Popps Packing is an artist-led nonprofit arts organization on the Hamtramck/Detroit border, founded by artists Graem Whyte and Faina Lerman. Our mission is to support artists by providing the time, space, resources, and community they need to experiment, take creative risks, and develop their practices. Through our international artist residency, exhibitions, workshops, and open studios, we make contemporary art accessible to our neighbors and the broader community.
Founded in 2009 in a former meat-packing plant, Popps Packing has grown into a dynamic creative complex shaped by the artists, neighbors, friends, and cultural practitioners who have shared their time, resources, and skills with us. Our residency brings together local and international artists to learn from one another and explore the history, culture, and creative life of our region. Drawn to Detroit’s music history, industrial legacy, changing landscapes, reclaimed spaces, and rich material and personal histories, artists discover unexpected connections between Detroit and the places they call home, opening up new perspectives and possibilities.
Through collaboration, skill-sharing, informal gatherings, and mutual support, we cultivate a culture where tools, knowledge, space, laughter, and ideas circulate. This spirit extends into the neighborhood through Carpenter Park, community gardens, and artist-led sculptural projects that bring creative practice into shared spaces and everyday life. Our educational programs and collaborations, including the Carpenter Creative Corridor (CCC), a decentralized community art school, and Camp Carpenter, an outdoor adventure camp for neighborhood youth, grew from a desire to share the knowledge, skills, and creative energy of our local artist community. We believe in learning together and opening our practices to others, making space for the exchange of ideas and the discovery of new ways to create, collaborate, and connect.
We believe art nourishes the human spirit and helps us become better neighbors, collaborators, and stewards of the places we share.
Popps Packing’s programs and projects are made possible in part with the generous support of :
Dear Popps Packing,
My name is Harley Dutcher and I am a graduate student with a research team at the University of Michigan Arts Initiative that is designing a new arts internship program.
We are conducting surveys with arts organization administrators who have supervised interns in the past, to learn about their experiences and potential interest in partnering with U-M to host student interns in the future.
I’m writing to ask if your organization member who has supervised interns would be willing to take our survey: https://umich.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_54oxQkwsbmAMDvE
Thanks in advance,
Harley
Hello, I wanted to inquire about application deadlines and residency dates any information would be greatly appreciated.