Experience the highlights of the Detroit Institute of Arts on a free, guided tour with American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation. 

Explore some of the museum’s most beloved works of art while learning about the stories, history, and artists behind them. 

Tours meet in the Great Hall at 1 p.m. and last approximately 45 to 60 minutes. 

Find inspiration in the galleries, then create your own sculpture using colorful wire. Make a portrait, an animal, or a unique creation of your own to hang on the wall or display in a window. You can even create something to wear!

Made from a repurposed painting rack, Library For Now is a mobile art and climate exploration station in Detroit—a space to learn, share, sit, draw, talk about your favorite animal, grieve, rest, hope, and envision a regenerative future together. With books, art supplies, and activity prompts, participants are invited to engage in a medium of their choosing, whether for a moment or an entire afternoon. Library For Now will be stationed outside the DIA on the North lawn.

Ellen Rutt is a painter, quilter, and interdisciplinary artist living and working in Detroit. Through her work as an artist and facilitator, she creates objects and experiences that highlight abundant local knowledge and resources.

1993 / USA – directed by David Mickey Evans

DIA Member Exclusive! Join us for a fun summer evening at the museum with a screening of the classic film The Sandlot. Before the movie begins, enjoy dinner with your family and take part in activities for all ages. Capture the moment with family photo ops, enjoy balloon animals, play bean bag toss, and more!

In the summer of 1962, a new kid in town is welcomed by a ragtag team of baseball-obsessed kids, spending their days at the diamond and hitting home runs over the mean neighbor’s fence. This beloved sports comedy offers a nostalgic look at childhood adventures and the bonds of friendship.

Dinner service begins at 5:45 p.m. Please check back soon for menu options.

Screening begins at 7 p.m.

Tickets must be purchased online in advance. No tickets will be sold at the door. For DIA members only.

The DIA’s Sensory-Friendly Saturdays offer a welcoming, inclusive art-making experience for neurodivergent children, teens, adults, and their families and friends. Each session features a thoughtfully designed project in a comfortable, supportive environment.

Join us from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in the DIA Artmaking Studio. Registration is required, and all materials are provided. Open to all ages; children under 16 must be accompanied by a guardian.

This session’s project: Drawing with Scissors

Using just paper and a pair of scissors, create your own experimental collage focused on layering shapes and combining vivid colors, inspired by Henri Matisse’s Jazz series. Adaptable scissors and pre-cut shapes will be available for those who may need them.

Kid Flicks: Pride is a celebration of self-expression, community, legacy, and love. Curated specifically for ages 9 and up by the New York International Children’s Film Festival, these shorts from around the world showcase a wide range of LGBTQ+ identities and experiences in equally diverse styles. From schoolyard matchmakers to a Belgian teen and a group of Indigenous Hawaiian māhū, these stories highlight the power of embracing who you are. Presented in English or with English subtitles. (65 min.)

This program is free with museum admission.

Weekend Family Programs at the DIA are generously presented by the MSUFCU Desk Drawer Foundation.

See "The Rooster's Crow" Automaton Clock come to life in the DIA's European Medieval & Renaissance galleries during its once-monthly day of operation!

Throughout the day, visitors can see this rare 16th-century clock's mechanical rooster flap its wings and open its beak every fifteen minutes, and witness the figures of seven princes parade around an enthroned emperor as the clock strikes each hour.

Winding the clock for one day each month is vital to maintaining its fully functional condition. This important conservation work offers a unique opportunity to see a work of Renaissance art and technology in motion.

“The Rooster’s Crow” Automaton Clock, present-day Germany (Augsburg or Nuremberg), ca. 1585, gilt copper, brass, engraved silver, steel with partial bluing. Museum purchase, Ernest Rosemarie Kanzler Foundation Fund, DIA. No. 2023.601.

The Detroit Puppet Company reimagines Shazia Omar and Sophie Cousinié’s children's book Sun Moon Secret as a delightful shadow puppet show. Light and shadow weave together with rhythmic storytelling about sibling love, self-discovery, and the power of unleashing your inner strength.

Twin sisters Surya and Chandra live in Shanti, a beautiful village by the Bay of Bengal. The sisters love to sing, but every time they do, something strange happens. Surya's tunes create heat, while Chandra's melodies bring cold! The villagers begin to fear them, so the girls keep their powers a secret. But one summer, disaster strikes—the rain clouds disappear, leaving Shanti dry and barren. As the villagers pray for a miracle, Surya and Chandra decide they must help. Can the sisters discover the true purpose of their powers and save their home?

After the performance, families can create their own shadow puppets and learn basic techniques to tell their own stories! This program is for families of all ages.

Weekend Family Programs at the DIA are generously presented by the MSUFCU Desk Drawer Foundation.

Join Ngoc Minh Ngo (author and photographer) and Ivan Shaw (Corporate Photography Director at Condé Nast) for a conversation about her career and lifelong engagement with flowers and gardens. Ngo’s work has appeared in The World of Interiors, T Magazine, Vogue, and Architectural Digest, and she is the author of three books: Bringing Nature Home, In Bloom: Creating and Living with Flowers, and Eden Revisited: A Garden in Northern Morocco, each featuring her own photography.

Ngo will also discuss her latest publication, Roses in the Garden. The inspiration for this series and book came from her father, a former colonel in the Vietnamese army and avid gardener who settled with their family in California in the 1970s. In his final days, Ngo tended his garden in hopes he would see his roses bloom one last time. After his passing, she returned to Brooklyn, New York, where she lives, volunteered at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and began photographing rose cuttings. What started as a personal meditation grew into a series exploring the rose’s cultural and historical significance, culminating in a book celebrating the iconic flower and the renowned gardens where it thrives.

Image: Ngoc Minh Ngo, Ninfa Garden, Italy, 2022. Courtesy of the artist. (c) Ngoc Minh Ngo, 2025.