Lots to do in December at Detroit Institute of Arts | Special family holiday programs, “Tea Time Theatre” among the highlights
Updated Sep 28, 2018
September 28, 2018 (Detroit)—The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) offers a variety of programs both in the museum and out in the community.
Wayne, Oakland and Macomb county residents get free general admission.
The DIA thanks its sponsors for the following programs: Friday Night Live! is supported by the DTE Energy Foundation; the Detroit Film Theatre is generously supported by Buddy's Pizza.
Special Holiday Hours:
Wednesday, Dec. 26 10 a.m.–7 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 27 10 a.m.–7 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 28 10 a.m.–10 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 29 10 a.m.–7 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 30 10 a.m.–7 p.m.
IN THE MUSEUM
Exhibitions
“Lost & Found: Photographs from the DIA’s Collection” through March 3, 2019
“Ruben and Isabel Toledo: Labor of Love” opens Dec. 16
Ongoing
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 a family and kid-friendly tour.
Thursdays at the Museum, 1 p.m.
Special programs, including light refreshments, for adults 55+, featuring tours, talks, movies and artmaking. The DIA offers free transportation for groups of 25 or more from Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. To book a visit, call 313-833-1292. Support for Thursdays at the Museum is provided by the tri-county millage.
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.; Saturdays & Sundays, Noon–4 p.m.
Drop-In Artmaking (for all ages):
Fridays 6–9 p.m.; Saturdays, Noon–4 p.m.; Sundays, Noon–4 p.m.
Special holiday drop-ins:
Fridays, Dec. 21 and 28, Noon–9 p.m.
Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, Dec. 26, 27 and 29, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 30, 11 a.m.–4 pm.
46th Annual Noel Night 11 a.m.–5 p.m., Cultural Center; 5–11 p.m., Midtown District
Noel Night is a Cultural Center-wide holiday open house that presents free activities including: horse-drawn carriage rides, holiday shopping, family craft activities and performances by over 200 area music, theatre, and dance groups, and other special performances. Free and open to the public. Noel Night is produced by Midtown Detroit, Inc., a nonprofit community development organization that supports economic growth in Detroit's Midtown district. Call 313-420-6000 for additional information.
Detroit Film Theatre: Third Coast Percussion: “Paddle to the Sea” 2 p.m.
The classic children’s book and Academy Award-nominated film “Paddle to the Sea” looks at our relationship to the bodies of water that connect our lives. Third Coast Percussion composed a new score to be performed live with the film, which tells the story of a Native Canadian boy who carves a wooden figure called Paddle-to-the-Sea and sets him on a journey through all five Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence River and finally to the Atlantic Ocean.
Sunday, December 2
Talk: Charles Lang Freer and His Adventures in Chinese Art Collecting 2 p.m.
Charles Lang Freer was a pioneering Detroit collector of Chinese art, and his collection laid the foundation of the world-class Chinese holdings at the Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery of Art. Daisy Yiyou Wang, the Robert N. Shapiro Curator of Chinese and East Asian Art at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass., shares her new research on Freer’s collecting strategies and the international art market conditions in the early 20th century. Wang will also recount stories of Freer as a savvy collector, a fearless adventurer and a visionary philanthropist.
This event is co-sponsored by the DIA's Friends of Asian Arts and Cultures and the Freer House.
Thursday, December 6
Thursdays at the Museum: Highlights of the Permanent Collection Tour 1 p.m.
Friday, December 7
Friday Night Live!: Dark Horse Consort 7 & 8:30 p.m.
This early music ensemble performs late renaissance and early baroque music for brass instruments. Inspired by the bronze horse statues in Venice’s famed St. Mark’s Basilica, they recreate the sounds of composers such as Giovanni Gabrieli, Claudio Monteverdi and Heinrich Schütz.
Saturday, December 8
Stories and Dances of the Ho-Chuck Nation 2 p.m.
Reg Pettibone, a champion dancer from the Ho-Chunk Nation, and members of his family provide an understanding of true Native American culture through dance, song, narration and a display of artifacts with a strong environmental emphasis.
