the BIG Art

BIG things are afoot....
We're hoping to start the process of purchasing the property
and so any help with funding will be hugely appreciated.
You can DONATE here:

The site is an 110,000 sq ft industrial building and office building on 3.7 acres. The plan is to create 60 artist studios in the office block and intermediate industrial spaces. The 45,000 sq ft of 25-38 foot high stud industrial bays will become an events space for art fairs, special exhibitions, performing arts and “Main Street’ for commercial activities such as café, restaurant and galleries which will open onto the soon to be commissioned Joe Louis Greenway.

This plan for this ambitious *project has the Joe Louis Greenway adjacent to BIG Art, passing directly along the building. This is a key element to BIG Art’s connection with the community.

Letter from the Founder
In 2015 I moved to Detroit from New Zealand in the belief that the city of Detroit has the potential to be the Arts Center of the USA, if not the World. Having purchased a factory space in Highland Park, 333 Midland, my partners and I set about creating a community of artists with gallery exhibitions and community events. Nearly every week, I get inquiries from artists in Michigan, as well as artists moving here from around the USA, looking for studio space. But our artists like it here at 333! We have perhaps one studio change hands every year.

Our business is successful and sustainable, and I see it as a model for a larger project — BIG Art.

Detroit will fall short of realizing its potential in the arts without more affordable studio space for artists. Without reasonably priced spaces to work, artists will struggle to create the potent, substantial work Detroit is known for. If many more studios do not come onto the market, rental rates will increase beyond that which most artists can afford, and Detroit’s potential could be lost.

I believe Detroit can be the arts center of America, and this project will help make that happen.
This project will demonstrate to our communities, visitors from the US and the world the outstanding work of our local artists.
This facility will provide an exceptionally welcoming and uniquely flexible space for art fairs, performances and special events.
Studios here will be private, affordable with good natural light and facilities which add value for our artists. • Having the opportunity to see other artists’ work and to show their own, artists will benefit with ever-improving quality of work and practice.

– Robert Onnes

Every BIG thing needs space to grow.
BIG Art will provide that space for Detroit artists and art, and nourish ongoing and expanding growth.

Artists need this project to happen.
Detroit needs this project to happen.
Together, let’s make something BIG happen.

For more information or to help us in our work,
please contact Robert Onnes at
[email protected] 313.649.3243 www.thebigart.org