home grown art and view national exhibits. Three years ago the town's popular First Friday Art Walk was launched followed by Starring "The Gallery". Then last year, The Tipping Point Theatre moved downtown, serving up professional theater.

There's no getting around the fact that Northville has undergone a cultural seismic shift. Whether art was the chicken or the egg, restaurants, cafes, boutiques and condos have transformed the downtown into something far more urbane.

Equal opportunity art

If you can get past the smell of oil paint emanating from the stacks of paintings that lean against each other, Northville Gallery is the place to go for affordable classics, abstracts, and period pieces. The gallery doesn't deal with artists or commissions so they can get creative with sale promotions. Owners, Jim and Prudy Vannier, who encourage costumers to touch the paintings, buy large patches of paintings from distributers who get the works from all over the world.
 
The Tom James Gallery offers international works with a strong traditional style and a splash of large scale contemporary paintings. But James' love for photography (he owns Northville Camera) allows him to hang the works of Farmington Hills fine arts photographer, Monte Nagler, who once studied under Ansel Adams.

Dancing Eye Gallery is a pint-sized, yet inviting space filled with unique works of art, from funky jewelry and hip, vegan handbags to colorful tiles made by both local and national artists. The space is tiny, the works are tiny, and the prices… almost tiny.

Starring "The Gallery" should be called Starring "The Floor" because the acid stained concrete slab is a work of art all its own. Which is not to say that the art that's actually for sale isn't worth noting. In fact, Starring, who almost opened a Jimmy Johns instead, won The 2008 People's Choice Award for best gallery (sponsored by the Northville Record). Highly textured abstract paintings come in all sizes and prices and are interspersed between upscale jewelry, scarves and handbags. The art is fresh and unique, especially the spirited women painted in reverse on old windows.

Sherrus Gallery collects bright, contemporary works from well-known international artists, offers custom framing, and also houses Awakening the Artist Inside, an art supplies store and studio for classes. Like The Tom James Gallery, Sherrus is of the sophisticated variety, sans the snobbery. 

And slightly off the beaten path of Main and Centre streets, sits The Art house on Cady Street. The hours are sparse, open only Thursday thru Sunday, but a visit during a First Friday Art Walk will yield a national exhibit and some interesting local work.  
 
Does art breathe new life in an otherwise colorless town? Absolutely. But why does Northville, of all places, attract so many quality arts businesses. 

"We studied other downtowns before deciding to open a gallery here and Northville won hands down because it's a destination place for unique shops," says Northville Gallery owner, Prudy Vannier.  
  
Lori Ward, Director of the Downtown Development Authority (DDA), says it all came about when a handful of like-minded people wanted to open arts related businesses. "Northville has always had great bones and we started to change the infrastructure to an art colony when stores combined services into galleries, like Northville Camera turned into The Tom James Gallery, and Awakening the Artist Inside expanded into Sherrus Gallery."

Sherry Mewha, owner of Sherrus Gallery says there is a high concentration of artists in Northville and the surrounding communities. "Northville has a higher income, a higher level of education and an emphasis on family so it made sense to open a gallery here."

Traci Sincock, Director of Northville Parks and Recreation, says that the quaintness of the architecture lends itself to the creativity that artists have."

Jody Humphries, director of Northville Chamber, says "it's been no conscious effort on our part, but we managed to slice out a piece of Saugatuck."

Neeta Delaney, president and CEO of ArtServe Michigan, puts it into the broader perspective of urban living, "Young, college educated people have to decide if they want to work where there are different kinds of foods, where there's a downtown night life, where there are arts and cultural things going on, music, and a beautiful, walkable downtown."

When you look at the numbers Delaney cites --Michigan’s nonprofit arts and cultural activities alone generate $2 billion a year and support 108,000 jobs-- it's clear how Northville's changing identity can bode well for its future.

No town can survive on art alone, but art can be a vital compenent in a town's economic engine. Unique eateries, cool boutiques, music and a night life located within stumbling distance of one another --all these things contribute to building a vibrant urban community. And they make crystal clear the connection between culture and commerce.