Armor as Fashion Educator Workshop

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Thursday, Oct 30, 2025
4:30 – 6:30 p.m.

Register
Free with registration

*Registration is free for educators in Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb Counties or to those with a DIA Educator Pass.

Location:

In the Museum

5200 Woodward Ave
Detroit, MI 48202
United States

sign language icon American Sign Language (ASL) Available

Participants in this workshop will explore everything the DIA offers teachers and students, including field trips, workshops, and learning resources. DIA curator Dr. Chassica Kirchhoff will lead a guided conversation highlighting armor in the galleries, including the special presentation Guests of Honor: Armor as Fashion. This presentation features the loaned portrait Jean de Croÿ, 2nd Count of Solre by Juan van der Hamen y León (1596–1631), shown alongside three pieces of the gilded armor worn by Croÿ in the painting. The portrait and the armor it depicts are reunited for the first time in over two centuries.

Following the gallery talk, participants will join the panel discussion Becoming & Dissolving: Conversations Across Media & Time with Israel Aten. This conversation will feature internationally recognized Detroit-based artist Israel Aten with Dr. Chassica Kirchhoff, Assistant Curator of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, and Katie Pfohl, Associate Curator of Contemporary Art. Through the lens of Aten’s multimedia body of work—exploring identity, memory, and technology—the artist and DIA curators will examine unexpected intersections between contemporary art and the armor and portraiture featured in Guests of Honor: Armor as Fashion.

The panel portion of this event is sponsored by the Visiting Committee for European Sculpture and Decorative Arts and will include live American Sign Language interpretation.

Two SCECHs are pending approval. All educators are welcome.

Educator workshop

Participants in this workshop will explore everything the DIA offers teachers and students, including field trips, workshops, and learning resources. DIA curator Dr. Chassica Kirchhoff will lead a guided conversation highlighting armor in the galleries, including the special presentation Guests of Honor: Armor as Fashion. This presentation features the loaned portrait Jean de Croÿ, 2nd Count of Solre by Juan van der Hamen y León (1596–1631), shown alongside three pieces of the gilded armor worn by Croÿ in the painting. The portrait and the armor it depicts are reunited for the first time in over two centuries.

Following the gallery talk, participants will join the panel discussion Becoming & Dissolving: Conversations Across Media & Time with Israel Aten. This conversation will feature internationally recognized Detroit-based artist Israel Aten with Dr. Chassica Kirchhoff, Assistant Curator of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, and Katie Pfohl, Associate Curator of Contemporary Art. Through the lens of Aten’s multimedia body of work—exploring identity, memory, and technology—the artist and DIA curators will examine unexpected intersections between contemporary art and the armor and portraiture featured in Guests of Honor: Armor as Fashion.

The panel portion of this event is sponsored by the Visiting Committee for European Sculpture and Decorative Arts and will include live American Sign Language interpretation.

Two SCECHs are pending approval. All educators are welcome.