About the DIA
- The original museum, called the Detroit Museum of Art, was founded in 1885 and was located on Jefferson Avenue. The name was changed to the Detroit Institute of Arts in 1919, and in 1927 the museum moved to its current location on Woodward Avenue.
- Paul Philippe Cret designed the Woodward Avenue building in the Beaux Arts style. Cret wanted to recreate the aesthetics of European house museums, so each gallery was fashioned as the characteristic backdrop for the art displayed there.
- A south wing was added in 1966 and a north wing in 1971. Gunnar Birkerts designed the wings in a contrasting modernist style.
- The building measures 658,000 square feet and includes more than 100 galleries, a 1,150-seat auditorium, a 380-seat lecture hall, an art reference library, conservation services laboratory, two dining areas and a museum shop. There are more than 65,000 objects in the collection.
- Funding comes from donations, grants and a 10-year property tax levied in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties, which expires in 2022.
- The collection, building and grounds had been owned by the City of Detroit from 1919 to 2014, when they were transferred to the DIA.
- The DIA is run by a volunteer board of directors, which appoints and supervises the museum's director.