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 Director's Letter
Over the lasts few months, I have been giving presentations called the Director's Cut in many public locations throughout our three supporting counties---Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb. I use the time to explain my professional background, why I came to this country and wanted to work at the DIA, how I became its director, and what the vision is for the museum moving forward. After my presentations, I invite the public to ask me questions, and we establish a rich conversation for as long as necessary--sometimes for nearly an hour. I have found it a unique opportunity to listen and learn from everyone and make notes of all community suggestions and hopes for our wonderful museum. I generally start off speaking about my Spanish origins, how I was born and raised in Madrid, and how my family took me to the Prado Museum there when I was a kid. It used to be my favorite museum and now it is my second favorite, and you can guess which is the first. Humor aside, the role that my family played introducing me to the museum experience was crucial as I developed my initial interest in art. Interestingly enough my parents, who have accomplished backgrounds, did not have any specific education in the arts but understood the importance of being familiar with and paying attention to them. I still remember the first time I visited the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam--fundamentally a Dutch art collection that owns very few Spanish works, a result of the historic conflicts between the two countries over the centuries. Nevertheless, my parents asked my brother (then eight years old) and me (then ten) to look for a Spanish painting in the museum. We ran and explored all the galleries until my brother found a work by the Spanish painter Francisco de Goya--Portrait of Ramón Satué. From that day I remember two things: I lost to my brother and the Goya portrait. Every time I visit the Rijksmuseum, I make a point to see that painting, relive wonderful family times, and thank my parents for taking me to museums. Family life is very important for children's wellbeing and, at the DIA, we would like as many families as possible to visit our world-class museum. You can bring your children and ask them to look for a Spanish painting--a few are on view in the second and third-floor galleries. Or you can participate in our new summer weekend program, the Detroit Institute of Awesome, which is free with museum admission and for our tri-county residents. It includes family-friendly tours, art-making opportunities, and artist demonstrations, among other activities. As with my parents, one does not need to have a specific art background to take kids to a museum. Your children and grandchildren will have fun coming to the DIA, you will open their minds to the world of creativity, and perhaps some of them will grow up to become museum directors. 
Salvador Salort-Pons
Director
Detroit Institute of Arts Back to top |
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Exhibitions DANCE!
American Art 1830 to 1960 Through June 12
Special Exhibition Galleries, South
There's less than two weeks left to catch this exhibition the Detroit Free Press calls "smart, rewarding, and often surprising" in its exploration of the role and meaning of dance in American culture. Dances depicted in the more than ninety paintings and sculpture in the exhibition range from the sacred dances of Native Americans to European-inspired folk movements, to the Charleston and the most modern dance moves in a dizzying array of artistic styles and mediums. Among the artists represented are William Merritt Chase, Thomas Eakins, Mary Cassatt, Thomas Hart Benton, James VanDerZee, Joseph Cornell, and Andy Warhol. If you haven't danced with Warhol's silver balloons (above), come check it out while you still can, or if you've already given it a whirl, come do it again. Members see the exhibition free, but admission is on a timed basis. Tickets should be reserved in advance by calling 313.833.7971, visiting DIA.org, or stopping by the box office at the museum. There are no ticket handling fees for members. For the general public, tickets are $14 for adults, $10 for Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb county residents, $7 for ages 6-17, and $5 for Wayne, Oakland and Macomb county residents ages 6-17. There is no admission charge for school groups visiting the exhibition, but groups need to register in advance. Buy or reserve tickets here or by calling 313.833.4005. The exhibition has been organized by the Detroit Institute of Arts. Support has been provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support has been provided by the Marjorie and Maxwell Jospey Foundation and an ADAA Foundation Curatorial Award and the Association of Art Museum Curators. Support for the catalogue has been provided by the Ida and Conrad Smith Fund. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this exhibition do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Above: Youth, ca. 1917, oil on canvas; Arthur Frank Mathews, American. Collection of the Oakland Museum of California, Gift of Concours d'Antiques, the Art Guild. A66.196.24 Back to top FIFTY YEARS OF COLLECTING
