Looking Ahead: Current and Upcoming Exhibitions at the Detroit Institute of Arts
Updated Feb 3, 2022
February 3, 2021 (DETROIT)—The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) looks to the future with a variety of exhibitions that celebrate the community, with a focus on diversity and reflection in the upcoming year.
Exhibitions are free with museum admission unless otherwise noted. Museum admission is always free for residents of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. Dates and titles are subject to change. All museum visitors must make an advance reservation by phone at 313.833.4005 or online at ticketapp.dia.org.
Hours:
Wednesday–Friday, 9 a.m.–4 p.m.; Saturday & Sunday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
General Admission:
Free for DIA members and residents of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties; Non tri-county residents, $14.00 adults, $6 ages 6–17, $9 seniors (ages 62+).
Membership:
To become a member or for information, call 313-833-7971.
Exhibitions currently on view
Detroit Style: Car Design in the Motor City, 1950–2020
Through June 27, 2021
Detroit designers have always led the way in car design. The futuristic concept cars, roaring muscle cars, and sleek racers designed in and around the city shape our ideas of what movement looks like. Working on paper, in clay, and with metal, their ideas drive American car culture and inform the way we get around every day.
This exhibition organized by the Detroit Institute of Arts highlights the artistry and influence of Detroit car designers working between 1950 and today. Inside the museum will be 12 coupes and sedans that feature significant achievements in style and technology. The cars include unique examples of experimental show cars created for display as well as iconic production models sold to the mass market. Design drawings will allow you to experience the creative and innovative processes that bring a vehicle from the drawing board to the street.
The cars, four from each of the Big Three American automakers, will share the galleries with a selection of modern and contemporary paintings and sculptures that highlight the conversation between the American art world and car culture.
Detroit Style: Car Design in the Motor City, 1950–2020 is organized by the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Major funding is generously provided by the Ford Motor Company Fund, General Motors, and Mrs. Jennifer Adderley in loving memory of her husband, Mr. Terence E. Adderley. Additional funding is provided by the Marvin and Betty Danto Family Foundation, FCA US LLC, The Suburban Collection, Jennifer & Ambassador David Fischer and Darcy & David Fischer, Jr., and Consolidated Rail Corporation on behalf of William Milliken.
Additional support is provided by Barbara and William U. Parfet, TCF National Bank, The Fisher & Company Family, and the Friends of African & African American Art.
Major funding for the exhibition catalogue is generously provided by the Margaret Dunning Foundation.
Russ Marshall: Detroit Photographs, 1958–2008
Through June 27, 2021
This exhibition presents more than 90 photographs by photographer Russ Marshall, whose black-and-white images highlight Detroit’s streets, architecture, music scene and factory workers. The photographs document six decades of blue-collar life, capturing the changing industrial and societal landscapes of the city over that time.
From 1975 through 2005, Marshall worked as a freelance photographer for local and national labor and trade magazines. During this time, he took some of his most compelling images, such as labor portraits and candid photos, shot alongside the assembly line workers in factories, shops and plants throughout Detroit, as well as at Dearborn’s Ford Rouge plant, General Motors plants in Flint, Mich., and in other areas of the Midwest.
Russ Marshall: Detroit Photographs, 1958–2008 is organized by the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Major Funding is generously provided by TCF Bank. Additional support is given by the Friends of Prints, Drawings & Photographs, Dr. Cynthia Chow and David B. Chow, Lindsey and Tom Buhl and Alessandro F. Uzielli.
Experience & Expression
Through October 3, 2021
The DIA presents 26 works from its permanent collection of contemporary art, including some new works that have not previously been on view. This artwork invites visitors to look closely, ask questions, and to connect with personal experiences.
Housing the art of many cultures, the DIA seeks to collect and present works by artists of diverse backgrounds and cultures, sharing the individuality and universality of experiences, ideas, and concerns around the world and at home.
Opening in 2021
Robert Blackburn & Modern American Printmaking
March 20–September 5, 2021
The Detroit Institute of Arts celebrates artist Robert Blackburn and the diverse creative community he fostered. Born of Jamaican immigrants and raised in Harlem, Blackburn was an innovative printmaker and influential teacher whose career began as a student in the 1930’s Harlem Renaissance and spanned six decades to the turn of the twentieth century. The printmaking workshop he established where artists of any level or background could learn and create together remains in operation to this day. See over 80 works by Blackburn and the artists with whom he collaborated, including Elizabeth Catlett, Grace Hartigan, Robert Rauschenberg, and Romare Bearden.