Sunday, December 9
Stories and Dances of the Ho-Chuck Nation 2 p.m.
(see Dec. 8 for description)
Thursday, December 13
Thursdays at the Museum: Art Talk: New Asian Galleries with Katherine Kasdorf, DIA assistant curator, Arts of Asia & the Islamic World 1 p.m.
Friday Night Live! Kannapolis: A Moving Portrait 7 p.m.
Composer, singer and violinist Jenny Scheinman and musicians Robbie Fulks and Robbie Gjersoe created a live soundtrack of folksongs, fiddle music and field sounds to accompany the film “Kannapolis, 1941” by filmmaker H. Lee Waters. Waters’ fascinating footage of Kannapolis, North Carolina is a reflection on the evolution of mill towns and a striking commentary on race, class, and the American experience.
Saturday, December 15
Detroit Film Theatre: “No Date, No Signature” 7 and 9:30 p.m.
A seemingly minor traffic collision has far-reaching consequences in this tale of a well-meaning medical examiner haunted by a death that he believes he could have prevented. As details unfold, the movie becomes more complex, revealing itself as a study in ethical nuance, as well as a psychological drama of morality and class dynamics in modern Iran. In Farsi with English subtitles. Tickets: $9.50 general admission; $7.50 seniors, students and DIA members.
Sunday, December 16
Detroit Film Theatre: “No Date, No Signature” 2 and 4:30 p.m.
(see Dec. 15 for description)
Thursday, December 20
Thursdays at the Museum: Artmaking: Luminaries
Friday, December 21
Detroit Film Theatre: Ingmar Berman at 100 Double Feature: “Wild Strawberries” and “The Virgin Spring” 7 p.m.
“Wild Strawberries” is about a professor’s voyage of self-discovery when he has to come to terms with his faults and make peace with his approaching death. “The Virgin Spring” is Bergman’s first Academy Award® winner and is allegory of faith, crime and revenge in medieval Sweden’s teetering between paganism and Christianity. Tickets: $9.50 general admission; $7.50 seniors, students and DIA members.
Friday Night Live! Balance 7 & 8:30 pm
Saxophonist Marcus Elliot and pianist Michael Malis perform their new compositions.
Family Program: Shake Shake Shake: Make Your Own Shaker Egg Noon-4 p.m.
Detroit-based musician and teacher Lauren Glapa, invites visitors to assemble and decorate shaker eggs. Glapa then will facilitate dancing to music and participating in games using the newly made creations.
Detroit Film Theatre: Ingmar Berman at 100: “The Magic Flute” 3 and 7 p.m.
Ingmar Bergman’s screen version of Mozart’s opera casts some of Europe’s finest soloists and recreates the colorful theater of the Drottningholm Palace in Stockholm. “The Magic Flute” tells the story of Prince Tamino and his sidekick, Papageno, who are determined to save a princess from the clutches of evil. Tickets: $9.50 general admission; $7.50 seniors, students and DIA members.
Sunday, December 23
Family Program: Shake Shake Shake: Make Your Own Shaker Egg Noon-4 p.m.
(see Dec. 22 for description)
Detroit Film Theatre: Bergman at 100: “Fanny and Alexander” 2 p.m.
As children in the Ekdahl family, a sprawling bourgeois clan in turn-of-the-20th-century Sweden, Fanny and Alexander enjoy a happy life with their parents, who run a theater company. After their father dies unexpectedly, they end up in a joyless home when their mother marries a stern bishop. The situation grows worse as the bishop becomes more controlling, but dedicated relatives make a valiant attempt to aid Fanny, Alexander and their mother. Bergman described “Fanny and Alexander” as “the sum total of my life as a filmmaker.” Tickets: $9.50 general admission; $7.50 seniors, students and DIA members.
Wednesday, December 26
Detroit Film Theatre: Tea Time Theatre: “My Neighbor Totoro” 2 p.m.
