Detroit, MI – December 8, 2025 – The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) is proud to announce the 17th Annual Community Group Art Exhibition, featuring artwork made throughout the year by participants in the DIA’s Community Group Program. Members of nine Tri-County community groups participated in this year’s exhibition, creating over 100 artworks to be displayed. The 17th Annual Community Group Art Exhibition opens on Friday, December 12, 2025, and will be on view through Sunday, January 11, 2026.  

In this past year, DIA studio instructors worked with partners from the Tri-County Community Group Program at the DIA artmaking studio and locations throughout the Tri-County area. Projects included assemblage, individual paintings and group murals, photo collage, self-portraits, printmaking, clay masks and tiles, multi-media baskets, wood sculpture, and more. These projects will be on view in the Learning Center at the DIA, adjacent to the DIA's Artmaking Studio, where most of the work was made. 

“The DIA is always proud to showcase the amazing work created by our Tri-County partners in this exhibition,” says Natalie Barmore, Director of Studio Programs at the DIA. “The Community Group Art Exhibition is a great example of the DIA's mission of helping visitors and our community find personal meaning in art, individually and with each other, and we’re honored to be able to bring this exhibition to life for another year.” 

The DIA’s Community Group Program has partnered with human services agencies in the Detroit area for over 25 years, providing meaningful experiences through art with gallery tours and artmaking, allowing a safe, nurturing space for participants’ creative expression and socialization. The annual Community Group Art Exhibition offers a unique opportunity for group members to share their artistic work with museum visitors. 

“For our Clubhouse members, art is more than expression; it’s a step toward healing,” says Ghinwah Karkaba, Supervisor at ACCESS Hope House. “This exhibition celebrates their courage and their progress in mental health recovery, while highlighting the incredible strength found when a diverse community creates together.” 

This year’s participating groups are: 

• ACCESS Hope House 
• CARE of Southeastern Michigan  
• Detroit Recovery Project 
• Hannan Center 
• The John D. Dingell VA Medical Center 
• Macomb County Community Mental Health 
• Mariners Inn 
• OLHSA (Oakland Livingston Human Service Agency's Grandparents Raising Grandchildren program) 
• Soul Center (a division of Friendship Circle)  

“As the Hannan Center celebrates its 100th anniversary, it is partnerships like this that have helped us to survive and thrive,” says Richard Reeves Jr., Director of Arts and Culture at Hannan Center. “Our seniors eagerly look forward to the creativity, the engagement and the sense of community that they receive by participating.” 

For more information on the 17th Annual Community Group Art Exhibition, visit www.dia.org/17CommunityGroup  

The 17th Annual Community Group Art Exhibition is organized by the Detroit Institute of Arts and is and is supported by the Toni A. Wisne Foundation.