Robert Blackburn & Modern American Printmaking is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and curated by Deborah Cullen, in cooperation with the Trust for Robert Blackburn and The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts’ Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop Program. This exhibition is supported by a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation and funding from the Smithsonian’s Provost Office.
At the Detroit Institute of Arts, major funding is provided by the DTE Foundation. Additional support is given by Rhonda D. Welburn.
84th Annual Detroit Public Schools Community District Student Exhibition
April 24–May 30, 2021
The DIA will showcase hundreds of imaginative works created by Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) in a virtual format. Now in its 84th year, the partnership between the DPSCD and DIA is the longest continuous relationship DPSCD has with an organization.
Ofrendas: Celebrating el Día de Muertos
September 25–November 7, 2021
Each year, the DIA, in collaboration with the Mexican Consulate of Detroit, displays ofrenda altars, or offerings, created by community members in celebration of the holiday Día de Muertos.
Kwame Brathwaite: Black is Beautiful
October 8, 2021–January 16, 2022
The 13th Annual Community Group Art Exhibition
December 2, 2021–January 2, 2022
The New Black Vanguard: Photography Between Art and Fashion
December 17, 2021–April 17, 2022
Opening in 2022
By Her Hand: Artemisia Gentileschi and Women Artists in Italy, 1500–1800
February 6–May 29, 2022
85th Annual Detroit Public Schools Community District Student Exhibition
April 23–May 29, 2022
Ofrendas: Celebrating el Día de Muertos
September 24–November 6, 2022
Van Gogh in America
October 2, 2022–January 22, 2023
The 13th Annual Community Group Art Exhibition
December 2022–January 2023
###
The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), one of the premier art museums in the United States, is home to more than 60,000 works that comprise a multicultural survey of human creativity from ancient times through the 21st century. From the first Van Gogh painting to enter a U.S. museum (Self-Portrait, 1887), to Diego Rivera's world-renowned Detroit Industry murals (1932–33), the DIA’s collection is known for its quality, range and depth. The DIA’s mission is to create opportunities for all visitors to find personal meaning in art.
February 3, 2021 (DETROIT)—The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) looks to the future with a variety of exhibitions that celebrate the community, with a focus on diversity and reflection in the upcoming year.
Exhibitions are free with museum admission unless otherwise noted. Museum admission is always free for residents of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. Dates and titles are subject to change. All museum visitors must make an advance reservation by phone at 313.833.4005 or online at ticketapp.dia.org.
Hours:
Wednesday–Friday, 9 a.m.–4 p.m.; Saturday & Sunday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
General Admission:
Free for DIA members and residents of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties; Non tri-county residents, $14.00 adults, $6 ages 6–17, $9 seniors (ages 62+).
Membership:
To become a member or for information, call 313-833-7971.
Exhibitions currently on view
Detroit Style: Car Design in the Motor City, 1950–2020
Through June 27, 2021
Detroit designers have always led the way in car design. The futuristic concept cars, roaring muscle cars, and sleek racers designed in and around the city shape our ideas of what movement looks like. Working on paper, in clay, and with metal, their ideas drive American car culture and inform the way we get around every day.
This exhibition organized by the Detroit Institute of Arts highlights the artistry and influence of Detroit car designers working between 1950 and today. Inside the museum will be 12 coupes and sedans that feature significant achievements in style and technology. The cars include unique examples of experimental show cars created for display as well as iconic production models sold to the mass market. Design drawings will allow you to experience the creative and innovative processes that bring a vehicle from the drawing board to the street.
The cars, four from each of the Big Three American automakers, will share the galleries with a selection of modern and contemporary paintings and sculptures that highlight the conversation between the American art world and car culture.
Detroit Style: Car Design in the Motor City, 1950–2020 is organized by the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Major funding is generously provided by the Ford Motor Company Fund, General Motors, and Mrs. Jennifer Adderley in loving memory of her husband, Mr. Terence E. Adderley. Additional funding is provided by the Marvin and Betty Danto Family Foundation, FCA US LLC, The Suburban Collection, Jennifer & Ambassador David Fischer and Darcy & David Fischer, Jr., and Consolidated Rail Corporation on behalf of William Milliken.
