The Cranbrook Educational Community is an education, research, and public museum complex in

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Bloomfield Hills is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northern Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit on the Woodward Corridor, Bloomfield Hills is located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit, and is ...

. This

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

was founded in the early 20th century by newspaper mogul George Gough Booth. It consists of Cranbrook Schools,

Cranbrook Academy of Art The Cranbrook Academy of Art, a graduate school for architecture, art, and design, was founded by George Gough Booth and Ellen Scripps Booth in 1932. It is the art school of the Cranbrook Educational Community. Located in Bloomfield Hills, Mi ...

, Cranbrook Art Museum, Cranbrook Institute of Science, and

Cranbrook House and Gardens The Cranbrook Educational Community is an education, research, and public museum complex in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. This List of National Historic Landmarks in Michigan, National Historic Landmark was founded in the early 20th century by ne ...

. The founders also built Christ Church Cranbrook as a focal point in order to serve the educational complex. However, the church is a separate entity under the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan. The sprawling campus began as a farm, purchased in 1904. The organization takes its name from Cranbrook, England, the birthplace of the founder's father. Cranbrook is renowned for its architecture in the

Arts and Crafts The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...

and

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

styles. The chief architect was

Eliel Saarinen Gottlieb Eliel Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1873 – July 1, 1950) was a Finnish and American Architecture, architect known for his work with Art Nouveau buildings in the early years of the 20th century. He was also the father of famed architect Ee ...

while Albert Kahn was responsible for the Booth mansion. Sculptors

Carl Milles Carl Milles (; 23 June 1875 – 19 September 1955) was a Swedes, Swedish sculpture, sculptor. He was married to artist Olga Milles (née Granner) and brother to Ruth Milles and half-brother to the architect Evert Milles. Carl Milles sculpted the ...

and Marshall Fredericks also spent many years in residence at Cranbrook. In 2024 Cranbrook Educational Community was awarded 3 Michelin Stars in the Michelin Green Guide, on par with institutions such as the Detroit Institute of Art and the Louvre.

Schools at Cranbrook

Cranbrook Schools comprise a co-educational day and boarding college preparatory "upper" school, a middle school, and Brookside Lower School. In 1922, the Bloomfield Hills School was the first school to open on the Cranbrook grounds. Founded by George Booth, the Bloomfield Hills School was intended as the community school for local area children. The Bloomfield Hills School ultimately evolved into Brookside School. Following completion of the Bloomfield Hills School, Booth looked forward to building Cranbrook School for Boys, an all-boys College-Preparatory school at which students from the

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

area and abroad would come to reside. Booth wanted the Cranbrook School to possess an architecture reminiscent of the finest British boarding schools; he hired Finnish architect

to design the campus. Cranbrook's initial phase of building was completed in 1928. ChristChurchCranbrook1

Over the years, the Cranbrook School for Boys campus grew to include Stevens Hall, Page Hall, and Coulter Hall. While primarily functioning as only residential spaces, Page Hall featured a smoking lounge as well as a shooting range. Lerchen Gymnasium, Keppel Gymnasium, and Thompson Oval were also constructed on the campus. In the 1960s, Cranbrook School for Boys also constructed a state-of-the-art Science Building named the Gordon Science Center. Realizing that young women would also need a place of their own to learn, Ellen Scripps Booth, Booth's wife, pressured Booth into building a school for girls. Scripps Booth supervised the project, which she named the Kingswood School Cranbrook. Unlike her husband, Scripps Booth encouraged Eliel Saarinen to come up with a unique interior design for the campus completely on his own. Instead of the several buildings that housed the Cranbrook School for Boys, the Kingswood School Cranbrook was contained within one building that included all necessary features, including dormitories, a dining hall, an auditorium, classrooms, a bowling alley, a ballroom, and lounges and common areas. The education at Kingswood School Cranbrook was initially viewed as a "

finishing school A finishing school focuses on teaching young women social graces and upper-class cultural rites as a preparation for entry into society. The name reflects the fact that it follows ordinary school and is intended to complete a young woman's ...

", though that changed over time. In 1986, the Cranbrook School for Boys and Kingswood School Cranbrook entered a joint agreement, renaming the new institution the Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School.

Cranbrook Academy of Art

The Cranbrook Academy of Art, a

graduate school Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachel ...

for

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

, and

design A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...

, was founded by George Booth and Ellen Scripps Booth in 1932. In 1984, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' wrote that "the effect of Cranbrook and its graduates and faculty on the physical environment of this country has been profound ... Cranbrook, surely more than any other institution, has a right to think of itself as synonymous with contemporary American design." The buildings were designed and the school first headed by

, who integrated design practices and theories from the

Arts and Crafts movement The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and America. Initiat ...

through the

international style The International Style is a major architectural style and movement that began in western Europe in the 1920s and dominated modern architecture until the 1970s. It is defined by strict adherence to Functionalism (architecture), functional and Fo ...

