When I became director last year, friends and patrons congratulated me and also wanted to give me advice. They had seen the museum evolve for many years, so I was eager to hear what they had to say and learn from their experiences and observations. I remember many of the conversations and how some issues were recurrent and indicated a path of action. Other comments were unique and enlightened unexpected avenues. Of those, I especially remember one from our patron Jeff Antaya, who advised me, among many things, "to join the clowns." At first, I did not understand what he meant, so he kindly clarified and described the Distinguished Clown Corps at Detroit's Parade Company. I thought he was joking (Jeff is one of the clowns) and told him that I would think about it. Of course, I understand that people react to clowns in many different ways, but in my view they bring humor into our lives.

I believe in the benefits of humor, which is so authentically related to human nature. The thirteenth-century Persian poet Rumi urges us to remember "the original clay," referring to the religious belief that God (whatever one's faith) created humans from clay, a humble medium. The word humor comes from the Latin "humor" and means moisture, specifically that exuded by clay, and in Latin, clay is "humus." Thus, "humus" and "humor" are so closely related to our human nature that when one is in a good humor, one feels good in one's skin (or clay) and connected to others. Humor is a connector, a tool to solve problems, and I use it as often as I can. For instance, when someone comes to me with a problem, I point out the DIA's painting by Gilda Snowden hanging in my office entitled Twin Tornados and jokingly remind them that I already have a couple of "tornados" nearby. Immediately, the tension loosens. Cracking a smile at the outset of any endeavor helps bring the team together and steers us toward success. Try it! Start a meeting, a speech, or anything with humor and you will feel at one with the audience.

With a smile, I followed Jeff's advice and joined the Distinguished Clown Corps (right). Thanks to it, I met so many fun, new people and lovers of our Detroit culture and heritage. What a joy we felt inside the museum, when the clowns warmed up in the DIA's Great Hall with some hot drinks before we walked down Woodward in the Thanksgiving parade. The DIA "temple of art" was transformed into a "temple of clowns" and became part of Detroit's parade. Our security team took photos with lots of clowns, including me, and some said they could now say that "their director is a clown." We all laughed and felt like one. Joining the clowns has brought new humor and friends into my life, helped me make others laugh, and brought the DIA closer to our community through a Thanksgiving tradition. What a good reason to give thanks.

This exhibition is the first at the DIA to engage all five senses: sight, of course, with plenty of beautiful, finely wrought objects associated with serving and drinking coffee, tea, and chocolate to look at, but smell, hearing, touch, and taste are represented as well.

The nose and the ear come into play in the first large gallery. At the end of the curved wall to your left as you enter the space are boxes that emit the odor of freshly ground coffee beans. Slide the panel on one of the two small boxes to get a whiff of your local coffee shop; the boxes are set at two levels--one at adult height and the other lower down for the younger set.

In the opposite corner, the dulcet tones of J. S. Bach's 1732 Coffee Cantata, a comic opera encapsulating the debate in eighteenth-century Germany about the merits of coffee, can be heard. A young woman is obsessed with coffee, but her father, skeptical of the habit, issues her an ultimatum: coffee or a husband.

We're touchy on the subject of touch--please don't touch the works of art--but there are two examples of ceramics set aside in this exhibition for visitors to pick up and examine. Feel the surface textures and the weight of the porcelain and stoneware cups and note the similarities and differences. Then place your hand behind lit tiles to see how each substance transmits light.

And at the end of the exhibition, imbibe at the tasting station offering samples of two different chocolate drinks. One is made based on ingredients--cocoa mixed with water, sweetened with honey, and flavored with chili peppers--used at least 3,500 years ago by the Aztecs in Mexico, who were among the first to consume chocolate as a drink. The other, from eighteenth-century France, is closer to the hot chocolate drunk today, combining milk, chocolate, sugar, and cinnamon spiced with cloves and black pepper.

On Noel Night, Saturday, December 5, from 5 to 9 p.m., the exhibition is open free of charge, however, there will be no tasting station. Tickets are not needed to see the exhibition on Noel Night.

Tickets for adults are $14 and $10 for Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb county residents. Childrent ages 6-17 are $7 and $5 for Wayne, Oakland and Macomb county youngsters. Exhibitions are always free for DIA members, although complimentary timed tickets are necessary.