Join fine artist / muralist Phillip Simpson on the DIA lawn to work on a collaborative large-scale canvas mural project! Visitors can enjoy the sights and sounds of Concert of Colors and have a chance to make a mini piece of art based on Simpson's work.

Draw your own design or find an image from a magazine to create your very own wearable piece of art on a 2-inch pin-back button! No experience necessary. All supplies provided.

Join DanceAbility, Detroit's movement and sound improvisations, at the DIA. The event will start the Great Hall, where we'll introduce ourselves through moving (and pausing) in all our different ways, dancing with live musicians.

The program will travel at a pace that works for all, improvising with the art around us and the public who may join us. We'll end the day at a sculpture outside the museum, weather permitting. Wear shades of blue, since we are the water and the boat flowing through...

DanceAbility at the DIA is a program of Detroit Disability Power, funded in part by the Michigan Arts & Culture Council.

Image Description: Dancers of different races, ages and genders are aboard an imaginary sailboat with green sails and a red mast flag under three museum arches. Waves ripple past one dancer joyfully extending his arms from his wheelchair, another standing with her arms outstretched, and two more making shapes with their arms and legs.

Create a pencil drawing to take home while taking a closer look at the work in the DIA's new installation, Tiff Massey: 7 Mile + Livernois. No experience necessary. All supplies provided. For ages 6 and up (children ages 12 and younger should be accompanied by an adult).

image: Tiff Massey, (American, b. 1982). Everyday Arsenal, 2018. Steel. Collection of the artist.

Use felt, ribbon, and a tongue depressor to turn a butterfly, snake, spider, fish, or a creature of your imagination into a whimsical marionette. No experience necessary. All supplies provided.

This event was previously scheduled to take place on the South Lawn but has been moved to the Native American galleries due to weather.

Special outdoors event! Create a pencil drawing to take home while enjoying the sculptures, fountains, and gardens of the beautiful DIA grounds.

No experience necessary. All supplies provided. For ages 6 and up (children ages 12 and younger should be accompanied by an adult).

Create a pencil drawing to take home while taking a closer look at the collection. No experience necessary. All supplies provided. For ages 6 and up (children ages 12 and younger should be accompanied by an adult).

Create a pencil drawing to take home while taking a closer look at the collection. No experience necessary. All supplies provided. For ages 6 and up (children ages 12 and younger should be accompanied by an adult).

Mike Monford is a dynamic jazz musician, saxophonist, composer, jazz historian, and executive producer based in Detroit. He has dedicated over 30 years to practicing, performing, and experimenting with the universal language of Jazz.

Monford has spent the last 10 years touring the world performing with Les Nubians and Marc Cary’s Harlem Sessions. In February 2022, he played at Carnegie Hall with the Autophysiopsychic Millennium, a music collective that studies the music methodology of the late Dr. Yusef Abdul Lateef.

It can be hard to make friends—especially if you have tentacles. Journey to Antarctica as a curious squid seeks connection in the most unlikely places. Penguins, orcas, and jellyfish abound in an icy landscape for this heartwarming tale of friendship.

Beautifully handcrafted puppets, an original score by Ned Haskins, and a good dose of silliness, combine to create a comedic, wordless performance that celebrates our ability to create connections, despite our differences. (45min.)

Designed for kids ages 5 to 10, but fun for all ages! Capacity is limited. Seating begins 30 minutes prior to performance.

This program is supported through the generous support of the Dr. Audley M. Grossman and Paul McPharlin Puppetry Funds.