Detroit Institute of Arts' Friends of Prints, Drawings and Photographs Anniversary Exhibition Through June 18, 2016
Schwartz Gallery of Prints and Drawings
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| Tales of Genji III, 1998, woodcut and stenciling, Helen Frankenthaler, American. Founders Society Purchase, Dr. Ralph Coskey Memorial Fund and the Graphic Arts Council Fund. Detroit Institute of Arts |
Closing later this month is this exhibition celebrating the Friends of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs' distinguished achievements during its first half century of activities. Under a variety of names over the decades, the auxiliary supports the growth of the DIA's collection of works on paper, commissioning prints and photographs, conducting the Summer Soirées program, funding acquisitions with a purchase fund, and through gifts and bequests made by members. Works on view date from the 1500s to the present and include prints by Théodore Géricault, James McNeill Whistler, Erich Heckel, and Helen Frankenthaler; a watercolors by Charles Burchfield, and photographs by Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, and André Kertész. Back to top THE OPEN ROAD
Photography and the American Road Trip June 17-September 11, 2016
Special Exhibitions Central Galleries
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| Phillips 66, Flagstaff, Arizona, 1962, gelatin silver print; Ed Ruscha, 1962. © Ed Ruscha, courtesy of the artist |
This exhibition explores the story of the American photographic road trip--one of the most distinct, important, and appealing themes of the medium--through the eyes of both native-born and foreign photographs. The Open Road features more than seventy photographs by nineteen individuals, beginning with Robert Frank's groundbreaking photographs from his 1955 book, The Americans, to contemporary works by artists such as Justine Kurland, who will give a talk at the DIA, Thursday, June 16. Other photographers include Ed Ruscha, Garry Winogrand, Inga Morath, Joel Sternfeld, and Alec Soth. Road trips have long been a lure for Americans seeking new adventures and discoveries, a deeper look into American history, and a sense of freedom and possibilities that the open road brings. After World War II, the American road trip began appearing in literature, music, movies, and photography. Cars, buses, motels, campsites, diners, signs, gas stations, and everyday people fascinated photographers much as the American frontier had engaged artists of previous generations. In addition to Frank, other photographers embarked on road trips specifically to create a body of work, such as Ruscha, whose trips between Los Angeles and Oklahoma formed the basis of his 1963 series "Twentysix Gasoline Stations." Catch the conversation about the exhibition's themes with photographer Justine Kurland, DIA curator of photography Nancy Barr, and exhibition curator Denise Wolff on Thursday, June 16 at 7:30 p.m. Visitors can share their favorite American road trip memories on social media using the hashtag #DIAOpenRoad. The DIA will be hosting a photo contest on Instagram and creating a summer road trip playlist on Spotify to accompany the exhibition. Contest rules and the playlist will be listed on dia.org during the run of the exhibition. Back to top |
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New on View
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| Gallery of the Louvre, 1931-33, oil on canvas; Samuel F. B. Morse, American. Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection, 1992.51 |