To celebrate the holidays, the DFT Animation Club hosts elegantly silly afternoon teas in the Crystal Gallery Café. Guests will be treated to light entertainment, a choice of party hats, complimentary “tea” and a variety of desserts and beverages available for purchase. Tea service begins at 1 p.m., followed by a showing of an animated feature movie at 2 p.m.
“My Neighbor Totoro” is a tale of two girls, Satsuki and Mei, who move with their father to a new house in the countryside and discover a family of Totoros, gentle but powerful forest spirits seen only by children, living in the surrounding forest. The movie is filled with fantastic creatures that children love and leaves the viewer with a sense of wonder at the beauty and preciousness of the world around us.
Detroit Film Theatre: “Cielo” 4:30 p.m.
“Cielo” is a reverie on the beauty of the night sky in the Atacama Desert in Chile, one of the best places to explore and contemplate its splendor. Astronomers in the Atacama's observatories and the desert dwellers who work the land and sea share their visions of the stars and planets, their mythic stories and existential queries with openness and a sense of wonder. In Spanish, English and French with English subtitles. Tickets: $9.50 general admission; $7.50 seniors, students and DIA members.
Detroit Film Theatre: British Arrows 7 p.m.
The marvelously creative “adverts” of British TV continue to dazzle and delight; they’re annually recognized with the prestigious British Arrows awards (formerly the British Television Advertising Awards), and the winners are assembled into a feature-length program that’s become a cult favorite in cinemas worldwide. Tickets: $9.50 general admission; $7.50 seniors, students and DIA members.
Thursday, December 27
Detroit Film Theatre: Tea Time Theatre: “Ernest and Celestine” 2 p.m.
To celebrate the holidays, the DFT Animation Club hosts elegantly silly afternoon teas in the Crystal Gallery Café. Guests will be treated to light entertainment, a choice of party hats, complimentary “tea” and a variety of desserts and beverages available for purchase. Tea service begins at 1 p.m., followed by a showing of an animated feature movie at 2 p.m.
Based on the classic Belgian book series by Gabrielle Vincent, “Ernest and Celestine” tells of an unlikely friendship between two society outcasts—Celestine, an artist and dreamer with no interest in her fellow mice’s rules and occupations, and Ernest, a troubadour living on the fringes of his bear society.
Detroit Film Theatre: “Cielo” 4:30 p.m.
(see Dec. 26 for description)
Detroit Film Theatre: British Arrows 7 p.m.
(see Dec. 26 for description)
Friday, December 28
Detroit Film Theatre: Tea Time Theatre: “The Princess and the Frog” 2 p.m.
To celebrate the holidays, the DFT Animation Club hosts elegantly silly afternoon teas in the Crystal Gallery Café. Guests will be treated to light entertainment, a choice of party hats, complimentary “tea” and a variety of desserts and beverages available for purchase. Tea service begins at 1 p.m., followed by a showing of an animated feature movie at 2 p.m.
Disney’s modern twist on a classic fairy tale is set in New Orleans in the 1920s. Tiana, a hard-working, determined girl, meets a frog prince who desperately wants to be human again. Transformed into a frog by a voodoo magician, Tiana follows suit after kissing the amphibian royalty. This fateful kiss leads them on an adventure through the bayous of Louisiana that helps these new friends come to realize what's truly important in life.
Detroit Film Theatre: “Cielo” 4:30 p.m.
(see Dec. 26 for description)
Detroit Film Theatre: British Arrows 7 p.m.
(see Dec. 26 for description)
Friday Night Live! Dinah Washington tribute featuring Joan Belgrave 7 & 8:30 p.m.
Dinah Washington skirted the boundaries of blues, jazz and popular music, becoming the most popular black female recording artist of the 1950s. Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performed and recorded in a wide variety of styles including blues, R&B, and traditional pop music. Joan Belgrave is joined by Detroit Jazz all-stars for this tribute to the "Queen of the Blues."
Saturday, December 29
Puppet Performance: The Rainbow Bridge and Other Stories 2 p.m.
