TIME named Little Village one of the World's Greatest Places of 2025. It was the only Michigan location on the list, which the magazine compiles each year from nominations gathered by international correspondents and applications from venues. Brett Berk wrote the entry.
The list dropped in March. Anthony Curis is a real estate developer. JJ Curis used to do tax consulting.
They started Library Street Collective in October 2012 in a building Anthony's company owned downtown after a tenant deal fell through. They thought a gallery might be a fun idea. Detroit was in bankruptcy.
They opened with a Jason REVOK show. Thirteen years later they have a 16,000-square-foot adaptive reuse arts campus in East Village, a Tony Hawk skatepark, an OMA-designed cultural hub a few blocks north, a sister gallery in a former convent, and a 13-acre waterfront site under construction. Wallpaper put them in its June 2024 Travel Issue, with a long Siska Lyssens piece on Lantern.
Artsy has run multiple features. PBS NewsHour did a segment in October 2024 on the Little Village complex. Dezeen, Galerie Magazine, and Whitewall have all profiled them.
Anthony tends to give modest answers about the work being a by-product of the gallery. JJ tends to point at the church and say it was the catalyst. Their working method is collaboration first.
Peterson Rich Office on the Shepherd. OMA on Lantern. SO-IL and OSD on Stanton Yards.
Snarkitecture on the downtown gallery. Lorcan O'Herlihy on the Louis Buhl & Co. headquarters. Holly Jonsson on the ALEO interiors.
Andi Watson, Radiohead's lighting designer, on the Shepherd's lighting. They function as commissioners, curators, and developers at once. Their collection is what got them into the gallery business.
They live in Grosse Pointe Shores. They have worked with McArthur Binion, Charles McGee, Tiff Massey, Nina Chanel Abney, Daniel Arsham, Frank Stella, Nick Cave, Cassi Namoda, Tyrrell Winston, and dozens more. Allison Glenn is artistic director at the Shepherd.
Tara Akitt is senior director at LSC. Stanton Yards is scheduled to open in 2027. The Curises are not slowing down. LSC's flagship is at 1274 Library Street, Downtown.