Additional support is provided by Barbara and William U. Parfet, TCF National Bank, The Fisher & Company Family, and the Friends of African & African American Art.
Major funding for the exhibition catalogue is generously provided by the Margaret Dunning Foundation.
Russ Marshall: Detroit Photographs, 1958–2008
Through June 27, 2021
This exhibition presents more than 90 photographs by photographer Russ Marshall, whose black-and-white images highlight Detroit’s streets, architecture, music scene and factory workers. The photographs document six decades of blue-collar life, capturing the changing industrial and societal landscapes of the city over that time.
From 1975 through 2005, Marshall worked as a freelance photographer for local and national labor and trade magazines. During this time, he took some of his most compelling images, such as labor portraits and candid photos, shot alongside the assembly line workers in factories, shops and plants throughout Detroit, as well as at Dearborn’s Ford Rouge plant, General Motors plants in Flint, Mich., and in other areas of the Midwest.
Russ Marshall: Detroit Photographs, 1958–2008 is organized by the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Major Funding is generously provided by TCF Bank. Additional support is given by the Friends of Prints, Drawings & Photographs, Dr. Cynthia Chow and David B. Chow, Lindsey and Tom Buhl and Alessandro F. Uzielli.
Experience & Expression
Through October 3, 2021
The DIA presents 26 works from its permanent collection of contemporary art, including some new works that have not previously been on view. This artwork invites visitors to look closely, ask questions, and to connect with personal experiences.
Housing the art of many cultures, the DIA seeks to collect and present works by artists of diverse backgrounds and cultures, sharing the individuality and universality of experiences, ideas, and concerns around the world and at home.
Opening in 2021
Robert Blackburn & Modern American Printmaking
March 20–September 5, 2021
The Detroit Institute of Arts celebrates artist Robert Blackburn and the diverse creative community he fostered. Born of Jamaican immigrants and raised in Harlem, Blackburn was an innovative printmaker and influential teacher whose career began as a student in the 1930’s Harlem Renaissance and spanned six decades to the turn of the twentieth century. The printmaking workshop he established where artists of any level or background could learn and create together remains in operation to this day. See over 80 works by Blackburn and the artists with whom he collaborated, including Elizabeth Catlett, Grace Hartigan, Robert Rauschenberg, and Romare Bearden.
Robert Blackburn & Modern American Printmaking is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and curated by Deborah Cullen, in cooperation with the Trust for Robert Blackburn and The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts’ Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop Program. This exhibition is supported by a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation and funding from the Smithsonian’s Provost Office.
At the Detroit Institute of Arts, major funding is provided by the DTE Foundation. Additional support is given by Rhonda D. Welburn.
84th Annual Detroit Public Schools Community District Student Exhibition
April 24–May 30, 2021
The DIA will showcase hundreds of imaginative works created by Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) in a virtual format. Now in its 84th year, the partnership between the DPSCD and DIA is the longest continuous relationship DPSCD has with an organization.
Ofrendas: Celebrating el Día de Muertos
September 25–November 7, 2021
Each year, the DIA, in collaboration with the Mexican Consulate of Detroit, displays ofrenda altars, or offerings, created by community members in celebration of the holiday Día de Muertos.
Kwame Brathwaite: Black is Beautiful
October 8, 2021–January 16, 2022
The 13th Annual Community Group Art Exhibition
December 2, 2021–January 2, 2022
The New Black Vanguard: Photography Between Art and Fashion
December 17, 2021–April 17, 2022
Opening in 2022
By Her Hand: Artemisia Gentileschi and Women Artists in Italy, 1500–1800
February 6–May 29, 2022
85th Annual Detroit Public Schools Community District Student Exhibition
April 23–May 29, 2022
Ofrendas: Celebrating el Día de Muertos
September 24–November 6, 2022
Van Gogh in America
October 2, 2022–January 22, 2023
The 13th Annual Community Group Art Exhibition
December 2022–January 2023
###
The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), one of the premier art museums in the United States, is home to more than 60,000 works that comprise a multicultural survey of human creativity from ancient times through the 21st century. From the first Van Gogh painting to enter a U.S. museum (Self-Portrait, 1887), to Diego Rivera's world-renowned Detroit Industry murals (1932–33), the DIA’s collection is known for its quality, range and depth. The DIA’s mission is to create opportunities for all visitors to find personal meaning in art.