Scarab Club, Detroit

The Scarab Club is an artists' club, gallery, and studio in the Cultural Center Historic District of Detroit, located at 217 Farnsworth Street, near the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Detroit Science Center. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1974 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

The Scarab Club was formed in 1907. It began as an informal association named the Hopkin Club after the founder, marine painter Robert Hopkin. The members met regularly to talk art, eat dinner, and critique paintings.

Renamed the "Scarab Club" in 1913, the club grew in popularity, and member Lancelot Sukert, a Detroit architect, designed the current clubhouse, which opened its doors on October 5, 1928. The interior of the club is decorated with objets d'art created and contributed by members over the decades. The building showcases exquisite tile sculptures from Pewabic Pottery, including the Scarab Club logo. The ceiling beams of the lounge once served as the club's guest book, and poet Vachel Lindsay signed as one of the first visitors. Since then, signing the beam has become a ceremonial honor, and the autographs of art world luminaries such as John Sloan, Diego Rivera, Pablo Davis, Marcel Duchamp, Norman Rockwell, and John Sinclair grace the beams.