THE DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS

The DIA provides multiple means for students to learn about art, both in the museum and in their classrooms. Several thousand students tour the museum galleries each school year. Docent-guided tours are available from September through June, and they cover a array of topics, such as American Art (highlighting the DIA's outstanding collection), African American Art, Art of the Spanish-Speaking World, and other collection-specific tours. In addition, teachers may opt to select visits that are centered on building observation and critical thinking skills. These tours are facilitied by docents, but students are actively encouraged to look closely at selected art objects, and engage in a free-ranging discussion that elicits creative reasoning and articulation of students' understanding of the purpose and meaning of the work. Volunteers also visit classrooms in communities throughout the metropolitan areas, adapting the tour topics to video presentations. These visits, too, engage children in lively discussions and also work to develop critical thinking skills. Teacher workshops are offered throughout the year, focused both on temporary special exhibitions, and on specific areas of the permanent collection. Curriculum guides for teachers, available on the DIA website, help schools meet Michigan Department of Education’s K-12 curriculum standards and content expectations.

The DIA offers a robust and varied range of temporary exhibitions. We originate some, developing the intellectual viewpoint and supporting materials, and utilize both works from our collections and loans secured from other institutions around the world. Other offerings are drawn from our permanent collections (this is particularly true for our prints, drawings and photographs collections). Others are secured through negotiation with originating museums, and we develop an array of interpretive materials and public programs to accompany the presentation. Recent offerings have included "Through African Eyes: The European in African Art, 1500-Present," "Fakes, Forgeries, and Mysteries," "Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus," and "Detroit Revealed: Photographs, 2000-2012."

Programs offered through the Learning and Audience Engagement staff include classes and lectures tied to temporary exhibitions and hands-on art making workshops and studio classes. Part of the museum's renovation resulted in the creation of a dedicated Education Wing. Facilities in this new wing include a large studio space that accommodates both wet and dry media, a gallery for temporary exhibitions such as the annual Detroit Public Schools student art exhibition, a seminar room for classes and talks (up to 20 people) and dry media art classes, and a larger classroom facility to accommodate classes and lectures (up to 80 people). Drop-in workshops are a regular feature of Friday night and weekend programming, presenting opportunities for young and old to create watercolor and collage postcards, sistrums, a musical instrument modeled on sacred rattles used in Ancient Egypt, and Uchiwa, a Japanese paper fan.

The DIA has always been known for great art, but we've also got a reputation for presenting great live music. You can experience music from around the world and around Detroit at Friday Night Live! The DIA is open late every Friday night with live music, art-making workshops, drawing in the galleries, guided tours and much more. Activities take place from 6 to 10 storytelling, art-making workshops and much more on Family Sundays. From fencing demonstrations in the Great Hall to special Halloween tours, public programs at the DIA offer ways to bring people together in an uplifting experience.