center fundraisers

A HOUSE PARTY AT CRANBROOK CELEBRATING THE LEGACY OF MUSIC

Saturday, May 18th, 2024
Thornlea House: 6:00pm - 11:00pm

Get ready for a celebration like none other: A House Party at Cranbrook! This year, the Cranbrook Center’s annual fundraiser will celebrate the legacy of music at Cranbrook in the 1950s on the beautiful grounds of Thornlea House.

A HOUSE PARTY AT TWO CRANBROOKS

Saturday, May 20th, 2023
Garden Gala Celebration: 5:45pm - 10:45pm

Your friends at the Center invite you to join us for a global celebration like none other: A House Party at Two Cranbrooks. The gala fundraiser will explore the story of the British-American Arts and Crafts Movement, and how it led to the creation of Cranbrook Educational Community. The story begins almost 200 years ago in Cranbrook, a small market town in Kent England, and flowers in Detroit in the early 20th century. Just as Cranbrook founders George Gough Booth and Ellen Scripps Booth were inspired by their English roots and passion for handicrafts, A House Party will lean into English culture through stories, objects, art, food, entertainment, and pageantry for a magical evening celebrating Two Cranbrooks

A HOUSE PARTY AT CRANBROOK CELEBRATING LOJA SAARINEN

Saturday, May 21st, 2022
In-Person Gala Celebration: 5:30pm – 10:30pm EDT
Virtual Film Premiere: 7:00pm - 7:45pm EDT

Join us this spring for the Center’s gala fundraiser as we celebrate the many contributions that Loja Saarinen and her weaving workshop, Studio Loja Saarinen, made to Cranbrook and the world. Whether you join us in person at Kingswood School for cocktails, dinner, a live auction, and so much more, or online anywhere in the world, the evening includes the premiere of the Center’s new film—an exploration of Loja’s remarkable life as a Finnish immigrant, pioneering entrepreneur, and extraordinary designer.

A GLOBAL HOUSE PARTY AT CRANBROOK AND MILLESGÅRDEN

Saturday, May 22nd, 2021
Virtual Gala Celebration: 6:30pm – 8:00pm

Join your friends at the Center for A Global House Party at Cranbrook and Millesgården as we celebrate Cranbrook’s many connections to Sweden. While the internationally renowned sculptor and Cranbrook Academy of Art Artist-in-Residence Carl Milles is central to this story, Cranbrook’s Swedish heritage goes much deeper. Even our famous Finnish couple, Eliel and Loja Saarinen, spoke and wrote in Swedish and Loja employed only Swedish weavers in her entrepreneurial enterprise, Studio Loja Saarinen. These stories and many more will unfold as you dine, bid on a carefully selected array of Cranbrook and Swedish auction items, and enjoy the Center’s new film—all in the comfort of your home.

A House Party at Cranbrook

Saturday, September 21st, 2019
Behind-the-Scenes Interpretive Tours: 4:00pm – 6:00pm
Cranbrook House Gala Celebration: 6:00pm – 11:00pm

Join us for the remarkable journey that began in 1904 with the Booths' vision and continues today with a peek toward the future—a night of celebration for Cranbrook Archives as Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research hosts A House Party at Cranbrook: History in the Making. 

A House Party at Cranbrook

Sunday, June 24, 2018
4:00pm - 6:00pm: Meet our Guests of Honor in Smith House and Saarinen House
6:00pm: Doors Open for an Evening Celebration in Cranbrook House

Join the Center as we celebrate the gift of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Smith House to Cranbrook—while also shining a spotlight on Cranbrook House and Saarinen House. It will be a night to remember as we step back in time when all three homes were alive with family and friends.

Banner photo: Cranbrook Academy of Art students on a Campus Tour, September 2019; Photography by Daniel Smith (CAA '21), Courtesy Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research.