The latest guest of honor at the DIA is the monumental painting Gallery of the Louvre by Samuel F. B. Morse--the same Morse who developed the telegraph and whose name graces the system of dots and dashes, or code, used to communicate on the new devise. Morse knew he wanted to be an artist at a young age. He was a successful portrait painter in this country but felt his education as an artist was incomplete without a visit to Paris. He arrived in Paris in 1830 and spent nearly two years painting what was to be his most ambitious project, Gallery of the Louvre. The 6.2 x 9 foot painting depicts a gallery imagined by Morse that included thirty-eight miniature versions of what were then the Louvre's most famous paintings, two sculptures, and several people, among them Morse, his daughter, and American author James Fenimore Cooper. Among the artists represented are Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt van Rijn, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Anthony Van Dyke, and Peter Paul Rubens. Morse intended the painting to serve as a "miniature museum" for American audiences unable to see such artwork without crossing the Atlantic and, to this end, he intended to exhibit Gallery of the Louvre in major cities, charging admission for the experience. He exhibited the painting only twice--in New York City and New Haven, Connecticut. While the painting received praise from critics, the public's reaction was lukewarm. Greatly disappointed, Morse quit painting and focused his attention on long-distance communication technology, for which he is best known today. Other activities scheduled in conjunction with this Guest of Honor include a lecture, "Samuel F. B. Morse's Gallery of the Louvre and the Art of Invention," covering Morse's artistic training, techniques, and the technological and theoretical underpinnings of his painting, and four DFT films exploring how art is collected and exhibited, each accompanied by a short on the creation and restoration of Morse's masterpiece. Gallery of the Louvre is on loan from the Terra Foundaton for American Art Back to top |
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Detroit Film Theatre The DFT summer season kicks off with a weekend of films from Cinetopia, Southeast Michigan's annual international festival, featuring screenings of many of the most notable new films, including shorts and documentaries, from film festivals the world over. At the DIA, the festivities begin outdoors Friday night, June 3, at 9:30 p.m. on the North Lawn with a free showing of the animated feature Only Yesterday. Saturday and Sunday, June 4 and 5, features nonstop movie watching in both the DFT auditorium and the lecture hall. While many of the films are making their Michigan debut at the DIA, it is the first U.S. showing of Iggy Pop Live in Basel 2015, playing Sunday, June 5, in the DFT at 7 p.m. Iggy Pop, known for his outrageous and unpredictable stage antics, performs many of his top hits, including "I Wanna Be Your Dog," "The Passenger," and "Lust for Life," in this concert film.
In conjunction with the museum's latest guest of honor, Samuel Morse's Gallery of the Louvre, the DFT has scheduled a series of films exploring the different ways art is collected, displayed, and perceived. The first film, Francofonia (left), combines rare archival footage with re-enactments to tell the behind the scenes story of two remarkable men whose actions led to the rescue and preservation of the Louvre's priceless collection during the Nazi occupation of Paris. This summer, the DFT Animation Club is part of Detroit Institute of Awesome weekends, with showings on both Saturday and Sunday. For more DFT information, including titles, dates, and times for Cinetopia showings, click here. Back to top |
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Last Chance to Dance Bring the performing and visual arts together in a substantial way on Friday, June 10, with a free visit to the Dance! exhibition before or after participating in one of the several dance activities scheduled throughout the day. The fun begins at 11 a.m. in the Great Hall with an Animal Dance Party, a creative movement class inspired by some favorite animals. The session begins with a warmup that explores the beauty and grace of animal motion and ends with a masked animal dance party. All ages are welcome and no experience is necessary. The class is free with museum admission, but pre-registration is highly recommended to secure a space. Click here to pre-register. The final Dance Now Detroit takes place at 1 p.m. in Rivera Court with performances by ConteXture dance Detroit, Foluké-JATA, Abigayle Cryderman, Dana Yordy/yorMove and A2D Dance Company, exemplify the vitality of choreographers working in metro Detroit. This program is in partnership with ARTLAB J. Learn about the influence of Isadora Duncan and other well-known dancers on early-twentieth-century dance styles at a panel discussion moderated by Harriet Berg, the dean of Michigan-based dance historians. Duncan was instrumental in creating a vogue for classical dress and movement in dance.