Hobey Ford’s unique style combines shadow puppetry and storytelling to retell three folktales. The Rainbow Bridge recalls the origins of the Chumash, a Native American tribe who inhabited the southern coastal regions of California. We learn how the little coqui frog got its song in the Puerto Rican tale El Coqui and Ford puts an ecological twist on the Nordic tale Three Billy Goats Gruff.
December 30, 2018, Lecture Hall, 2p.m.
Detroit Film Theatre: “Cielo” 4:30 p.m.
(see Dec. 26 for description)
Detroit Film Theatre: British Arrows 7 p.m.
(see Dec. 26 for description)
Sunday, Dec. 30
Puppet Performance: The Rainbow Bridge and Other Stories 2 p.m.
(see Dec. 29 for description)
Detroit Film Theatre: Bergman at 100: “Fanny and Alexander” 2 p.m.
(see Dec. 23 for description)
Detroit Film Theatre: “Cielo” 4:30 p.m.
(see Dec. 26 for description)
Detroit Film Theatre: British Arrows 7 p.m.
(see Dec. 26 for description)
IN THE COMMUNITY
DIA Away
DIA Away is a fully furnished, vibrantly designed, 53' double-expandable trailer. Inside, families and visitors of all ages will discover some of the ways artists think, then have the opportunity to try out creative thinking skills at digital and hands-on stations. Visitors will be surprised and inspired to discover the connections between themselves and the ways artists think and work.
December 1, 2, 8 and 9
DIA Away: Holly Dickens Festival, 199-167 Martha St, Holly, MI 48442
Dec. 1 and 8, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.
Dec. 2 and 9, Noon–5 p.m.
December 14
DIA Away: Belle Isle Holiday Stroll, Belle Isle Aquarium, 3 Inselruhe Ave., Detroit
4–8 p.m.
Museum Hours and Admission
9 a.m.–4 p.m. Tuesdays–Thursdays, 9 a.m.–10 p.m. Fridays, and 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. General admission (excludes ticketed exhibitions) is free for Wayne, Oakland and Macomb county residents and DIA members. For all others, $14 for adults, $9 for seniors ages 62+, $8 for students, $6 for ages 6–17. For membership information, call 313-833-7971.
September 28, 2018 (Detroit)—The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) offers a variety of programs both in the museum and out in the community.
Wayne, Oakland and Macomb county residents get free general admission.
The DIA thanks its sponsors for the following programs: Friday Night Live! is supported by the DTE Energy Foundation; the Detroit Film Theatre is generously supported by Buddy's Pizza.
Special Holiday Hours:
Wednesday, Dec. 26 10 a.m.–7 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 27 10 a.m.–7 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 28 10 a.m.–10 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 29 10 a.m.–7 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 30 10 a.m.–7 p.m.
IN THE MUSEUM
Exhibitions
“Lost & Found: Photographs from the DIA’s Collection” through March 3, 2019
“Ruben and Isabel Toledo: Labor of Love” opens Dec. 16
Ongoing
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 a family and kid-friendly tour.
Thursdays at the Museum, 1 p.m.
Special programs, including light refreshments, for adults 55+, featuring tours, talks, movies and artmaking. The DIA offers free transportation for groups of 25 or more from Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. To book a visit, call 313-833-1292. Support for Thursdays at the Museum is provided by the tri-county millage.
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.; Saturdays & Sundays, Noon–4 p.m.
Drop-In Artmaking (for all ages):
Fridays 6–9 p.m.; Saturdays, Noon–4 p.m.; Sundays, Noon–4 p.m.
Special holiday drop-ins:
Fridays, Dec. 21 and 28, Noon–9 p.m.
Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, Dec. 26, 27 and 29, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 30, 11 a.m.–4 pm.
46th Annual Noel Night 11 a.m.–5 p.m., Cultural Center; 5–11 p.m., Midtown District
Noel Night is a Cultural Center-wide holiday open house that presents free activities including: horse-drawn carriage rides, holiday shopping, family craft activities and performances by over 200 area music, theatre, and dance groups, and other special performances. Free and open to the public. Noel Night is produced by Midtown Detroit, Inc., a nonprofit community development organization that supports economic growth in Detroit's Midtown district. Call 313-420-6000 for additional information.
