Arts Entertainment PASSION from page 49 University District, Sherwood Forest and Palmer Woods all have such homes. Several apartments on East Jefferson also are filled with Pewabic tiles, as are older homes in Indian Village, Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills and Huntington Woods. The eminent Jewish architect Albert Kahn worked closely with Pewabic's founder, Mary Chase Stratton, and incorporated the pottery's work in many build- ings he designed. In addition to enjoying Pewabic in his own office in the Fisher Building, he also used the tiles amply and stunningly in the Detroit Athletic Club, built in 1915. (The club's recent makeover includes new Pewabic tiles.) Wayne State University's Bonstelle Theatre — first designed by Kahn as one of the buildings used by Temple Beth El — originally featured Pewabic tile. There are many glorious installations of Pewabic, but Stratton considered her work for the Detroit Institute of Arts to be her capo lavoro, her master- work. Pewabic at the DIA includes the step raisers at the Detroit Film Theatre, a drinking fountain in the theater's lobby, another fountain between Rivera Court and the Walter B. Ford Great Hall, as well as floors in several galleries of the original building. "We're hoping to uncover two more rooms with original Pewabic, which we've seen in photos from when the building first opened," says Barbara Heller, chief conservator at the museum. Living With Pewabic irN 7/ 4 2003 52 Irene Walt is one of many Pewabic admirers who choose to live with Pewabic. Her rambling English Tudor in Huntington Woods has early Pewabic in the bathrooms and a more current installation in the charming backsplash of her cobalt blue- and white-tiled kitchen. "All seconds — I love their imperfections," she notes, admiring their "beauty, antiquity, color and quality." Former DIA curator Suzanne Hilberry had origi- nal turquoise Pewabic tile in her old home on Chicago Boulevard, where she lived in the 1970s and 1980s. When she moved to Birmingham, closer to the gallery she opened there, she wanted to con- tinue living with Pewabic. She helped the pottery fund research that allowed it to re-create recipes for its early iridescent glazes, and enjoys the tiles in a fireplace surround in her home. "The iridescence gives it this fiery, luminous quality, particularly lively in the morning and late afternoon, and when there's a fire in the fireplace," says Hilberry. Sandy Kirsch, a personal trainer, and husband Dr. David Kirsch, a chiropractor, live in a Huntington Woods Tudor with a Pewabic-laden crest above the front door. "The tile enhances the innate beauty of the original architecture," says David Kirsch. The couple's paved, courtyard-like back yard feels like an oasis, with a fountain and Pewabic tiles mounted on the brickwork, along with tiles by David Ellison, a local artist who worked at Pewabic and has trained many ceramists. Sandy Kirsch's Tudor-style home in Huntington Woods features a Pewabic crest over the front door. Pewabic tile is mounted in the brickwork of the Kirsches' paved, courtyard-like back yard. The Kirsches' master bath is a careful balance of old and new: The vanity's curved lines suggest a deco feel; the granite counter is flecked with irides- cence — a match for the surrounding robin's egg blue Pewabic. "I get excited seeing this quality in homes — it represents an era where craftsmanship was highly regarded," says Sandy Kirsch. Dr. Arthur Leiberman, an osteopath, and his wife 'Rochelle, owner of Gateway Travel in Farmington Hills, feel the same way. Their stately Bloomfield Hills Tudor has a bucolic setting, and attention to handmade, Old-World details remind one of bygone times. Before moving into their 1927 home, the couple unanimously agreed to replace the old, cracked tile in the vestibule with Pewabic. Blue and green hues pave the way for the warm elegance beyond. The bathroom once used by their daughters com- bines a modern vanity, a leaded window in an eave and seafoam green Pewabic tile. Arthur Lieberman's bath features an original pedestal sink surrounded by warm, yellow Pewabic, which is enhanced by pale yellow-and-white striped wallpaper and a contempo- rary black and white photograph. Arts Champion Irene Walt, a former Pewabic Pottery board member, is a leading figure in placing art in the public arena. The handsome, gray-haired woman, trained as a home economist, speaks with a lilting British accent. "I was drawn to Pewabic because of my great interest in the Arts and Crafts movement, and real- ly," she smiles, "because I fell in love with Pewabic's luminous glazes." Walt and her husband, the late Dr. Alexander J. Walt, and their three children left South Africa because they hated apartheid. Dr. Walt did his surgi- cal training at the Mayo Clinic before coming to the old Detroit Receiving Hospital. In 1967, the young couple was shocked by the Detroit riots, which occurred three years after the Sharpeville riots in South Africa. Dismayed by the racial divisions and Detroit's deterioration, they decided to do something to improve their adopted city. Irene Walt began with her husband's hospital, helping to refurbish several wards with electric beds and new furniture, linen drapes and "always, a painting." When the new Detroit Receiving Hospital opened in the mid-'70s, Walt, along with several other art supporters including Lee Hoffman and Eugene Driker, served on an art commission appointed by Mayor Coleman Young and Wayne State President George Gullen. The members not only "raised half a million dollars," Walt recalls, "but installed eight major sculptures and acquired several hundred works of art for the new hospital." Walt also helped build three parks, including the Shifman Gardens at Wayne State University School of Medicine. She arranged major commissions for the WSU medical school and the Patrick V. McNamara Federal Building. But the project she is most proud of is "Art in the Stations" for the People Mover. While traveling with her husband for his career (he was president of the American College of Surgeons), Walt marveled at the beautiful subways in Moscow, Leningrad, Paris, London, Sweden, Los Angeles and Buffalo. She decided Detroit deserved its own version. In the late 1970s, she became the main advocate for using Pewabic in Detroit's People Mover stations. Mayor Young appointed her chairperson of the ambitious "Art in the Stations" project, which was "funded partially by the federal government and pri- vate foundations and individuals," recalls Walt. "Art in the Stations" committee members Andrew Camden and his wife, Gayle, "strongly urged the committee to use Pewabic, a national treasure, which was possibly facing the end of the line," says Walt, "and we agreed this would be our first order of business." Today, the People Mover's Times Square station has two Pewabic murals: Tom Phardel's flashy mural in primary colors, In Honor of W Hawkins Ferry, and Anat Shiftan's lush, untitled classic blue-and- gold mural which incorporates the "Art in the Stations" logo. Allie McGhee's rhythmic Voyage used Pewabic tal- ent to create tiles for the Michigan Avenue station, and Al Loving Jr. produced his soft, cool-colored tiles at Pewabic for Detroit New Morning at the Millender Center stop.