Scripps Days to Highlight Art, Autos & Architecture
The Scripps Mansion will be celebrated during this year’s “Scripps Days: Art, Autos & Architecture” weekend, September 21-23. The event is held at the estate of William E. Scripps, which was built by in 1927 and is considered a pre-Depression Era master work by Detroit revivalist architect, Clarence E. Day, and landscape designer, Bryant Fleming. It is one of the best-preserved examples of country estates in America.
Special Events
A Dedication Ceremony of the estate’s new historic status will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, September 22, and is open to all festival attendees.
An exhibition of classic automobiles on the grounds will include a 1930 “DaVinci Pup” cycle-car, a two-seater motorized vehicle. Built by James Scripps Booth, this will be the first time the cycle-car is on display at the mansion.
The Orion Historical Society will conduct docent-guided tours of the house and gardens. The estate is owned by Guest House, Inc., since passing out of the hands of the Scripps family in the 1950s. It has been open to the public only three times since 2003.
Exclusive Art Exhibits in the Mansion
A rare look at selected works of the late Kiichi Usui, renowned painter and former Curator of Meadow Brook Art Gallery at Oakland University, will be available in the mansion’s spectacular Music Room. The room creates a perfect backdrop for the stunningly beautiful paintings and portraits, which blend Japanese and American styles and themes.
Patrons touring the house will also be treated to the bronze sculpture series by Maria Testaguzza, “The Seven Sisters.” Testaguzza uses traditional bronze sculpture techniques in creating her pieces. This series explores the impact of catastrophic events on women across cultures, and will be featured in the mansion’s Master Bedroom Suite on the second floor.
Other works on display in the mansion include those of local award winning plein air artist, Janet Almstadt-Davison. Ms. Almstadt-Davison is well known for her work featuring Michigan’s landscapes and natural settings. Her works will be hanging in the house’s Gallery Hall, where the Scripps family formerly hung European masterworks.
“Live Art” on the Grounds
Almstadt-Davison will also be painting during the event in the mansion gardens, heading up the Plein Air Painters at Scripps, a group of independent artists who will be utilizing the estate’s historic architecture and landscaped grounds as the unique backdrop for their own paintings. Eighteen artists in all can be observed over the two-day “Scripps Days” event, painting in outdoor conditions to capture their work “en plein air,” or in the open air.
For those interested in something really hot, Albert Young and the Michigan Hot Glass Workshop will be performing unique demonstrations of glass blowing and hot glass work. Young, a celebrated fixture in the Detroit art scene who has exhibited his sculpture all over the world, will be working on site on Saturday and Sunday.
Tom Newton, of Studio Stained Glass in Dearborn, will be demonstrating traditional stained glass work for festival attendees. Newton has worked extensively in contemporary and historic stained glass in the Detroit area for many years. He has collaborated with the Michigan Stained Glass Census/Michigan State University Museum collections staff to track down the 1926 Detroit Stained Glass Works stained glass cartoons (designs) of the original Scripps windows. Two of the original cartoons from the Newton collection will be displayed in the house.
Weekend Festival Details
The estate is located at 1601 Joslyn Road at Scripps Road, in Orion Township. Admission to the grounds is $5.00 per person (children free) and includes the art demonstrations on the grounds, classic cars exhibit, and live jazz by several artists, as well as a performance on the house’s Aeolian organ each night. Self-guided garden tours are also part of general admission.
Guided tours of the house are an additional $15.00 per person (children under 12 free). All proceeds of the weekend event will go to the Friends of the William E. Scripps Estate for the ongoing preservation and restoration of the mansion and gardens. Parking for the weekend event is at Canterbury Village on the west side of Joslyn and Scripps Roads, with shuttle service to the estate.
Special Events
Patrons touring the house will also be treated to the bronze sculpture series by 
performing unique demonstrations of glass blowing and hot glass work. Young, a celebrated fixture in the Detroit art scene who has exhibited his sculpture all over the world, will be working on site on Saturday and Sunday.
The estate is located at 1601 Joslyn Road at Scripps Road, in Orion Township. Admission to the grounds is $5.00 per person (children free) and includes the art demonstrations on the grounds, classic cars exhibit, and live jazz by several artists, as well as a performance on the house’s Aeolian organ each night. Self-guided garden tours are also part of general admission.