Cedar Street shop houses amazing art

By Mallory Stiles
Editor in Chief

The Cedar Street Art Collective, founded by Annie Signs and Andrew Sandstedt, is a local art studio that houses over half a dozen award-winning artists who continuously distribute original works of breathtaking art throughout mid-Michigan.

There will be an Open House hosted Saturday, Oct. 5, to showcase and sell works from all resident artists. Show up and support your local artists!

The studio building itself is recognized today, by community members and city historians alike, as one of Lansing’s most beloved landmarks.

What is now Cedar Street Art Collective at 1701 S. Cedar St., was also, at one time, a tire shop, a Kroger, a café and, most recently, a Dicker and Deal Secondhand Store.

“The building dates all the way back to 1906,” Signs said, “but then there was a fire in 1928, and they had to rebuild. Now there is an addition to this building. We used to do more events here and classes, but after COVID, we became more of a studio space.”

The Dicker and Deal Secondhand Store, owned by Gary Potter and Tom Hewitt, was opened on June 4, 1973. The establishment was there for 43 years, but was then relocated to 2408 S. Cedar S. in 2016, which is when Annie came into the picture.

“I was hired to move this building down the street,” Signs said. “The owner said to me, ‘What should I do with the old building? Do you want to do something with it?’ I said, ‘Why don’t we put artists in it?’

“They came and we have been full ever since.”

Lucy Synk displays some of her space artwork at Cedar Street Art Collective.  Photo by Mallory Stiles

Resident artist Lucy Synk is a full-time working artist who relies heavily on studio time. Synk used to be a full-time science-fiction illustrator and is prepping for a planetarium show now, as visitors can see by her most recent works.

However, she is also widely known for a series, featured on buses and billboards around town, named “Rejoicing in our Differences.” This is a collection of complex street scenes that highlight the contrasts of the American people.

 Click here to see and shop!

“They are kind of a modern Americana,” Synk said, “where I celebrate the diversity of America, the America I know.”

She said she considers herself a life-long activist who continues to fight for equality and diversity, but she thinks the world of Annie for facilitating her creative process.

“She gave us a home,” she said.

Candice and Joel Mathews are owners and operators of Black Thistle Tattoo.  Photo by Mallory Stiles

Black Thistle Tattoo, located at 1705 S. Cedar St., is attached to Cedar Street Art Collective and occupies the addition. The tattoo shop opened in July of last year, but owners Joel and Candice Mathews have both been tattooing for years.

Unfortunately, Black Thistle Tattoo came to be because of a prior lease that was terminated with very little notice given to its tenants.

It was a terrible thing that, yet again, left more artists in desperate need of a space, until a certain someone came along.

“Then we ended up finding this place,” Joel said, smiling. “We met Annie and were able to give it another go. It’s been great over here.”

This shop operates by appointment only for privacy’s sake, but the owners’ work receives great reviews, and their clientele has remained steady.

Artist Andrew Sandstedt is the co-founder of Cedar Street Art Collective.  Photo by Mallory Stiles


Co-founder, creative director and artist Andrew Sandstedt confessed, as chaotic as the energy of so many people may SEEM, every artist contributes to the authenticity of the creative vibe; the building is the soul, but the artists are the blood.

He rents a space but has been with this project since its inception. He said it was always the plan to reach as many community members as possible.

“I said I was all about doing it,” he said, “as long as we kept it accessible and something that the neighborhood could enjoy, too. Dicker and Deal was an anchor business to this neighborhood for over 40 years. It couldn’t be something that outsiders were going to take for themselves.”

To Sandstedt, a life-long artist but also a strong patron of the arts, no community is complete without public representation of artistic expression; it’s what brings people together.

“Art and culture are what bring sustainability to these neighborhoods,” he said. “It gives people a sense of pride. Everybody should be able to enjoy art. No matter where people are religiously or politically, they can still come together and say, ‘Wow, we love this painting.’”

Other resident artists each have their own trademarks and skillsets but are individually incredible in their own way. Some of their listed contact information is as follows:

Metalsmith/Artist Vic Reynaud can be reached at metalvic43@gmail.com; Fine Artist Emily Kibbe’s Instagram hook is emilykibbe.fineart; Resident Artist Tod C Parkhill is available by website here; Mixed-Media Painter Steph Joy Hogan is available by website here; Cartoonist Daniel J. Hogan is also available by website here.

Sandstedt, like most of the artists, loves all mediums, yet seems to be primarily involved in metal work, and repeatedly earns awards in Lansing Old Town’s annual ScrapFest. He chooses to use mostly reused metal or recycled scrap materials like cam shafts, gears, stakes … the most rust, the better.

Sandstedt is an artist, engineer technician, co-founder, creative director, father, friend and community member. He is also a recovered addict who has been sober for 12 years.

“That’s why I choose to use so much repurposed and recycled things,” he said. “Because there are so many people in the throes of alcoholism or addiction and a lot of society sees them as worthless, but there is a lot there.”

He said he loves the restoration process. As creative director of such a crucial inner-city resource, he hopes to provide a bit of perspective:

“You have to be able to see what others can’t.”