On Saturday, June 11, performer Valeria Montes (left), known as La Chispa for the vibrancy and intensity of her performance, is joined on stage by her company for a fresh take on flamenco, combining a modern sensibility and diversity with a deep respect for traditional expression. Tickets for the 7 p.m. event are $10 and can be purchased here. We saved the last dance for you and La Chispa at an artist demonstration of the basics of flamenco on Sunday, June 12, at 2 p.m. Montes and guitarist Guillermo Guillen delve into the history of this highly expressive Spanish dance form, including its characteristic hand clapping, percussive footwork, and intricate body movements. Audience participation is encouraged. For information on all DIA and community Dance! programming, click here. Back to top |
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DETROIT INSTITUTE OF AWESOME Music, dance, and art are all part of the new Detroit Institute of Awesome weekends, which launches this month with activities designed for kids ages three to ten and their grownups. Every Saturday and Sunday, kid-friendly guided tours are offered twice, at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. and drop-in art-making workshops run from noon until 4 p.m. This month, the art projects are weaving on Saturdays and Japanese paper fans on Sundays. Animated films, puppet shows, and artist demonstrations are scheduled on a rotating basis. For the awesome weekend of June 4 and 5, Signal-Return, a letterpress print studio in the heart of Detroit's Eastern Market, brings its hand-operated press to explain the art and craft of using an old-fashioned method of printing, demonstrating the basics, and helping visitors print a small card to take home. On Sunday, June 12, flamenco dancer Valeria Montes and guitarist Guillermo Guillen demonstrate the characteristic handclapping, percussive footwork, and intricate body movements of this highly expressive Spanish dance form. Audience participation is encouraged.
The DFT Animation Club features one of the most endearing films of all time, My Neighbor Totoro (left)--a movie that Roger Ebert called "one of the five best movies" ever made for children. It is the deceptively simple tale of two girls who move with their father to a new house in the countryside and soon find in the surrounding forest a family of Totoros, gentle but powerful creatures who are seen only by children. General admission for Animation Club movies is $5 and free to DIA members, who just need to show a membership card to get in. The whole family can take part in the musical artist demonstration Saturday and Sunday, June 25 and 26, that invites audience members to see, hear, and play an array of instruments. Pick up an instrument and learn the basics from instructors available to help first timers. Short performances are held throughout the day. Back to top |
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News and Notes In the Shop
This month, check out the selection of gifts for the dads and grads in your life at the Museum Shop, the Dance! exhibition shop, and online. There's everything from cool décor items, such as frames, clocks, bookends, and desktop mobiles, to more personal items, like ties, jewelry, and accessories. And, in anticipation of The Open Road exhibition, opening on June 17, the shop is featuring travel games, cameras, and books, as well as the exhibition catalogue, all perfect items for anyone with a bit of wanderlust or an interest in photography. Annual Fund
The DIA's fiscal year ends June 30, and we hope you will help us reach our Annual Fund goal for the time span. The generosity of people like you helps us fulfill our mission of creating experiences that help each visitor find personal meaning in art. Please consider a gift of $50, $100, $250, or any amount that you wish. Making your gift is quick and simple by clicking here or calling 313.833.7971. Thanks for your support. Back to top |
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| Detroit Institute of Arts
5200 Woodward Avenue
Detroit, Michigan 48202
www.dia.org
313.833.7900 Comments or questions about the newsletter? Please contact us: [email protected] ADMISSION
$12.50 adults
$8 seniors (62+)
$ 6 youth (6-17)
The museum is free for members and residents of Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb Counties
Contact the Membership HelpLine at
313.833.7971 or [email protected] For group sales (15 or more) contact 313.833.1292 or dia.org/grouptours
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HOURS
Museum
Mon CLOSED
Tue, Wed, Thur 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Fri 9 a.m.-10 p.m.
Sat, Sun 10 a.m.-5 p.m. PARKING
Lighted, secure self-parking is available in the museum parking lot, between John R and Brush behind the museum, for $7. |
CaféDIA
313.833.7966
Tue, Wed, Thur 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Fri 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m., 4-9 p.m.
Sat, Sun 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Kresge Court
Tue, Wed, Thur 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Fri 9 a.m.-9:30 p.m.
Sat., Sun 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Museum Shop
313.833.7944 or [email protected]
Open during museum hours or online at diashop.org |
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