THE DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Detroit Film Theatre
For nearly 40 years, the DIA has offered the best of world and classic cinema to a diverse and very loyal audience. Presented in the museum's 1100-seat auditorium, the Detroit Film Theatre has hosted area premieres of more than a dozen films, retrospectives of influential film directors such as Akira Kurosawa and Ousmane Sembene, and discussion forums with film luminaries such as Errol Morris. The DIA's original 1927 building was one of the first American museums to include facilities to show motion pictures. The art of motion pictures has long been a fixture in the range of public programs the museum has offered.
Student and Teacher Programs
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.
Exhibitions
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."
Learning and Audience and Engagement
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.
Public Programs
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.
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Login and updateAffiliations & memberships
American Association of Museums - Member 2008
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Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
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THE DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS
Board of directorsas of 08/29/2019
Mr. Eugene Gargaro
Masco Corporation
Eugene Gargaro
Masco Corporation
Lindsey Buhl
Community Representative
H. William Burdett
Howard & Howard
Ethan Davidson
Community Representative
Lillian Demas
Community Representative
Andrea Roumell Dickson
Community Representative
Marla Donovan
Community Representative
Mark Douglas
Avis Ford, Inc.
Nicole Eisenberg
Community Representative
Cynthia Ford
Community Representative
Lawrence Garcia
Garcia Law Group
Antoine Garibaldi
University of Detroit-Mercy
Ralph Gerson
Community Representative
Jennifer Gilbert
Community Representative
Thomas Guastello
Center Management
John Hantz
Hantz Group, Inc.
James Jacobs
Community Representative
Robert Jacobs
Community Representative
Christine Stiek
General Motors
Mary Kramer
Community Representative
Bonnie Larson
Community Representative
John Lewis
Community Representative
Hubert Massey
Community Representative
Victoria McInnis
Community Representative
Ali Maher
Community Representative
Juliette Okotie-Eboh
Community Representative
Peter Oleksiak
DTE Energy
Takashi Omitsu
IMRA America, Inc.
Linda Orlans
Orlans Associates, P.C.
Jacques Panis
Community Representative
Jennifer Hudson Parke
Community Representative
Alex Parrish
Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn
Cynthia Pasky
Strategic Staffing Solutions
Irvin Reid
Wayne State University
Donald Ritzenhein
Community Representative
Tony Saunders
Community Representative
Suzanne Shank
Siebert Cisneros Shank & Co., LLC
Marc Schwartz
Community Representative
Renata Seals-Evans
Wayne County Arts Authority
Sandra Seligman
Community Representative
Buzz Thomas
Community Representative
Lorna Thomas
Community Representative
Reginald Turner
Clark Hill, PLC
Molly Valade
Community Representative
Padma Vattikuti
Community Representative
Carol Walters
Community Representative
Celeste Watkins-Hayes
Community Representative
Rhonda Welburn
Community Representative
Henry Wineman
Frasco Caponigro Wineman & Scheible, PLLC
Mark Zeffiro
Horizon Global