Live jazz, R&B and classical music among May activities for all at Detroit Institute of Arts Activities from diverse cultures include Asian circus performers, art of Mexican paper cutting
Updated Feb 27, 2017
February 27, 2017 (Detroit)—May activities at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) reflect and celebrate a diversity of world cultures. Live music ranges from jazz and R&B to classical and electronic, and activities include a performance of Asian circus arts, a talk on the meaning of Nigerian symbols and the art of Mexican paper cutting.
Programs are free with museum admission and free for residents of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties unless otherwise noted. For more information, call (313) 833-7900 or visit www.dia.org.
Exhibitions:
Detroit Public Schools Student Exhibition on view through May 28
General Guided Tours: Tuesdays–Thursdays, 1 p.m.; Fridays, 1 & 6 p.m.
Enjoy a guided tour of select galleries for an overview of the collection.
General and Family Guided Tours: Saturdays & Sundays, 1 & 3 p.m.
Enjoy a guided tour of select galleries or enjoy family and kid-friendly tours.
55+ Thursdays: 1 p.m.
The first Thursday of the month features a guided gallery tour; the second a talk; the third an art-making activity; and the fourth a film. In months with a fifth Thursday, a second gallery tour will be offered.
Detroit City Chess Club: Fridays, 4–8 p.m.
The club’s mission is to teach area students the game and life lessons. Members have won state, regional and national competitions. People wanting to learn to play chess should show up between 4 and 6 p.m. There will be no teaching between 6 and 8 p.m., but visitors can play chess.
Drawing in the Galleries (for all ages): Fridays, 6–9 p.m.; Sundays, Noon–4 p.m.
Drop-In Workshops (for all ages)
Hours: Fridays, 6–9 p.m., Saturdays & Sundays, Noon–4 p.m.
Papel Picado: Friday–Sunday, May 5–7
Have fun as you try this Mexican art of cutting paper.
Container Rattles: Friday–Sunday, May 12–14
Small containers and boxes morph into percussion instruments when dried beans, rice, feathers and papers are added.
Art Pins: Friday–Sunday, May 19–21
Create one-of-a-kind wearable art pins using a variety of traditional and nontraditional jewelry-making materials.
Paper Flowers: Friday–Sunday, May 26–28
Take a stroll through the galleries and find paintings and other objects with floral themes. Then come to the studio to make your own paper versions of the flowers that inspire you.
Friday, May 5
Friday Night Live: The Lysander Piano Trio: 7 & 8:30 p.m.
The award-winning Lysander Piano Trio performs music from their 2014 debut recording, “After a Dream,” featuring music by Ravel, Haydn, Schubert, Joaquin Turina and Moshe Zorman. The recording was acclaimed for its “polished and spirited interpretations” by The New York Times.
Sunday, May 7
Sunday Music Bar: Pam Wise: 1–4 p.m.
Detroit pianist Pamela Wise’s music blends Afro-Cuban rhythms, R&B and jazz, inspired by the music of her African ancestors.
Friday, May 12
Friday Night Live: Sasha Masakowski: 7 & 8:30 p.m.
Sasha Masakowski’s genre-bending style draws elements from jazz, electronic and rock music. Her approach to music is playful, charismatic and spontaneous and has earned her a reputation as a daring, fearless improviser and charming interpreter of music.
Saturday, May 13
Arts + Minds: “The Jazz Age: Paris and Its Influence on Art Deco Design of the 1920s and ’30s”: 2 p.m.
Jazz and the Art Deco style profoundly changed American taste following the tour of 400 objects from a Paris exhibition to eight American museums, including the DIA, in 1926. Sarah Coffin, head curator of the Product Design and Decorative Arts Department at the Cooper Hewitt, the Smithsonian Design Museum in New York, discusses the influence of European designs on American patronage and museum collections.
Sunday, May 14
Sunday Music Bar: Leslie DeShazor Adams: 1 & 3 p.m.
Classically trained violist Leslie DeShazor Adams has appeared as a soloist with the Toledo Symphony. She regularly performs with the Ann Arbor, Saginaw, Flint and Sphinx Symphony Orchestras, as well as jazz ensembles, including Leigh Daniels Ensemble and the Detroit-based Musique Noire.
Detroit Institute of Awesome: Formosa Circus Art: 2 p.m.
The National Association of Asian American Professionals—Detroit Chapter and the DIA’s auxiliary group Friends of Asian Arts and Culture present Formosa Circus Art. This lively circus includes acrobatics, street dancing, juggling, drumming, martial arts and extreme endurance acts. After the performance, the artists invite the audience to participate in a circus-art workshop.
Friday, May 19
Friday Night Live: PUBLIQuartet: 7 & 8:30 p.m.
PUBLIQuartet brings innovative approaches to contemporary classical, jazz and world chamber music in a tribute program marking Thelonious Monk’s centennial.
Saturday, May 20
Detroit Institute of Awesome: Bread and Puppet Theater: TBA
Working on a shoestring budget, Bread and Puppet Theater combines puppetry and experimental theater to create elaborate story lines about our current world.
Sunday, May 21
Sunday Music Bar: Britney Stoney: 1 & 3 p.m.
Britney Stoney is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer and playwright born and raised in Detroit. Her sound is a mixture of neo-soul, alternative, R&B and folk.
Detroit Institute of Awesome: Bread and Puppet Theater: TBA
See May 20 for description.
Arts + Minds: From the Village to the Academy: Experiments with Uli Art in Eastern Nigeria: 2 p.m.
The African Uli graphic symbols painted on Igbo women’s bodies and decorating walls of houses and compounds in Eastern Nigeria have provided inspirational for artists. The visual repertoire of these symbols offered a rich vein for artistic experimentation among the mostly male artists in Nsukka, Nigeria. Artist Adenaike shares the Uli story and his work from the vantage point of an insider.