Detroit Film Theatre: Third Coast Percussion: “Paddle to the Sea” 2 p.m.
The classic children’s book and Academy Award-nominated film “Paddle to the Sea” looks at our relationship to the bodies of water that connect our lives. Third Coast Percussion composed a new score to be performed live with the film, which tells the story of a Native Canadian boy who carves a wooden figure called Paddle-to-the-Sea and sets him on a journey through all five Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence River and finally to the Atlantic Ocean.
Sunday, December 2
Talk: Charles Lang Freer and His Adventures in Chinese Art Collecting 2 p.m.
Charles Lang Freer was a pioneering Detroit collector of Chinese art, and his collection laid the foundation of the world-class Chinese holdings at the Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery of Art. Daisy Yiyou Wang, the Robert N. Shapiro Curator of Chinese and East Asian Art at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass., shares her new research on Freer’s collecting strategies and the international art market conditions in the early 20th century. Wang will also recount stories of Freer as a savvy collector, a fearless adventurer and a visionary philanthropist.
This event is co-sponsored by the DIA's Friends of Asian Arts and Cultures and the Freer House.
Thursday, December 6
Thursdays at the Museum: Highlights of the Permanent Collection Tour 1 p.m.
Friday, December 7
Friday Night Live!: Dark Horse Consort 7 & 8:30 p.m.
This early music ensemble performs late renaissance and early baroque music for brass instruments. Inspired by the bronze horse statues in Venice’s famed St. Mark’s Basilica, they recreate the sounds of composers such as Giovanni Gabrieli, Claudio Monteverdi and Heinrich Schütz.
Saturday, December 8
Stories and Dances of the Ho-Chuck Nation 2 p.m.
Reg Pettibone, a champion dancer from the Ho-Chunk Nation, and members of his family provide an understanding of true Native American culture through dance, song, narration and a display of artifacts with a strong environmental emphasis.
Sunday, December 9
Stories and Dances of the Ho-Chuck Nation 2 p.m.
(see Dec. 8 for description)
Thursday, December 13
Thursdays at the Museum: Art Talk: New Asian Galleries with Katherine Kasdorf, DIA assistant curator, Arts of Asia & the Islamic World 1 p.m.
Friday Night Live! Kannapolis: A Moving Portrait 7 p.m.
Composer, singer and violinist Jenny Scheinman and musicians Robbie Fulks and Robbie Gjersoe created a live soundtrack of folksongs, fiddle music and field sounds to accompany the film “Kannapolis, 1941” by filmmaker H. Lee Waters. Waters’ fascinating footage of Kannapolis, North Carolina is a reflection on the evolution of mill towns and a striking commentary on race, class, and the American experience.
Saturday, December 15
Detroit Film Theatre: “No Date, No Signature” 7 and 9:30 p.m.
A seemingly minor traffic collision has far-reaching consequences in this tale of a well-meaning medical examiner haunted by a death that he believes he could have prevented. As details unfold, the movie becomes more complex, revealing itself as a study in ethical nuance, as well as a psychological drama of morality and class dynamics in modern Iran. In Farsi with English subtitles. Tickets: $9.50 general admission; $7.50 seniors, students and DIA members.
Sunday, December 16
Detroit Film Theatre: “No Date, No Signature” 2 and 4:30 p.m.
(see Dec. 15 for description)
Thursday, December 20
Thursdays at the Museum: Artmaking: Luminaries
Friday, December 21
Detroit Film Theatre: Ingmar Berman at 100 Double Feature: “Wild Strawberries” and “The Virgin Spring” 7 p.m.
“Wild Strawberries” is about a professor’s voyage of self-discovery when he has to come to terms with his faults and make peace with his approaching death. “The Virgin Spring” is Bergman’s first Academy Award® winner and is allegory of faith, crime and revenge in medieval Sweden’s teetering between paganism and Christianity. Tickets: $9.50 general admission; $7.50 seniors, students and DIA members.
