Create your own pencil drawing to take home while exploring the collection up close. No experience necessary, and all supplies are provided. Open to ages 6 and up (children 12 and under must be accompanied by an adult). Space is limited.

Create your own pencil drawing to take home while exploring the collection up close. No experience necessary, and all supplies are provided. Open to ages 6 and up (children 12 and under must be accompanied by an adult). Space is limited.

Create your own pencil drawing to take home while exploring the collection up close. No experience necessary, and all supplies are provided. Open to ages 6 and up (children 12 and under must be accompanied by an adult). Space is limited.

Create your own pencil drawing to take home while exploring the collection up close. No experience necessary, and all supplies are provided. Open to ages 6 and up (children 12 and under must be accompanied by an adult). Space is limited.

Create your own pencil drawing to take home while exploring the collection up close in our third-floor galleries, including visitor favorite The Nightmare by Henry Fuseli!

No experience necessary, and all supplies are provided. Open to ages 6 and up (children 12 and under must be accompanied by an adult). Space is limited.

Making its North American debut at the Detroit Institute of Arts, Rebetiko is a poignant and visually stunning puppet performance by Marseille-based Anima Theatre. Directed by Yiorgos Karakantzas and written by Panayotis Evangelidis, the piece draws on the Greek urban folk music of the 1920s—rebetiko—as a sonic thread through a contemporary odyssey of exile, displacement, and resilience. Merging handcrafted puppetry, live and recorded music, and haunting video projections, Rebetiko creates a dreamlike landscape where memory and migration intertwine.

Originally conceived as a meditation on forced relocation and state violence, the performance is both timely and timeless. Through deceptively simple gestures and richly layered imagery, Rebetiko offers a rare kind of catharsis—one that honors loss while affirming our shared humanity. (60 min.)

Recommended for ages 8+

The Friday, October 25 performance will be followed by a public conversation on migration—both global and national—featuring leading scholars, advocates, and legal experts. Moderated by Professor Anya Sirota, the talk-back will reflect on the performance’s themes and the urgent realities of displacement and border politics today.

Brought to Michigan through the University of Michigan’s Arts Initiative, and with support from Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, this performance exemplifies the power of international cultural exchange and interdisciplinary collaboration.

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.

Gain a deeper appreciation for 18th-century American furniture as members of the Society of American Period Furniture Makers (SAPFM) demonstrate traditional hand-powered construction techniques—no electricity required!—and showcase beautifully finished works. SAPFM is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating both its members and the public about period furniture, including its history, design, and traditional craftsmanship.

Guests can also enjoy a guided tour of the DIA’s 18th-century furniture collection. IPVs (Interpretive Program Volunteers) will be available from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for tours. Meet at the east Manoogian Wing entrance in the Great Hall.

This program is free with museum admission and takes place in the DIA’s Great Hall.

Have fun creating a colorful, expressive mask using feathers, ribbons, collage paper, paint markers, and more!

The DIA and Next Chapter Books are thrilled to host author Angeline Boulley for a live reading and signing during her Fall 2025 book release tour of Sisters in the Wind. Partners include South Eastern Michigan Indians, Inc. (SEMII), the North American Indian Association of Detroit (NAIA), and American Indian Health & Family Services (AIHFS). Taking place on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, this highly anticipated event will offer guests of Contemporary Anishinaabe Art: A Continuation a once-in-a-lifetime community experience.

Angeline Boulley, an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, is a storyteller who writes about her Ojibwe community in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. She is a former Director of the Office of Indian Education at the U.S. Department of Education. Her debut novel Firekeeper's Daughter was an instant #1 New York Times bestseller and the recipient of numerous international accolades, including the ALA Printz and Morris Awards, the YA Goodreads Choice Award, and the Walter Award for Outstanding Children's Literature. Angeline lives in southwest Michigan, but her home will always be on Sugar Island.