February 27, 2017 (Detroit)—May activities at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) reflect and celebrate a diversity of world cultures. Live music ranges from jazz and R&B to classical and electronic, and activities include a performance of Asian circus arts, a talk on the meaning of Nigerian symbols and the art of Mexican paper cutting.
Programs are free with museum admission and free for residents of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties unless otherwise noted. For more information, call (313) 833-7900 or visit www.dia.org.
Exhibitions:
Detroit Public Schools Student Exhibition on view through May 28
General Guided Tours: Tuesdays–Thursdays, 1 p.m.; Fridays, 1 & 6 p.m.
Enjoy a guided tour of select galleries for an overview of the collection.
General and Family Guided Tours: Saturdays & Sundays, 1 & 3 p.m.
Enjoy a guided tour of select galleries or enjoy family and kid-friendly tours.
55+ Thursdays: 1 p.m.
The first Thursday of the month features a guided gallery tour; the second a talk; the third an art-making activity; and the fourth a film. In months with a fifth Thursday, a second gallery tour will be offered.
Detroit City Chess Club: Fridays, 4–8 p.m.
The club’s mission is to teach area students the game and life lessons. Members have won state, regional and national competitions. People wanting to learn to play chess should show up between 4 and 6 p.m. There will be no teaching between 6 and 8 p.m., but visitors can play chess.
Drawing in the Galleries (for all ages): Fridays, 6–9 p.m.; Sundays, Noon–4 p.m.
Drop-In Workshops (for all ages)
Hours: Fridays, 6–9 p.m., Saturdays & Sundays, Noon–4 p.m.
Papel Picado: Friday–Sunday, May 5–7
Have fun as you try this Mexican art of cutting paper.
Container Rattles: Friday–Sunday, May 12–14
Small containers and boxes morph into percussion instruments when dried beans, rice, feathers and papers are added.
Art Pins: Friday–Sunday, May 19–21
Create one-of-a-kind wearable art pins using a variety of traditional and nontraditional jewelry-making materials.
Paper Flowers: Friday–Sunday, May 26–28
Take a stroll through the galleries and find paintings and other objects with floral themes. Then come to the studio to make your own paper versions of the flowers that inspire you.
Friday, May 5
Friday Night Live: The Lysander Piano Trio: 7 & 8:30 p.m.
The award-winning Lysander Piano Trio performs music from their 2014 debut recording, “After a Dream,” featuring music by Ravel, Haydn, Schubert, Joaquin Turina and Moshe Zorman. The recording was acclaimed for its “polished and spirited interpretations” by The New York Times.
Sunday, May 7
Sunday Music Bar: Pam Wise: 1–4 p.m.
Detroit pianist Pamela Wise’s music blends Afro-Cuban rhythms, R&B and jazz, inspired by the music of her African ancestors.
Friday, May 12
Friday Night Live: Sasha Masakowski: 7 & 8:30 p.m.
Sasha Masakowski’s genre-bending style draws elements from jazz, electronic and rock music. Her approach to music is playful, charismatic and spontaneous and has earned her a reputation as a daring, fearless improviser and charming interpreter of music.
Saturday, May 13
Arts + Minds: “The Jazz Age: Paris and Its Influence on Art Deco Design of the 1920s and ’30s”: 2 p.m.
Jazz and the Art Deco style profoundly changed American taste following the tour of 400 objects from a Paris exhibition to eight American museums, including the DIA, in 1926. Sarah Coffin, head curator of the Product Design and Decorative Arts Department at the Cooper Hewitt, the Smithsonian Design Museum in New York, discusses the influence of European designs on American patronage and museum collections.
Sunday, May 14
Sunday Music Bar: Leslie DeShazor Adams: 1 & 3 p.m.
Classically trained violist Leslie DeShazor Adams has appeared as a soloist with the Toledo Symphony. She regularly performs with the Ann Arbor, Saginaw, Flint and Sphinx Symphony Orchestras, as well as jazz ensembles, including Leigh Daniels Ensemble and the Detroit-based Musique Noire.
Detroit Institute of Awesome: Formosa Circus Art: 2 p.m.
The National Association of Asian American Professionals—Detroit Chapter and the DIA’s auxiliary group Friends of Asian Arts and Culture present Formosa Circus Art. This lively circus includes acrobatics, street dancing, juggling, drumming, martial arts and extreme endurance acts. After the performance, the artists invite the audience to participate in a circus-art workshop.
Friday, May 19
Friday Night Live: PUBLIQuartet: 7 & 8:30 p.m.
PUBLIQuartet brings innovative approaches to contemporary classical, jazz and world chamber music in a tribute program marking Thelonious Monk’s centennial.
Saturday, May 20
Detroit Institute of Awesome: Bread and Puppet Theater: TBA
Working on a shoestring budget, Bread and Puppet Theater combines puppetry and experimental theater to create elaborate story lines about our current world.
Sunday, May 21
Sunday Music Bar: Britney Stoney: 1 & 3 p.m.
Britney Stoney is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer and playwright born and raised in Detroit. Her sound is a mixture of neo-soul, alternative, R&B and folk.
Detroit Institute of Awesome: Bread and Puppet Theater: TBA
See May 20 for description.
Arts + Minds: From the Village to the Academy: Experiments with Uli Art in Eastern Nigeria: 2 p.m.
The African Uli graphic symbols painted on Igbo women’s bodies and decorating walls of houses and compounds in Eastern Nigeria have provided inspirational for artists. The visual repertoire of these symbols offered a rich vein for artistic experimentation among the mostly male artists in Nsukka, Nigeria. Artist Adenaike shares the Uli story and his work from the vantage point of an insider.