. The school continues to be known for its

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulat ...

method of teaching, in which a small group of students—usually only 10 to 16 per class, or 150 students in total for the ten departments—study under a single

artist-in-residence Artist-in-residence (also Writer-in-residence), or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs that involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs that pr ...

for the duration of their curriculum. There are no traditional courses; all learning is self-directed under the guidance and supervision of the respective artist-in-residence.

Academics

The school currently confers two degrees:

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

and

Master of Architecture The Master of Architecture (M.Arch. or MArch) is a graduate professional degree in architecture qualifying the graduate to move through the various stages of professional accreditation (internship, exams) that result in receiving a license. Ove ...

. The Master of Architecture degree is a post-professional degree and is not accredited by the

National Architectural Accrediting Board The National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), established in 1940, is the oldest accrediting agency for architectural education in the United States. The NAAB accredits professional degrees in architecture offered by institutions with U.S. ...

. Cranbrook Art Academy currently has 11 departments — 2D Design, 3D Design, 4D Design, Architecture, Ceramics, Fiber, Metalsmithing, Painting, Photography, Print Media and Sculpture. The latest department (4D Design) began taking students in the fall of 2019, under the leadership of Carla Diana, a Cranbrook Art Academy alumna. In 2022, Paul Sacaridiz was appointed the Director of the Cranbrook Academy of Art.

Cranbrook Art Museum

The Cranbrook Art Museum is a museum of

contemporary art Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a ...

with a permanent collection, including works by Charles and Ray Eames,

Harry Bertoia Harry Bertoia (March 10, 1915 – November 6, 1978) was an Italian-born American artist, sound art sculptor, and modern furniture furniture designer, designer. Bertoia was born in San Lorenzo di Arzene, San Lorenzo d'Arzene, Province of Porden ...

, Maija Grotell,

Robert Motherwell Robert Motherwell (January 24, 1915 – July 16, 1991) was an American Abstract Expressionism, abstract expressionist Painting, painter, printmaker, and editor of ''The Dada Painters and Poets: an Anthology''. He was one of the youngest of th ...

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

, and

Roy Lichtenstein Roy Fox Lichtenstein ( ; October27, 1923September29, 1997) was an American pop artist. He rose to prominence in the 1960s through pieces which were inspired by popular advertising and the comic book style. Much of his work explores the relations ...

. Completed in 1942 under the direction of architect Eliel Saarinen, the museum is housed in the same building as the Cranbrook Academy of Art. The museum also offers tours of Saarinen House, which has undergone painstaking restoration beginning in 1977. The remaining areas of the house were completed between 1988 and 1994. The museum is accredited by the

American Alliance of Museums The American Alliance of Museums (AAM), formerly the American Association of Museums, is a non-profit association whose goal is to bring museums together. Founded in 1906, the organization advocates for museums and provides "museum professionals w ...

. Sculptor Carl Milles' numerous works in Metro Detroit include those at Cranbrook Educational Community, such as ''Mermaids & Tritons Fountain'' (1930), ''Sven Hedin on a Camel'' (1932), ''Jonah and the Whale Fountain'' (1932), ''Orpheus Fountain'' (1936), and ''Spirit of Transportation'' (1952), currently in

Cobo Center Huntington Place (formerly known as Cobo Hall, Cobo Center, and briefly TCF Center) is a convention center in Downtown Detroit, owned by the Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority (DRCFA) and operated by ASM Global. Located at 1 Washi ...

. In 2009, the museum closed for renovation and expansion, reopening in November 2011. The project restored aspects of the original building designed by Saarinen, made necessary structural repairs, replaced windows, and upgraded mechanical systems. The renovated museum features year-round, changing exhibitions and a new Collections and Education Wing—an additional of storage and classroom space open to visitors by guided tour. Based on an open storage plan, the new wing allows the museum's entire collection to be seen.

Cranbrook Institute of Science

The Cranbrook Institute of Science includes a permanent collection of exhibits from a variety of Disciplines including Earth, Space, and Life sciences. There are displays of temporary exhibits in museum's travelling hall that change every 3-9 months. It also features a

planetarium A planetarium (: planetariums or planetaria) is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation. A dominant feature of most planetariums is ...

and a powerful 20 inch

telescope A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption, or Reflection (physics), reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally, it was an optical instrument using len ...

through which visitors may peer on selected nights. The museum grounds feature a life-sized statue of a ''

Stegosaurus ''Stegosaurus'' (; ) is a genus of herbivorous, four-legged, armored dinosaur from the Late Jurassic, characterized by the distinctive kite-shaped upright plates along their backs and spikes on their tails. Fossils of the genus have been fo ...

