JOSUE BESSIAKE OPEN STUDIO/ Thurs. March 26. 5-8PM

  

Join us for an open studio event with our Spring Resident Artist Josue Bessiake on

Thursday, March 26, 2026      5PM-8PM

Josue Bessiake is an Ivorian-American painter working across media. Bessiake employs multiple disciplines to investigate the ingredients of a phenomenon. Influenced by his experience as a second-generation immigrant and itinerant upbringing, his work reflects his desire to connect with his environment.

At the core of Josue Bessiake’s practice is interested in the structure of things; treating his studio like a living laboratory in a process that  involves using repurposed materials, destruction, and repair.

During his residency at Popps Packing Bessiake is expanding on themes from an ongoing project The Anatomy of a Home, using found and recycled material to make paintings that explore the particular light from domestic windows around Detroit and Hamtramck.

Josue Bessiake has presented work at the National Gallery of the Bahamas, Ballinglen Arts Foundation, and the Charles Wright Museum. Recent Exhibitions include exhibits at The Griffin Museum of Science and
Industry, New York Academy of Art, and The Institute for Public Architecture on Governor’s Island, NY.  Bessiake was a recent finalist for the AXA Art Prize at the New York Academy of Art and a grant recipient from the Elizabeth Greenshield Foundation.

 @https://www.instagram.com/josuebessiake/ https://josuebessiake.com/

Open Studio With Adrienne Hayden Friday, 12/20. 7PM

Please join us this Friday, 12/20 at 7PM for a special Screening of “Homeland” as well as other works in progress created during Adrienne’s 2 month residency at Popps Packing.

Based in Copenhagen Denmark, Adrienne is a self taught photographer and filmmaker who has been practicing photography for over eight years and experimenting with film for the past two. Through her artistry, Adrienne aims to inspire deep introspection, foster meaningful dialogues, and cultivate a sense of collectivism.

Often depicted through a lens of vulnerability and melancholy, her artistic  focus rests on women, people of color, and individuals within the queer community, capturing their essence with a gentle and soft touch.

Currently she is working on an ongoing film project titled Homeland, which she will screen for the first time in Detroit during her open studio. During her residency Adrienne has delved into research and begun a new film project, conducted workshops in collaboration with Bulk Space, as well as other collaborations. Originally form the Detroit area, Adrienne has been taking time to re -acquaint herself with this place “home” and  this open studio is an opportunity for our community to get to know this wonderful and thoughtful artist and to learn more about her work and process.

@adrienne_hayden
adriennehayden.com

Residency Open Studio W/ Emma Sandstrom

Open Studio Alert with AIR Emma Sandstrom
Thursday, October 24th 2024
6PM-9PM.

Emma Sandstrom is concluding a two-month residency at Popps Packing, where she has been developing an ongoing project about fossils, specifically ammonites. She has experimented with found materials and photographs, focusing on the myths surrounding ammonites before scientific explanations emerged.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Popps Packing has been privilegedto host many wonderful and thoughtful artists over the years, and Emma has truly been a gem. And we will miss her when she goes.

We invite you to join us for an intimate open studio gathering to meet the artist and celebrate her explorations and share thoughts and a glass of wine before she returns to Sweden. Special thanks to @kulturvastragotalandsregionen for their ongoing partnership and supporting Swedish artists to spend time, and make art on the Hamtramck Detroit Border.

Emma Sandström (b. 1986) is based in Gothenburg, Sweden. She holds an MFA in Photography from Valand Academy, Gothenburg (2020), and a BA (Hons) in Fine Art Photography from Glasgow School of Art (2015). Emma works with photographic installations, combining sculpture and video. Her work explores archaeology, symbolism, and the relationship people have with place, both personal and historical. She is interested in how feelings, memory, and materiality are expressed and negotiated through inanimate objects, depending on context and ownership. Inspired by archaeological sites, museums, and private archives, she creates narratives that blur the lines between fiction and reality. Emma is also part of the artist duo Emma & Conti, collaborating with Italian artist Stefano Conti.

