Exclusive Behind-the-Scenes Collections Wing Tours are Back! See a selection of the 7,500+ items in Cranbrook’s extensive collection in our state-of-the-art storage facility.
Have you ever wondered where all of the artwork lives when it’s not on display? Or thought about how it is moved from place to place? Our Collections Wing opened in late 2011, making Cranbrook one of the first museums in the world to allow public access to its storage facilities. Check out a recent NY Times feature of the Collections Wing.
Visit our vaults to get an exclusive look at how we store and care for sculptures, textiles, drawings, prints, and paintings in our collection.
The first stop is our Ceramics vault. On view are pieces by Cranbrook ceramicists including Maija Grotell, John Glick, Richard DeVore, Anders Ruhald, and Toshiko Takaezu as well as others who have shaped the medium including Peter Voulkos, and an array of Pewabic pottery.
Next, visit the Plaza Vault where you’ll learn how Cranbrook Academy of Art became the nexus of mid-century modern American design with works by artists such as Charles and Ray Eames, Ralph Rapson, Harry Bertoia, Don Knorr, Gere Kavanaugh, Eliel and Eero Saarinen, and Pipsan Saarinen Swanson. Then, explore the continuing legacy of design with contemporary pieces by Vivian Beer, Chris Schanck, Jay Sae Jung Oh, Nina Cho, and Ara Thorose.
The Plaza Vault is also home to an array of sculptures and textiles by artists such as Nick Cave, Duane Hanson, Harry Bertoia, Anthony Caro, Ruth Adler Schnee, and Olga de Amaral. Paintings collected from modern and contemporary painters from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries such as Andy Warhol, Agnes Martin, Louise Nevelson, Robert Motherwell can viewed alongside Cranbrook artists such as Cranbrook Academy of Art Artists-in-Residence Zoltan Sephesy and Donald Willett and alumni including Artis Lane, McArthur Binion, Marianna Olague, Conrad Egyir, and many more.
Regularly scheduled tours are available on Fridays at 1pm, and 2nd and 4th Saturdays at 11:30am and 1:30pm. Advanced booking is encouraged. See below for details on how to schedule private group tours.
Regularly scheduled tours are $20, including Museum admission, and are free for ArtMembers. WIC-eligible visitors may call 248.645.3320 to reserve $5 tour/admission tickets.
Please call 248.645.3320 or email VisitArt@cranbrook.edu to inquire about private tour availability or for assistance with booking a regularly scheduled tour.
Masks are recommended at all times indoors. Click here for a full description of our policies and procedures.
All Collections Wing tours depart from the front desk of Cranbrook Art Museum.
Tours are limited to 20 guests.
The tours are approximately 60 minutes in length.
Rates are subject to availability, there is a minimum Private Tour group fee of $200. Tour groups are limited to 20 people and multiple tours can be scheduled simultaneously based on availability. To inquire about the availability of a Private Tour, please call 248-645-3770 or email VisitArt@cranbrook.edu
Tours are open to all ages.
Wheelchair accessible.
