I absolutely love this place! I've been to their fund raiser and to a print class... and I just can't say enough great things about it. First, the people that work here genuinely love what they do... and it shows. They organize things PERFECTLY. It starts on time, is well-run, and the people that join in on these events are also just amazing. What a fun experience from start to finish. The parking nearby is a little rough on the weekends, obviously... but otherwise, this place is the best! Do a class, do an event... you won't be disappointed! read more

Family Fridays : painting soup mugs! So fun except for the little loudmouth jerk that won't STFU! My little and had so much fun painting our mugs. It was a great experience to do this together. Two hour time was perfect. Good instruction and great supplies. I love the colors and getting creative though this is not my wheelhouse, it was still a lot of fun. Classes are very affordable. The instruction was great and gave me some ideas to play with layering. I had a little problem with using a gift card but they were great in the office to get us signed up and squared away. We'll definitely be back! read more

See all

I've now taken one full semester of a pottery class (intro to handbuilding) and I loved the experience so much I've signed up for another which begins next week! The structure is great, you have your set times for class but your registration also comes with 26 independent studio hours and 25 lbs of clay so you can use during the semester to come in and work at your own pace. I spent many a Saturday here zoning out with my headphones and working on my pieces, which was really relaxing. They also have pretty much all the tools you'll need, a variety of glazes to use, and not only do you have access to all of it as a student they handle all the firing of your pieces as part of your registration. My instructor, Daria is wonderful. So encouraging and knowledgeable. I signed up for my second class with her because I liked being under her tutelage so much! Outside of ceramics there's also classes in jewelry making/metalsmithing, drawing, mixed media, textiles, and more for adults, youth, and teens. There are also special one off workshops and "date night" sessions so you can try your hand at something before committing to a full semester or just having a fun night to spend with a partner or a friend. Outside of the classes the Art Center is just a wonderful place to visit. The front gallery has so many beautiful pieces available for purchase and the rotating gallery shows showcase a number of wonderful local artists and their works. Classes fill up quickly but members are able to register a few days before the general public so to give myself an edge to get the class and time I wanted I signed up a few months ago. In addition to first dibs there are a lot of other great perks like invitations to special member only events, discounts during special annual sale, and, most importantly, the fuzzy good feeling you get for supporting such a wonderful and educational arts non-profit. read more

See all

Great gallery and great classes! Have taken a few of the classes and all instructors are personable and professional. Lots of group and individual attention. Learned a lot! read more

I popped into the A2AC gallery today to see the last week of Helen Gotlib's curated Stratum and Breadth show. The 5 artists took printmaking to a highly creative stratosphere. From glowing pieces to aerial totems I left gobsmacked at their originality. It closes on August 25th. read more

Ann Arbor Art Center - Art Galleries Near Me - Ann Arbor, Michigan

Very cute spot in downtown Ann Arbor with a continuously rotating art exhibit. The space is very open and has a second floor as well, all of it being self-guided for the most part and free to the public to peruse. The center could benefit from better marketing/awareness spread on what exhibits it contains and why and its visitors could benefit from a bit more direction upon entering as to what the intention of the current exhibits are or just better placards around it as the collections feel a bit disjointed at times. I've also walked past this spot countless times and never went in because I never knew what it would hold and my assumptions of it being a bit "random" came to fruition upon entering and finally checking it out at one point. My group did not spend more than 10 minutes here I believe. read more

See all

I got an art project delivered for a yelp event so I can only evaluate that. It came with everything, wrapped up nicely and delivered on time. The directions in the pamphlet were clear with photos for those who learn best that way. read more