OPEN CALL: Spring/ Summer 2026 Studio Residency

Deadline to applyhas been extended to:  February 27, 2026


Residency Details:

  • Duration: 1-3 month, 
  • Spring/ Summer ( April 2026-August 2026) Application Deadline : February 27, 2026
  •  The space accommodates 2 resident artists at one time
  • Accommodation: Resident artists will be provided with a private bedroom within a 2 bedroom loft-style studio. In this communal living arrangement, you will have access to shared kitchen, bathroom, studio spaces and the Popps gardens and private yard. Please note that the Popps Residency is a studio  forward space. The private bedrooms are comfortable and cozy.
  • Cost: $850-$1000/ Month utilities included payment for the full residency term can be paid upfront or on the 1st of each month if staying for multiple months. 

Who We Are Looking For:

We are seeking artists with a serious studio practice who can make the most of the facilities, space, and time that Popps Packing offers. Artists must be able to live/work alongside other artists and be comfortable in a semi communal living and making environment. 

More about life at Popps Packing:

Popps Packing is a communal and familial environment that fosters a sense of community among resident artists. A permanent resident resides on the premises in a separate apartment above the studios and has regular access to laundry facilities, the Popps workshop  and the yard. Our founding Resident artists, Graem Whyte and Faina Lerman, live across the street and have their studio and workshop spaces within the same building.  

Popps Packing occasionally hosts small gatherings, public events, workshops, open studios, tours, and other community activities. We prioritize clear communication and will inform resident artists in advance of these events. We also encourage resident artists to propose and host public-facing programs during their residency, which could be a workshop, performance, open studio, artist talk or screening. 

Please Note:

The Popps Packing building is an old warehouse, and as such, continuous maintenance and upkeep are performed throughout the year.

Application Process:

To apply for the Popps Packing Local Studio Residency, please email poppspacking@gmail.com.

Include the following information:

  • ‘Studio Residency’ in the subject header
  • Name ( first and last)
  • Preferred pronouns
  • Contact info, including email address and phone #
  • Where are you from (do you live here now?)
  • Brief bio and Resume/CV
  • A link to a website or other online platform where your work can be viewed.
  • PDF attachments of work samples( details below)
  • Preferred Months (December- March)
  • A brief description of any proposed projects that you would like to work on while in residence 
  • Reference name and phone number

PDF PORTFOLIO GUIDELINES:

File Size: 10 MB maximum
Naming:  Full Name_(year)residency ’
Work samples should include CV/Resume and one of the following submissions:
STILL IMAGES: ​​up to 10​ still images (JPEG, max 1200 pixels on any side). Each image should have a caption of ​2​00 characters or less​ that includes title, date created, medium and any other information that informs the work​
TIME-BASED: URLs to specific work on host sites (Vimeo, YouTube, Soundcloud, etc.). Each URL should have a caption of 2​00 characters or less

Welcome Artist in Residence, Claudia Holzinger

Popps Packing in excited to welcome Claudia Holzinger for a month long residency during November 2023. Holzinger is an artist based in Germany and Austria and describes herself as a teller of new pictorial stories who creates expansive installations in which photography acts as the main narrative.

During her residency, Holzinger hopes to continue working on her upcoming  film project called LOBSTER LOVE (working title). Lobster Love moves between the genres of romantic comedy, animal documentary and slapstick-porn. The centre of the narration is the sexual behavior of the Atlantic lobster, which is surprisingly devoted, vulnerable, bold, tender and sensitive at the same time.

http://www.claudia-holzinger.de

ARTIST TALK WITH FRANZISKA KLOSE, Sunday 9/24, 2023 @4PM

Artist Talk with Franziska Klose
Sunday, September 24 / 4 pm
at Popps Packing,
12138 St Aubin St, Hamtramck, MI 48212
@poppspacking
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Please join us for an intimate artists talk with Franziska Klose , an artist and photographer based in Leipzig, Germany who was first in residence at Popps Packing in 2015 . Klose is back in Detroit to share her newly published photo-book, entitled “Detroit: Field Notes from a Wild City.” The artist book presents the city as a complex urban structure in between the vision of the American Dream and its post-industrial reality. The current narrative of a comeback is contrasted with land speculations, water-shutoffs, and urban agriculture that aims to create food sovereignty in Detroit.
Popps is excited to host Franziska for a 2- week mini residency, 8 years after her initial residency and to celebrate the culmination of her may years of work and research to complete this wonderful book. We hope to see you Sunday!