Friday Night Live! Balance 7 & 8:30 pm
Saxophonist Marcus Elliot and pianist Michael Malis perform their new compositions.
Family Program: Shake Shake Shake: Make Your Own Shaker Egg Noon-4 p.m.
Detroit-based musician and teacher Lauren Glapa, invites visitors to assemble and decorate shaker eggs. Glapa then will facilitate dancing to music and participating in games using the newly made creations.
Detroit Film Theatre: Ingmar Berman at 100: “The Magic Flute” 3 and 7 p.m.
Ingmar Bergman’s screen version of Mozart’s opera casts some of Europe’s finest soloists and recreates the colorful theater of the Drottningholm Palace in Stockholm. “The Magic Flute” tells the story of Prince Tamino and his sidekick, Papageno, who are determined to save a princess from the clutches of evil. Tickets: $9.50 general admission; $7.50 seniors, students and DIA members.
Sunday, December 23
Family Program: Shake Shake Shake: Make Your Own Shaker Egg Noon-4 p.m.
(see Dec. 22 for description)
Detroit Film Theatre: Bergman at 100: “Fanny and Alexander” 2 p.m.
As children in the Ekdahl family, a sprawling bourgeois clan in turn-of-the-20th-century Sweden, Fanny and Alexander enjoy a happy life with their parents, who run a theater company. After their father dies unexpectedly, they end up in a joyless home when their mother marries a stern bishop. The situation grows worse as the bishop becomes more controlling, but dedicated relatives make a valiant attempt to aid Fanny, Alexander and their mother. Bergman described “Fanny and Alexander” as “the sum total of my life as a filmmaker.” Tickets: $9.50 general admission; $7.50 seniors, students and DIA members.
Wednesday, December 26
Detroit Film Theatre: Tea Time Theatre: “My Neighbor Totoro” 2 p.m.
To celebrate the holidays, the DFT Animation Club hosts elegantly silly afternoon teas in the Crystal Gallery Café. Guests will be treated to light entertainment, a choice of party hats, complimentary “tea” and a variety of desserts and beverages available for purchase. Tea service begins at 1 p.m., followed by a showing of an animated feature movie at 2 p.m.
“My Neighbor Totoro” is a tale of two girls, Satsuki and Mei, who move with their father to a new house in the countryside and discover a family of Totoros, gentle but powerful forest spirits seen only by children, living in the surrounding forest. The movie is filled with fantastic creatures that children love and leaves the viewer with a sense of wonder at the beauty and preciousness of the world around us.
Detroit Film Theatre: “Cielo” 4:30 p.m.
“Cielo” is a reverie on the beauty of the night sky in the Atacama Desert in Chile, one of the best places to explore and contemplate its splendor. Astronomers in the Atacama's observatories and the desert dwellers who work the land and sea share their visions of the stars and planets, their mythic stories and existential queries with openness and a sense of wonder. In Spanish, English and French with English subtitles. Tickets: $9.50 general admission; $7.50 seniors, students and DIA members.
Detroit Film Theatre: British Arrows 7 p.m.
The marvelously creative “adverts” of British TV continue to dazzle and delight; they’re annually recognized with the prestigious British Arrows awards (formerly the British Television Advertising Awards), and the winners are assembled into a feature-length program that’s become a cult favorite in cinemas worldwide. Tickets: $9.50 general admission; $7.50 seniors, students and DIA members.
Thursday, December 27
Detroit Film Theatre: Tea Time Theatre: “Ernest and Celestine” 2 p.m.
To celebrate the holidays, the DFT Animation Club hosts elegantly silly afternoon teas in the Crystal Gallery Café. Guests will be treated to light entertainment, a choice of party hats, complimentary “tea” and a variety of desserts and beverages available for purchase. Tea service begins at 1 p.m., followed by a showing of an animated feature movie at 2 p.m.
Based on the classic Belgian book series by Gabrielle Vincent, “Ernest and Celestine” tells of an unlikely friendship between two society outcasts—Celestine, an artist and dreamer with no interest in her fellow mice’s rules and occupations, and Ernest, a troubadour living on the fringes of his bear society.