I was given a Calligraphy class as a Christmas present, to begin on January 12, 2022. I called today for the materials list because I had not been sent one, nor could I find one online. In fact, I could not find the class listed on the website. So I called the Education Director who told me that the class had been CANCELLED because not enough people enrolled, and that she had sent an email on January 3rd. While she was on the phone, I checked all email boxes--inbox, trash, junk -- and there was no email on January 3rd, or 4th or 5th, etc. This is the second time that this organization has cancelled a class that I had been given as a gift. The lack of communication is inexcusable. If there were too few people (BTW I've taken a 3-person class there in the past) wouldn't a personal phone call make sense? As for the January 3rd email .... well, there is no email. I have also enrolled in a Block Print class at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts (KIA) this Winter Season. They have delayed the class by two weeks due to COVID. I learned this in a well-written and timely email with links and a phone number to call for more information. I followed up with an email that was answered promptly and kindly. If you are looking for an impressive list of art classes, check out the KIA. It's a one hour and 15 minute drive, but they are serious about education, and they treat their students/customers well. I think you'll find a lot more there to consider in their class offerings, too, and so far, I have been treated well by them, unlike the A2Art Center. THUMBS DOWN. read more

The art center combines a gallery, a shop and a school. Exhibits are worth a look when you're on Liberty Street, but the center also sponsors classes in pottery, jewelry, drawing and other things. I never know what to make of shops like the one in the Art Center. The merchandise is obviously made by artists, but some of it screams "commerce" because several identical pieces are for sale, where there's no reason to make several except to stock the shelves. And "art" is a nebulous enough term already without this added level of complication and doubt, it makes my eyes spin around in my head. But if you happend to be in the shop, check out the well-stocked shelf of hand-painted eggs--they're really cool. read more

Ann Arbor Art Center - Photo courtesy of www.annarbor.org. - Art Galleries Near Me - Ann Arbor, Michigan

Quality original art, and presented nicely in an open, airy environment. It's not cheap to buy, but nothing of quality is. I particularly like the tile work from artists, and the paintings in various styles. There are also working artist studios within this building, which is both interesting and illuminating. Love this place - spent a fair amount of time here, and will spend some more time here when I return to Ann Arbor. read more

This art gallery and studio had some excellent pieces on the main floor. They also had some interesting installations upstairs. They seemed to be under construction upstairs as well, so perhaps there is more to come! I was intrigued by what appeared to be a clay studio downstairs, and if I lived in the area I'd probably be back to play on the wheel. It's been over a decade since I last threw! read more

Handcuff your children before entering this place! Delicate, fragile artwork is displayed throughout the facility - all beautiful and reasonably priced. Staff is extremely friendly and knowledgable of their artists. They have this sweet eggs and bacon necklace for sale - OMG, obsessed. I signed my sons up for art classes here, and they seemed to really enjoy it. Very family-friendly atmosphere and so much better than Chuck-E-Cheese. read more

Although promised a great experienced because of past experiences at the Art Center, we decided to try another Birthday Party. The kids enjoyed the time making clay art but out instructors was just so-so with 8 year old kids. Thankfully, some parents stayed to help kids understand what to do. My biggest disappointment though was post party. We were promised we would be contacted once the clay art was ready. We were never contacted so after 2 weeks, I called to see so we could get all the art created for the kids. Guess what? They could not locate it.... Really? So I tried other avenues at the Art Center but there was no real help and certainly no empathy to missing items. I will never go back to this location to do Birthday Parties. There are plenty of other art places, including clay studios, that are very accommodating. read more

Rounding up from 3 1/2 stars but honestly, I've been pleasantly surprised by this place. I decided getting a PhD in architecture without being able to draw anything but a stick figure would be really embarrassing. It was the summer and instead of picking my nose and procrastinating on research, I thought, hey! Time to enroll in a drawing class. Classes here are generally held in the late evening which is great for people who school and/or work in the day. They are indeed pricey (come out to about $40 bucks per class session, not including all the supplies you need). Parking can be a pain in the bum since it's right downtown. Supposedly you can park in their lot but I find it always to be full (either that or I'm getting the lots confused). All that said, the class sizes are a nice size at about 12 students - this gives you plenty of instructor attention while still keeping the energy up in the class room. In the summer, my classmates spanned from age 18 to 60, from Australian to Pakistani to Dutch to Midwestern. The last two classes we had a live nude model for life figure drawing and she was very professional with remarkable poses. All in all the drawing class for me was very worthwhile both in the skills I learned and in the overall experience. I really like the building - it has that great inhabited feeling that all art studios have - it's just the smell and light, the brick and the wood floors, the creaks and groans while still being sturdy and charming. The first floor has the ceramic studio (that I'd love to take a class in one day), and the gift store. The second floor has a gallery with some fairly decent work! It's open to the public so definitely take a peek up there if you're inside. The third floor has three studio spaces - one of which has a bunch of metal working machinery which looks fun. Great vibe, great staff, great facilities. Give it a whirl. read more