10/29/22: Fall Residency Open Studio

Popps’ fall residents, Taylor Simone and Aino Aksenja invite you to see their works in progress on Saturday October 29th, 6-8pm at Popps Packing!


Aino Aksenja is an artist who looks for escape routes and tries to grow roots. Life and art intertwine in works that are site-specific installations, made-up rituals and stories. Aksenja often works with a camera. She studied photography in Sweden, Germany and Finland and fine art in Helsinki, Finland, completing her MFA in 2017. In 2021 she started studying landscape architecture, with the aim to connect art, landscape and architecture in her practise. Aksenja is based in Helsinki, and her works have been shown in Finland, Sweden, Russia, Germany, Portugal, USA and South Korea.

During her residency, Aino’s been working on a new video piece called Stranger. Through placing herself into it, the city slowly starts turning into a playground, St. Aubin Street into a stage. Dreams blend with reality in both this work and the embroidery piece she has begun in residence, Dream city.

Taylor Simone is an artist, organizer, and educator from Metro Detroit, currently living and working in Toledo, Ohio. She received her MFA in Visual Communication from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2019 and currently works as an International Network Coordinator for the Design Justice Network. Simone is also the director/organizer of Exodus: School of Expression, an alternative space for BIPOC educators and artists to deepen their practice. Simone has exhibited Internationally in South Korea, Berlin and Italy.

Taylor will be showing the progress of her publication, Seeded in Flesh. This space and time have been one of world-building for Simone. Sitting with old and new symbolism that developed throughout their practice, they explore systems of selfhood and portraiture.

4/27/19: The Day Everything Became Nothing

New Works by Karin Karinson

ONE NIGHT ONLY!
Saturday April 27, 2019 .   6PM -9PM

Popps Emporium, 2025 Carpenter, Detroit

Popps Packing is excited to present the new works by spring artist in residence, Karin Karinson (Götaland, Sweden) for a one-night exhibition of a new body of work created during her two month residency at Popps Packing. 

Karin is a sculpture artist, working primarily in clay and incorporating all stages, shapes and forms of the material into her work. Resting in the rivers of glossy glaze, she blends ready-made, found, porcelain objects with self-created sculptures;  shards of people’s desires and fantasies, things forgotten, and left behind protrude through a dreamy manifestation of the fragmented natural world.
Learn more here and here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1210324182463367/?active_tab=about

Residency exhibition with Eric Magassa.

ONE NIGHT ONLY EVENT!

Saturday April 21,   2018  7-10PM.

 Join us for a special exhibition of works in progress by Artist In Residence , Eric Magassa (Sweden). 

Eric Magassa (1972) is a multi-disciplinary artist currently based in Gothenburg, Sweden. Magassa has a rich cultural background and was brought up moving back and forth between Gothenburg and Paris with his Swedish mother and French father from Senegalese and Malian descent. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. Magassa studied at Central Saint Martins, London and The Art Students League of New York.

“Eric Magassa’s body of work spans a variety of materials and methods ranging from painting, collage, and print to cinematic sequences and performative camera set-ups. His many years as a DJ built an intimate connection between his image creation and music. A brief glimpse into the Eric Magassa studio reveals inspirational material in the form of ethnographic artifacts, textiles, modernist sculptures, colored pieces of paper, spray paint, color tubes, books, music and snap shots of abstract urban environments reduced to structures, surfaces and compositions. Objects and artifacts that have long lost their meaning are captured and given new contexts. Driven by restlessness, but above all, curiosity, the fragments are used to reinterpret the world. Despite the vast range of sources, an unmistakable aesthetic with visual unity is created.
For Eric Magassa, art is not a representation of an objective view, but a way of understanding and connecting with life. He does this through heightened presence and concentration within a world of perpetual motion. Through the constant flow of images and impressions, his work suggests a holistic worldview, and the possibility of a utopia of diversity, and a world without borders.”
-Translated excerpts from an essay written by Angelica Olsson

This residency is made possible through an ongoing partnership with the Region Västra Götaland, Sweden.

Check out the Facebook event