Join master calligrapher Haji Noor Deen Mi Guangjiang 米广江 (b.1963) for a lecture, demonstration, and mini-workshop exploring the artistic convergence of Arabic and Chinese calligraphic traditions.

This session begins with a brief lecture, followed by hands-on art-making. Participants can join at any time, but capacity is limited. A selection of Haji Noor Deen’s works will also be on display.

Haji Noor Deen is the first Chinese person to have received certification, or ijaza, in the Thuluth and Naskh Arabic calligraphic scripts of the Ottoman tradition, after extensive training with renowned Turkish calligrapher Hasan Çelebi. He has gone on to develop his own unique style, known as Ṣīnī (literally, “Chinese” in Arabic) which incorporates both Chinese and Arabic calligraphic elements to elaborate a Chinese Islamic calligraphic form for the Arabic script.

Program made possible in part by PNC Foundation and Deen Arts Foundation

Create a pencil drawing to take home while exploring the collection. No experience is necessary, and all supplies are provided. For ages 6 and up (children 16 and under must be accompanied by an adult). Capacity is limited.

This workshop will explore hip-hop's method of production, the remix, by translating it into visual expression through the creation of stylized, vibrant portraits using unconventional mediums and techniques.

Detroit native Jonathan Kimble (b. 1997), a BFA graduate from the College for Creative Studies (2020), is a fine artist, art collector, muralist, and mentor. His work captures the chaotic yet harmonious complexities of the human soul. Kimble's style is characterized by expressive shapes and mark-making through mixed media. He has exhibited at notable galleries in the metro Detroit area, including MOCAD (Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit), Detroit Historical Museum, Liberal Arts Gallery, and the Baltimore Gallery, and has been featured in multiple local art showcases and auctions.

This program is made possible by the PNC Foundation

Signal-Return will host a pop-up in Prentis Court, offering visitors a chance to learn about the letterpress printmaking process and create their own print, designed by the Artists and Printers of Signal-Return.

Signal-Return is a Detroit nonprofit dedicated to preserving and teaching traditional letterpress printing while fostering a community hub for art, craft, design, and collaboration.

This program is made possible by the PNC Foundation

All educators are welcome to join us for the March is Reading Month Educator Workshop! During the workshop, participants will learn about everything the DIA offers teachers and students, learn about using art to enhance literacy skills, experience field trips highlighting narrative structure and writing engagements, and tour the historic main branch of the Detroit Public Library. 

Participants will also learn about relevant resources offered by the Detroit Public Library and take away classroom activities to use with their students.

4.5 State Continuing Education Clock Hours are pending approval.

Rev. Robert Jones, Sr. is a true renaissance man. He has been a professional musician for over forty years. More than 35 years ago, the legendary bluesman Willie Dixon encouraged him to bring his music into schools. In recognition of his efforts, The National Blues Foundation named him a leading blues educator in 2007.

In addition to his music career, Rev. Jones has served as a pastor for over 20 years and has been a nationally recognized storyteller for more than fifteen years. These experiences have allowed him to work in diverse ways, using his speaking and musical talents to educate, entertain, and inspire. At the heart of his message is the belief that our cultural diversity tells a story that should be celebrated.

The Michigan Philharmonic’s Miniature Masterpieces is an annual collaboration with the Detroit Institute of Arts. This year’s program highlights the expressive beauty of the viola with guest composer and performer Stuart Ross Carlson. The concert also features enchanting works by Claude Debussy and Sergei Prokofiev, as well as a Romantic-era gem by Emilie Mayer, arranged by conductor Nan Washburn.

A selection of Hair Wars stylists will demonstrate some of their innovative hair creations in a drop-in style demonstration. Throughout the day, these stylists will work with various models to create works of art from hair. With videos and images from past Hair Wars shows, this demo offers a fun experience into this unique, Detroit-born entertainment.

Twenty-five-year-old Isaiah Collier is a musical virtuoso in the truest sense of the phrase. He began playing the saxophone at age 11, and his intuitive proficiency earned him attention early on. Since then, his band, Isaiah Collier and The Chosen Few, has been turning heads. The New York Times featured him in their Fall Arts Preview in September 2024, and he was also included in DownBeat Magazine’s "25 for the Future" in their 90th Anniversary issue in July 2024. He is the winner of the Rising Star Award in DownBeat Magazine’s critics poll for Tenor Saxophone (2023) and Soprano Saxophone (2024).

As far as he where he plans to take his music, Collier says, “I reach backwards, and forwards simultaneously when creating art and what is ahead of me is the past.”

This tribute performance honors Detroit jazz legend and drummer Roy Brooks (1938–2004), a key figure in the vibrant Detroit jazz scene. Throughout his career, Brooks performed and recorded with jazz luminaries such as Horace Silver, Yusef Lateef, Max Roach, M’Boom, Charles Mingus, and Woody Shaw. He was known for his innovative use of unusual instruments in his performances, including a musical saw and the "breath-a-tone," a drum with vacuum tubes attached to regulate pitch.

In 1972, he formed the Artistic Truth, which featured artists like Sonny Fortune, Eddie Jefferson, and Hamite Blunt. He also created the Aboriginal Percussion Choir, an ensemble focused on combining non-Western percussion instruments with more conventional ones. This performance will feature the music of Roy Brooks, played by musicians who worked with him, as well as a blend of younger-generation musicians who were influenced by his groundbreaking work.