After 50 years of business, Ann Arbor art gallery and store 16 Hands will permanently close its doors April 19th, 2025. Founded in 1975, 16 Hands was originally a collective of eight local artists working to create a space to exhibit their works in Ann Arbor. Jill Damon joined the cooperative in 1978, taking on the role of owner in 1988. After almost 40 years of ownership, Damon decided to close down, motivated by her future retirement plans and desire for more time to create work of her own.
In an interview with The Michigan Daily, 16 Hands manager Rick Wedel said Damon has thought about closing the business for a while.
“She made an announcement a few years ago in the Brick magazine,” Wedel said. “The good news is she’ll get to make her own art; she’s an artist herself but doesn’t have a lot of time for it.”
16 Hands has had a long history spanning three locations across Ann Arbor. Starting as a storefront on Washington street, operations moved to Main Street in 1990 and then a final move in 2011 to the second floor of Kerrytown Market & Shops.
Wedel emphasized 16 Hands’ impact on local community members, noting the recurring customers year after year.
“We have a lot of longtime customers who come to us,” Wedel said. “They remember those days when we had more room and there was furniture, local furniture makers and lighting and stuff like that. There’s a lot of emotion around it. It’s not just, you know, a store. I keep looking at the upside — 50 years is a good run.”
The shop has aimed to promote both the work of local artists and artists from around the world. While the products are constantly changing, Wedel said 16 Hands has always focused on providing customers with unique and high-quality items.
“It started as an artist co-op, and at that time, they just showed the work of the member artists,” Wedel said. “Though now, she orders from hundreds of artists all over the country, obviously Fair Trade organizations as well. There are some artists we’ve carried for decades.”
For the shop’s 50th Anniversary & Closing Announcement, 16 Hands has invited the Ann Arbor community to join them for in-store discounts and a silent auction, selling the hand sculptures that gave the shop its name.
“We’re doing a silent auction and that will go through March 9th,” Wedel said. “We had a really busy weekend. We started the sales … and we’ve had a bunch of bids on them already.”
16 Hands has implemented environmentally-conscious business practices in recent years such as collaborating with artists who create goods with reclaimed materials like packing peanuts, according to Wedel.
“We just try to reuse as much as we can,” Wedel said. “We never really have to buy that kind of stuff. Pottery comes wrapped up, so we’ve re-used it in that way. I’ve used some of the recycling materials in my own work, and we make donations.”
LSA junior Emma Thomson, a Program in the Environment major, told The Daily local businesses like 16 Hands upholding sustainable practices is important because they allow consumers to also be able to make environmentally-conscious decisions.
“It’s got to be a community effort to make changes for our planet in terms of sustainability,” Thomson said. “Businesses have the really important part of this, because they have the power to give consumers that opportunity to make those sustainable choices. So if you shop at an establishment that you know is sustainable, you feel good and you know that you’re doing a part for your bigger community.”
Andrew O’Neal, owner of the Kerrytown Market & Shops, said in an interview with The Daily he was disappointed about 16 Hands’ departure.
“We are sad to see them go but we are very proud for having them be a wonderful part of Kerrytown Market & Shops for all these years,” O’Neal said. “We wish Jill the best in her retirement.”
O’Neal shared details on Kerrytown Market & Shops plans to place one of their shops, Nuuyuu Collective, in the newly-vacant space.
“As bummed out as we are about this, we are just as excited to have Nuuyuu Collective moving down the hall and expanding into the old 16 Hands space,” O’Neal said. “We certainly don’t like losing stores, but when we can backfill them with a current store that is growing into a bigger space, then it takes part of the sting off it.”
Daily Staff Reporter Sophie Frank can be reached at sophieaf@umich.edu.
