At the height of America's Arts and Crafts movement, Detroit neighbors Horace J. Caulkins and Mary Chase Perry pooled their talents together to found Pewabic Pottery. With modest beginnings in 1903, Pewabic transformed from a rented stable in Brush Park to an English Tudor building on East Jefferson Avenue, where it has operated since 1907. Today, the iconic enterprise continues Perry's dedication to handcrafted ceramics and remains known for its iridescent glaze on everything from vessels and architectural tiles to ecclesiastical installations in churches across the country, including the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Author Cara Catallo illuminates the story behind one of the oldest American handcrafted pottery traditions.

Mary Chase Perry Stratton and Horace J. Caulkins founded Detroit’s Pewabic Pottery in 1903 during the height of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Now celebrating its centennial, Pewabic is one of the few historic art potteries still operating in the United States. The pottery remains an integral part of artistic life in the Detroit area; its presence in the city is underscored by such installations as the modern tile murals in Detroit’s People Mover Stations, the fairy tale friezes around fireplaces in area schools, and mosaic-tiled ceilings in museums and churches. Fired Magic is the story of a child discovering the beauty of Pewabic tile installations in the metropolitan Detroit area. Readers accompany the main character Angie on a tour of architecturally significant historic and contemporary tiled floors, ceilings, fountains, fireplaces, and other tile installations that grace the city and its environs—such as Belle Isle Park, the Detroit Institute of Arts, Cranbrook Educational Community, and the Detroit Zoo. Readers also join Angie in taking a class at Pewabic Pottery, where she learns to make tiles and other clay objects. The book provides a glossary of ceramic terms and a comprehensive list of Pewabic installations around the United States so that readers may discover the beauty of Pewabic tile for themselves. This is the second in a series of books celebrating the cultural heritage of Detroit and the Great Lakes. Like the first in the series, The Outdoor Museum: The Magic of Michigan’s Marshall M. Fredericks (Wayne State University Press, 2001), this book is written for students from age 8 and above; however, it is enjoyable for art lovers of all ages. Through its inviting tale and rich illustrations, Fired Magic relates the history of Pewabic Pottery from its beginnings in the Arts and Crafts Movement and furthers the pottery’s present-day mission to support, educate, and foster appreciation for ceramic art.

"This book presents a comprehensive history of Pewabic Pottery in Detroit, Michigan, its founders, and its place in the Arts and Crafts movement"--

For the last century, the Detroit Public Library has ranked as one of the most beautiful buildings in Detroit — an important landmark as well as a significant monument serving generations of Detroiters. The Detroit Public Library: An American Classic was born out of “Discover the Wonders,” an art and architectural tour of the main library that began in December 2013. Since the tour’s inception, around seven thousand people have visited this structural gem. The Detroit Public Library was the result of numerous requests for a book that showcases the library’s many artistic and architectural wonders. As the photographs in this book reveal, the Detroit Public Library stands as an enduring symbol of the public library, one of the most democratic institutions in America. The design of the Detroit Public Library was Cass Gilbert’s vision for Detroit’s Early Italian Renaissance-style library. This book honors his work with a chronological and photographic timeline of the conception and building of the 1921 Woodward Avenue Library, the 1963 Cass Avenue addition, and the library as it is today. The book goes through the library’s transformative years, documenting the contributions of local and national artists such as Mary Chase Perry Stratton, Gari Melchers, and John Stephens Coppin, and includes photographs of the rooms they have decorated with murals, mosaics, painted windows, bronze works, architectural elements, and ornamentation. In preparing The Detroit Public Library, the authors had two fundamental desires, as they note in their preface. The first was to celebrate the main library’s design using both historic and contemporary images, the latter contributed by a number of photographers presently working in Detroit. The second was “to share with the world the beauty and elegance of a grand building in a great city that, even through the most difficult times, has sustained one of the most magnificent neo-classical buildings in the country.” The Detroit Public Library unites the interests of history buffs, art enthusiasts, library lovers, and Detroit-area locals with a tribute to one of the city’s most impressive structures. This book will appeal to those looking to learn about the builders, the history, and the stories that brought the Detroit Public Library to fruition.