New Programming & Ray Johnson at CCS @ CultureSource
Change is in the air over at College for Creative Studies, where a handful of on-campus galleries are facing a new order under Michelle Perron.
Formerly the Director of CCS’s Center Galleries—as well as Founding Director of Kresge Arts in Detroit (KAID) since its inception in 2008, Perron has stepped away from KAID in order to take up the role as inaugural Director of the newly-formed Office of Exhibitions & Public Programs at CCS. Perron was instrumental in the development and mothering of the KAID program in its first nine years, but feels it has reached a point where she can devote her energies to building something new at CCS. KAID’s continued growth and direction stays in the hands of Director Christina deRoos and Assistant Director Ryan Myers-Johnson.
“I’ve always seen my role here at CCS being to create experiences—for the students, for the faculty, for the alumni, for the donors, and for the community,” said Perron in an interview with CultureSource at the Valade Family Gallery on the eve of her first opening under the Office of Exhibitions & Public Programs’ auspices.
“In my previous role of just running Center Galleries and the Woodward Lecture Series, it was always about that, but for a long time, since KAID started, I’ve been wearing all these different hats. And it’s been great, but now the KAID program is at a point where it is a good time for me to be able to pull back from the daily activities there and to be able to start this program at CCS.”