Executive Committee Meeting 10-15-24

President's Report

Page 38 of 95

EXPLORE DETROIT

DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS

Detroit Institute of Arts aaa

Founded in 1885 from works bequeathed by press magnate James E. Scripps, the DIA is considered to be one of the six major art museums in the United States. In 2013, when the City of Detroit filed for bankruptcy, the city councilors considered selling off part of the collections in order to pay off the city’s debt. The idea was quickly abandoned, so important is the museum's contribution to the city’s reputation among both Detroiters and visitors from all over the world. � Getting there: Via the Q Line from Downtown, Warren Ave stop. Local Map p. 42. Detachable Map D3. � Tip: Take a break at Kresge Court, one of the museum’s two cafes. Located in a glass-roofed atrium, it has the feel of a courtyard at an Italian Renaissance palace. The DIA gift shop is also worth a visit.

5200 Woodward Ave - t 313 833 7900 - www.dia.org - 9am-4pm (Fri. 9pm), Sat.-Sun. 10am-5pm – closed Mon. - $14 (child

aged 6–17 - $6) - audio guide included – museum guided tours 1pm (Fri. also at 6pm) starting from the Grand Hall (level 2). The museum also houses

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Cotopaxi by Frederic Edwin Church, 1862.

a movie theater with an interesting program (entry via John R St - separate ticket $10.50) . A History of Donations The first Detroit Museum of Art opened in a Romanesque Revival style building on Jefferson Avenue. The 80 paintings by European masters bequeathed by Scripps form the foundation of what remains one of the country’s largest collections in this area. Once the municipality took over running it, under the name Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), the museum was installed in 1927 in this Beaux-Arts building designed by Frenchman Paul Cret . The building, which had been

repeatedly refurbished, underwent a major overhaul in the early 2000s to present the collections in a more straightforward, educational way, from a thematic rather than chronological perspective, and this has truly paid off. The collections owe much to the work of William R. Valentiner , an art historian of German origin, who was the director of the DIA until 1945. Particularly interested in contemporary art and a personal friend of Edsel Ford, he brought fresco painter Diego Rivera into the museum ( T pp. 50-51) . The fund has been regularly enriched with donations from patrons such as Robert H. Tannahill , owner of one of the country’s finest modern art collections, who donated

DIA Highlights The vast museum’s diverse collections cover a period from 25,000 BC to the present day. So you’ll have to filter your visit. If time is short, go through the African section, on the first level, then head to the second: Benin – Bronze Knight (African Art, Level 1) Bruegel – The Wedding Dance (European Art, Level 2) Caravaggio – Martha and Mary Magdalene (European Art, Level 2) Rembrandt – The Visitation (European Art, Level 2) Van Gogh – Self-portrait (Modern Art, Level 2) Matisse – The Window (Modern Art, Level 2) Frederick Edwin Church – Cotopaxi (American Art, Level 2) James Whistler – Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket (American Art, Level 2) Andy Warhol – Double Self-Portrait (Contemporary Art, Level 2) Diego Rivera – Detroit Industry cycle (Rivera Court, Level 2) ( T pp. 50–51) Toilet service of the Duchesse de Cadaval (Decorative Arts, Level 3)