Detroit Film Theatre: “Cielo” 4:30 p.m.
(see Dec. 26 for description)
Detroit Film Theatre: British Arrows 7 p.m.
(see Dec. 26 for description)
Friday, December 28
Detroit Film Theatre: Tea Time Theatre: “The Princess and the Frog” 2 p.m.
To celebrate the holidays, the DFT Animation Club hosts elegantly silly afternoon teas in the Crystal Gallery Café. Guests will be treated to light entertainment, a choice of party hats, complimentary “tea” and a variety of desserts and beverages available for purchase. Tea service begins at 1 p.m., followed by a showing of an animated feature movie at 2 p.m.
Disney’s modern twist on a classic fairy tale is set in New Orleans in the 1920s. Tiana, a hard-working, determined girl, meets a frog prince who desperately wants to be human again. Transformed into a frog by a voodoo magician, Tiana follows suit after kissing the amphibian royalty. This fateful kiss leads them on an adventure through the bayous of Louisiana that helps these new friends come to realize what's truly important in life.
Detroit Film Theatre: “Cielo” 4:30 p.m.
(see Dec. 26 for description)
Detroit Film Theatre: British Arrows 7 p.m.
(see Dec. 26 for description)
Friday Night Live! Dinah Washington tribute featuring Joan Belgrave 7 & 8:30 p.m.
Dinah Washington skirted the boundaries of blues, jazz and popular music, becoming the most popular black female recording artist of the 1950s. Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performed and recorded in a wide variety of styles including blues, R&B, and traditional pop music. Joan Belgrave is joined by Detroit Jazz all-stars for this tribute to the "Queen of the Blues."
Saturday, December 29
Puppet Performance: The Rainbow Bridge and Other Stories 2 p.m.
Hobey Ford’s unique style combines shadow puppetry and storytelling to retell three folktales. The Rainbow Bridge recalls the origins of the Chumash, a Native American tribe who inhabited the southern coastal regions of California. We learn how the little coqui frog got its song in the Puerto Rican tale El Coqui and Ford puts an ecological twist on the Nordic tale Three Billy Goats Gruff.
December 30, 2018, Lecture Hall, 2p.m.
Detroit Film Theatre: “Cielo” 4:30 p.m.
(see Dec. 26 for description)
Detroit Film Theatre: British Arrows 7 p.m.
(see Dec. 26 for description)
Sunday, Dec. 30
Puppet Performance: The Rainbow Bridge and Other Stories 2 p.m.
(see Dec. 29 for description)
Detroit Film Theatre: Bergman at 100: “Fanny and Alexander” 2 p.m.
(see Dec. 23 for description)
Detroit Film Theatre: “Cielo” 4:30 p.m.
(see Dec. 26 for description)
Detroit Film Theatre: British Arrows 7 p.m.
(see Dec. 26 for description)
IN THE COMMUNITY
DIA Away
DIA Away is a fully furnished, vibrantly designed, 53' double-expandable trailer. Inside, families and visitors of all ages will discover some of the ways artists think, then have the opportunity to try out creative thinking skills at digital and hands-on stations. Visitors will be surprised and inspired to discover the connections between themselves and the ways artists think and work.
December 1, 2, 8 and 9
DIA Away: Holly Dickens Festival, 199-167 Martha St, Holly, MI 48442
Dec. 1 and 8, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.
Dec. 2 and 9, Noon–5 p.m.
December 14
DIA Away: Belle Isle Holiday Stroll, Belle Isle Aquarium, 3 Inselruhe Ave., Detroit
4–8 p.m.
Museum Hours and Admission
9 a.m.–4 p.m. Tuesdays–Thursdays, 9 a.m.–10 p.m. Fridays, and 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. General admission (excludes ticketed exhibitions) is free for Wayne, Oakland and Macomb county residents and DIA members. For all others, $14 for adults, $9 for seniors ages 62+, $8 for students, $6 for ages 6–17. For membership information, call 313-833-7971.