I am a collector and continue to find this place, like other similar venues in town, somewhat over-hyped. You can induce me to imbibe all the wine I can but nothing can convince me that I should part with my money for ordinary and derivative artwork. Why call it an Art Center when it's a store, anyway? A few classes does not a school or center make. Parking is hell being downtown Ann Arbor. I'll keep going to the Tastings and continue to sippety-sip the wines I pay for but that's all I'll be doing here. Cheers and see you there. read more

I've browsed through half a dozen art galleries in southeast Michigan this summer, and this one was, by far, my favorite. And there's two floors worth of it. The building itself is pretty, with tall ceilings, a big glass front to let in natural light, and a sweeping wooden staircase up to the second floor. The shop is full of some nice pottery and other craft items. The art is some of the best I've seen around. Other galleries tend to have a mix of stuff I like and some stuff that has me scratching my head, wondering how much the "artist" paid to have his or her stuff displayed. The quality at the Arts Center is consistently better than any other place I've looked at this summer, from the art photography to the sculptures to the paintings. Viewing the gallery is free, though they do accept donations. read more

Usually I walk into a gallery and think, wow, there's some great stuff in here and some, well, not so great stuff. The stuff here is always consistently good. So it's worth it to stop in to browse. I've never taken the classes but a friend did and said though it was a bit expensive, she really enjoyed it. One thing to note is that the Ann Arbor Art Center presents itself as a school and gallery with a gift shop, however, the retail thing is definitely the focus here while the gallery and classes seem to be secondary. The art is very expensive, some is overly priced. In fact, everything in the shop is pretty expensive -- I did get a one of a kind card for a friend's wedding that they loved. So in some cases it's probably worth it to shell out that kind of money. A nice bonus is that exhibited art does change fairly frequently, so you can stop in here regularly and see different stuff each time. read more

My first experience with the Ann Arbor Art Center was via the beginning metalsmithing class. Online sign up was easy peasy, and a welcome email arrived a week before class with details. The class and instructor, Dave, are great! Dave is a retired art teacher who teaches concepts in a humorous user-friendly way. The class is good for all skill levels. I look forward to this class every week because it is fun and I enjoy seeing my ideas come to life as we learn new techniques. Highly recommend the Ann Arbor Art Center for any creative types interested in learning something new. read more

This rating is purely for the wheel-throwing ceramic class I took. All the staff are nice and will help you as much as they can. There are people with all levels of experience and it's helpful to discuss ideas and throwing techniques with others. I definitely learned a lot more from this studio because there's so much guidance. The teacher (I had Daria Kim) was extremely patient and even in her busy schedule, tried to accommodate her students to the best of her ability. She has such great ideas and is a wonderful artist. She really knows what she's doing and wants to help her students improve as much as possible. There's plenty of open studio hours to work on your projects and you are free to make what you want, when you want. I'd say it's well worth the price to take a class. read more

A combination of a gallery and an art school, the Art Center is an example of the best of Ann Arbor culture: 1 People learning throughout life. 2 Demand for high-quality hand made objects. 3 Value of local endeavors. Unlike many typical Ann Arbor places, this is genuine. read more

Love everything about The Art Center! It is nice to see the support for the arts in the Ann Arbor community! The art education for the children and adults is wonderful. read more

This is my favorite place in Ann Arbor. They curate amazing shows in their gallery. Curator, Meagan has really good taste in Contemporary art. The staffs are amazing and helpful. I enjoy shopping their ceramics collections especially. Recently bought a print of a local artist's drawing and cannot wait to hang it on the wall. read more

My child (second grader) took a drawing class here during the summer. It was just glorified babysitting. These are not educational classes. I would not reccommend their kid's programs. read more