Cranbrook Art Museum To Open “Labyrinth/Laboratory: Selections from the Cranbrook Collection”

Bloomfield Hills, Mich., April 2, 2026 — Cranbrook Art Museum presents Labyrinth/Laboratory: Selections from the Cranbrook Collection, a new ongoing exhibition of work by Cranbrook Academy of Art alumni and faculty that shows how artists across generations connect through their ideas, materials, and processes. With a focus on work produced from the 1960s to the present, Labyrinth/Laboratory features 47 works, including several recent acquisitions, all from Cranbrook Art Museum’s permanent collection.

The exhibition opens on April 4 and will be celebrated on April 11, when the 2026 Graduate Degree Exhibition of Cranbrook Academy of Art opens to the public, making direct connections between Academy alumni and today’s students. “This is the first permanent collection gallery at the Art Museum in decades and centralizes the intergenerational importance of our Cranbrook Collection, which has grown significantly over the past decade,” remarks Art Museum Director Andrew Satake Blauvelt.

Featured works on view include pieces by artists and designers such as McArthur Binion (Painting, 1973), Gerhardt Knodel (Head of Fiber, 1970–1996; Director, 1995–2007), Myra Mimlitsch-Gray (Metalsmithing, 1986), Katherine McCoy (Co-head of Design, 1971–1995), Cody Norman (3D Design, 2020), Karyn Olivier (Ceramics, 2001), Ato Ribeiro (Print Media, 2017), Sheida Soleimani (Photography, 2015), Toshiko Takaezu (Ceramics, 1954), Qualeasha Wood (Photography, 2021), and many more. A full list of artists is available on our website.

The title, Labyrinth/Laboratory, refers to the nonlinear path of artistic development at Cranbrook Academy of Art (labyrinth) and to the ongoing commitment to experimentation and inquiry (laboratory) that persists today. The exhibition’s labyrinthian design draws upon the interlocking design motifs of Eliel Saarinen, the Academy’s founding president and architect of its historic campus.

Since its founding in 1932, Cranbrook Academy of Art has evolved from a series of artisanal craft-based workshops into one of the most experimental art schools in the country. Students learn by doing, with a radical approach to education that focuses on self-direction, which presents as a convergence of an artist colony, atelier, and design laboratory.

According to Kat Goffnett, Associate Curator of Collections, “These works were selected for the ways they speak to one another across time—through shared questions, materials, and approaches to making.”

Katy Kim, Jeanne and Ralph Graham Curatorial Fellow, adds, “Together, they reflect the enduring influence of Cranbrook’s model, where experimentation and self-direction continue to shape how artists work today.” 

Over the next several months, special tours and programming will be offered in conjunction with the exhibition. Labyrinth/Laboratory is an ongoing exhibition, with no planned closing date. 

Special Exhibition Tours Held on Fridays at 4pm:
April 24, May 1, May 15, and May 29. See calendar for details and to RSVP.