SEPTEMBER 19 • 2024 | 45

am very proud of being part of 
an arts initiative that celebrated 
the redesign of the Downtown 
Synagogue and has me planning 
upcoming exhibits.”
Schwartz has been with Library 
Street Collective for about five 
years and in the arts community 
for about 13 years. Part of her 
work is establishing a collector 
base and matching art clients 
with work the clients will enjoy 
and keep in their collections.
“My work for the Downtown 
Synagogue is separate from the 
gallery,” she said. “I got involved 
with the synagogue a few years 
ago. I think the art world is 
all about relationships, and I 
developed a friendship with 
George Roberts.”
Schwartz and Roberts had met 
through Jewish activities around 
the city and religious activities at 
the synagogue.
“I knew about Melanie’s 
great work at the Library Street 
Collective and always wanted to 
find a way to bring those great 
skills to a Jewish community 
project,” said Roberts, renovation 
co-chair. “The Downtown 
Synagogue was the perfect 
opportunity to do so. 
“Her creativity, flexibility, 
expertise and ability to handle 
a very complicated show while 
the building itself was still being 
finished was remarkable. The art 
brought this new building to life.
“Having an art installation that 
reflects vibrancy is critical to 
the success of this building and 
shows the general public walking 
by this building the creativity of 
the Jewish Detroit community 
and the value that we place on 
visual arts and the use of visual 
arts to demonstrate our values.”
Schwartz said she believes 
there is a lot of potential for the 
arts program at the synagogue. 
She said she thinks of it as a 
beautiful space on street level 

so people can see the art when 
walking by.
Her work through the Library 
Street Collective has caught 
the attention of people beyond 
Michigan, and she has appeared 
on an arts podcast (Art Lovers’ 
Forum) run out of Florida by 
Lois Whitman-Hess. In New 
York, she met Kathryn Mikesell, 
who founded and runs the 
Fountainhead Residency for 
artists in Florida, and this year 
invited her to the opening of the 
Shepherd.
“I can see the growth of the 
Library Street Collective since 
I’ve been here, and I am excited 
by the opportunities being 
planned for the Little Village 
and the Shepherd,” Schwartz, 
31, said about what had been a 
Romanesque church that is being 
transformed with indoor and 
outdoor exhibit spaces as well as 
restaurants. 
“I think artists are excited to 
have another space in the arts 
community adding to the east 
side of the city and bringing 
an international platform to 
Detroit.” 
Schwartz, who wears a Jewish 
star necklace daily, lives near 
the Detroit Institute of Arts and 
feels that ties her more to the 
arts environment. She met her 
husband on a trip to Israel when 
they were University of Michigan 
sophomores, and they became 
close friends before dating in 
their senior year. Marriage came 
in 2022.
 “There are a few things 
coming up that I’m really excited 
about,” Schwartz said. “There’s 
an art show in New York I 
will be visiting as part of the 
international arts community. I’m 
really excited about the Shepherd 
and all that it is going to be 
offering to the community. I’m 
excited about the arts programs 
at the Downtown Synagogue.” 

continued from page 43

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