''. From 1946 to 1970, the institute awarded the Mary Soper Pope Medal for notable achievement in

plant sciences Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially their anatomy, taxonomy, and ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who specialises in this field. "Plant" and "botany ...

."Cranbrook Institute of Science Director's Papers"
''Cranbrook Community''. Retrieved December 27, 2016.

Cranbrook House and Gardens

Cranbrook House and Gardens are the centerpiece of the Cranbrook Educational Community campus. The 1908 English

-style house was designed by Albert Kahn for Cranbrook founders George and Ellen Scripps Booth, and is roofed with Ludowici tile. Ten first-floor rooms can be seen on guided tours; the rooms contain

tapestries Tapestry is a form of textile art which was traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Normally it is used to create images rather than patterns. Tapestry is relatively fragile, and difficult to make, so most historical pieces are intended to han ...

, hand-carved

woodworking Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinetry, furniture making, wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning. History Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked b ...

, and English antiques in the

style. The upper floors are used for the executive offices of the Cranbrook Educational Community. Originally designed by George Booth, the gardens include a sunken garden, formal gardens, a

bog garden A bog garden is a type of garden that employs permanently moist (but not waterlogged) soil to create a habitat for plants and creatures which thrive in such conditions. It may exploit existing poor drainage in the garden, or it may be artificial ...

, a

herb garden The traditional kitchen garden, vegetable garden, also known as a potager (from the French ) or in Scotland a kailyaird, is a space separate from the rest of the residential garden – the ornamental plants and lawn areas. It is used for grow ...

, a wildflower garden, a

Japanese garden are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desig ...

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

, fountains, specimen trees, and a lake.

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

recalled composing portions of his Symphony No. 2, ''The Age of Anxiety'', on the Cranbrook House Steinway concert grand piano while residing there in April 1946.Your Gateway to Cranbrook
Cranbook Community. Accessed March 22, 2019. Bernstein had come to Detroit at the request of Zoltan Sepeshy to conduct the

Detroit Symphony Orchestra The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Its primary performance venue is Orchestra Hall (Detroit, Michigan), Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown, Detroit, ...

Music Hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

. While visiting, he requested studio space where he could compose, and Sepeshy had the piano moved from Cranbrook House into St. Dunstan's Playhouse. The house and gardens are open to the public from May through October.

St. Dunstan's Playhouse

St. Dunstan's Playhouse, while not formally a part of the Cranbrook Educational Community, is located on the Cranbrook grounds near the Cranbrook House. The Playhouse, a 206-seat theater, houses the St. Dunstan's Theatre Guild of Cranbrook. The guild was founded in 1932 by Henry Scripps Booth, the son of Cranbrook's founders George and Ellen Booth. In the summer months, the St. Dunstan's Theatre Guild performs in the outdoor Greek Theatre adjacent to the Cranbrook House. The theater was restored in 1990–1991.

Historic landmark

Fourteen buildings making up the Cranbrook complex were added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1973 and were further designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989, cited as being "one of the most important groups of educational and architectural structures in America". . The contributing buildings are: # Brookside School Cranbrook # Buildings & Grounds Offices # Christ Church, Cranbrook # Cranbrook Academy of Art # Cranbrook Foundation Office # Cranbrook House & Gardens # Cranbrook Institute of Science # Cranbrook School # Cranbrook School Auditorium # Edison House # Faculty Housing # Greek Theater at St. Dunstan's # Kingswood School Cranbrook # Visitors Entrance

References

External links

Official website

Historical Context Timeline of the Cranbrook Educational Community

''Design in America : the Cranbrook vision, 1925-1950''
from The Metropolitan Museum of Art {{Authority control 1922 establishments in Michigan Bloomfield Hills, Michigan

Botanical gardens in Michigan {{Commons cat, Botanical gardens in Michigan Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries ...

Buildings and structures in Oakland County, Michigan Buildings designed by Eliel Saarinen Education in Oakland County, Michigan Educational institutions established in 1922 Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Houses in Oakland County, Michigan Institutions accredited by the American Alliance of Museums National Historic Landmarks in Metro Detroit National Register of Historic Places in Oakland County, Michigan Tourist attractions in Metro Detroit Tourist attractions in Oakland County, Michigan Anthropology museums in the United States Art museums and galleries in Michigan Dinosaur museums in the United States Geology museums in the United States Paleontology in Michigan Planetaria in the United States