Cass Café Cultural Center · 4620 Cass Avenue · Detroit
A Room That
Takes You Seriously
Cass Café is coming back. Two galleries, a performance space, a broadcast studio, and a kitchen that's actually open — inside a building that's been part of Detroit's cultural life for over thirty years. We're reaching out to artists and performers whose work belongs here.
The Building
What You're Walking Into
4620 Cass Avenue has been a gallery, a restaurant, a music room, a community gathering space, and a cultural institution simultaneously — for most of the time since 1993. It closed in July 2022. The Chalfonte Foundation takes occupancy in August 2026, and the Cass Café Cultural Center reopens with a structure designed to support exactly what it always was: a place where serious work happens in front of a real, engaged audience.
The building houses two galleries presented by detroit contemporary, a performance and event floor, a juice bar and full bar, a kitchen serving the public Monday through Friday, a PuppetART performance program, and a Village Radio Detroit broadcast studio in the Annex. The exhibitions, performances, and events are not decorative additions to a restaurant. The restaurant is the food and beverage operation that supports the cultural program — modeled on the relationship between the Detroit Institute of Arts and Kresge Court.
The Galleries
Two Exhibition Spaces
Gallery One
Westside Gallery
Front of the building, bar and juice bar side. Visible to every guest from the moment they walk in. Ideal for work that rewards sustained attention — visible from the bar, the counter, and from outside the front window.
Gallery Two
Eastside Gallery
Back of the building, main dining area. Larger, more immersive. Surrounded by tables and conversation. Work in this gallery is present throughout every meal, every meeting, every event held in the back of the house.
Presenting Organization
detroit contemporary
All exhibitions at Cass Café are planned and presented by detroit contemporary, founded by Aaron Timlin in 1998. detroit contemporary has been producing exhibitions in Detroit for over twenty-five years — from the traffic Jam & Snug, to Cass Avenue, to LaRose House, and now back to Cass Café. Artists work directly with detroit contemporary on exhibition proposals, curatorial vision, and production. A different curator serves as annual exhibition director, responsible for selecting artists and producing opening receptions. detroit contemporary's 20% curatorial fee — drawn from art sales, not charged to the artist — covers the exhibition's production costs.
Programming
What Happens Here
Visual Art
Exhibitions — Ongoing
Two simultaneous exhibitions at any time — one in each gallery. Opening receptions are ticketed events with a VIP preview for members, collectors, and the artist's network. Exhibition proposals reviewed on a rolling basis by detroit contemporary.
Annual
Members' Spring Salon
A juried annual exhibition open to all members of detroit contemporary — coordinated with the Spring Salon at La Rose House. The Salon is one of detroit contemporary's signature programs and always draws a significant opening audience.
Biennial
Actual Size Biennial
detroit contemporary's multi-venue exhibition, running in odd-numbered years (2027, 2029, 2031). Cass Café was part of the 2001 Biennial. Artists interested in the 2027 Biennial should reach out to detroit contemporary directly.
Music
Dinner Concert Series
Ticketed evening events pairing a seated dinner from the Cass Café kitchen with an acoustic performance. $50 ticket — $25 goes directly to the performing artist, $25 covers food and beverage. Intimate, seated, fully attentive. Ideal for acoustic sets, duo performances, and artists who want a room that's actually listening.
Evening
DJ Nights & Special Events
Ticketed evening events — DJ sets, listening parties, collaborative performances — scheduled individually as the program develops. All evening events end by 11 PM or midnight. Proposals reviewed by the Director of Arts & Cultural Programming.
Community
Health & Healing Programs
Yoga, meditation, healing circles, community workshops, and similar programming — offered as one-off events as the program develops. The kitchen rests on these days; juice bar and community gathering space available. Community facilitators, wellness practitioners, and educators are welcome to propose programming.
The Compensation Model — Honest
Dinner Concert tickets are $50. Half goes to the performing artist — $25 per ticket, paid directly. For a 40-person house, that's $1,000 to the artist for an evening's work in an intimate, fully attentive room. Exhibition sales are between the artist, detroit contemporary, and the collector — Cass Café does not take a commission on art sales. Art openings drive food and beverage revenue, which is how the room sustains the program. That's the model, and it's designed to be honest about it: cultural programming and commercial food and beverage supporting each other, neither subsidizing the other.
The Timeline
August 2026 — Chalfonte Foundation takes occupancy of 4620 Cass Avenue. The building begins hosting private, ticketed, and VIP events immediately — investor and member gatherings, tasting events, and gallery installations. No public walk-in access yet.
September–October 2026 — Exhibition season opens. Ticketed and private events continue. Artists whose shows are scheduled for this period would be working with a room in its pre-opening phase — an intimate, invite-only audience of people who care about what's happening here.
November 6, 2026 — The public restaurant opens: Monday through Friday, 7 AM to 7 PM. From this point forward, the galleries are part of a functioning public space, and exhibition audiences include the full daily flow of the café.
Propose Your Work →
Exhibition proposals go to detroit contemporary. Performance and event proposals go directly to Cass Café's Director of Arts & Cultural Programming. For general inquiries, reach Aaron Timlin at aaron@chalfonte.org.
