From the Director, May 2018
Updated Jul 20, 2022
The creativity of American popular culture
This summer, we are celebrating the creativity of American popular culture with two fun and engaging exhibitions, Play Ball! Baseball at the DIA and Star Wars™ and the Power of Costume. The former brings sports and the arts together and features, like in ancient Greece, athletes and artists as talented individuals whose creative power provides fresh perspectives on the world in which we live. This free exhibition highlights the Tigers, their inspiring 1968 World Series victory, the rare Honus Wagner card, the amazing complete T206 White border set, and sports featured in DIA artwork expanding across centuries as well baseball themes brought to life by a remarkable contemporary artist.
Star Wars and the Power of Costume explores the work of costume designers. It dives into the creative processes, including sketches and drawings used to conceive the outfits that dress the characters in this film saga, an icon of American popular culture. Our exhibition team has produced a multimedia tour in which, among other things, our visitors will discover how some of the costumes in the show provide a window into traditional art forms from cultures around the world. Works of art, similar to the ones we see in the DIA permanent galleries, were sources of inspiration for the designers and connect the mythological world of the galaxies to masterpieces of African, American, Asian, and European art among others. We hope that our exhibition visitors, perhaps first time visitors to the DIA, will continue exploring our permanent galleries and make those connections between the Star Wars imagery and that of our extraordinary art collection --- one of best of in the world. We will also offer additional activities for those who are passionate about science fiction, and the Detroit Film Theatre will play sci-fi films for free for all our exhibition visitors including, of course, the residents of Oakland, Wayne and Macomb counties.
With these non-traditional exhibitions we are broadening our cultural offerings to appeal to new audiences who may not often (or ever) visit us. We would like as many new visitors as possible to see their interests reflected at the DIA, to feel represented and to discover with us that creativity lives in each individual. By exploring how the creative process impacts athletics and film, we are building a town square that makes connections between diverse groups, helping to create a unified understanding of each other through our popular culture. We hope that you will visit this summer and have a good time with us. But more importantly, we hope the DIA becomes a gathering place for everyone to find personal meaning with art and with each other, establish friendships and discover the common cultural threads that connect us all, in the context of one of the greatest encyclopedic museums in the world.
DIA Director, Salvador Salort-Pons in Rivera Court
The creativity of American popular culture
This summer, we are celebrating the creativity of American popular culture with two fun and engaging exhibitions, Play Ball! Baseball at the DIA and Star Wars™ and the Power of Costume. The former brings sports and the arts together and features, like in ancient Greece, athletes and artists as talented individuals whose creative power provides fresh perspectives on the world in which we live. This free exhibition highlights the Tigers, their inspiring 1968 World Series victory, the rare Honus Wagner card, the amazing complete T206 White border set, and sports featured in DIA artwork expanding across centuries as well baseball themes brought to life by a remarkable contemporary artist.
Star Wars and the Power of Costume explores the work of costume designers. It dives into the creative processes, including sketches and drawings used to conceive the outfits that dress the characters in this film saga, an icon of American popular culture. Our exhibition team has produced a multimedia tour in which, among other things, our visitors will discover how some of the costumes in the show provide a window into traditional art forms from cultures around the world. Works of art, similar to the ones we see in the DIA permanent galleries, were sources of inspiration for the designers and connect the mythological world of the galaxies to masterpieces of African, American, Asian, and European art among others. We hope that our exhibition visitors, perhaps first time visitors to the DIA, will continue exploring our permanent galleries and make those connections between the Star Wars imagery and that of our extraordinary art collection --- one of best of in the world. We will also offer additional activities for those who are passionate about science fiction, and the Detroit Film Theatre will play sci-fi films for free for all our exhibition visitors including, of course, the residents of Oakland, Wayne and Macomb counties.
With these non-traditional exhibitions we are broadening our cultural offerings to appeal to new audiences who may not often (or ever) visit us. We would like as many new visitors as possible to see their interests reflected at the DIA, to feel represented and to discover with us that creativity lives in each individual. By exploring how the creative process impacts athletics and film, we are building a town square that makes connections between diverse groups, helping to create a unified understanding of each other through our popular culture. We hope that you will visit this summer and have a good time with us. But more importantly, we hope the DIA becomes a gathering place for everyone to find personal meaning with art and with each other, establish friendships and discover the common cultural threads that connect us all, in the context of one of the greatest encyclopedic museums in the world.
