Detroit Highlights V - Detroit Institute of Arts

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

The Detroit Institute of Arts is one of the premiere art museums in the country.  We are very lucky to have this gem here in Detroit, and I love sharing it with out-of-town guests. 

Their collection is very diverse and amazing in it's depth.  Their featured collections are:

Africa, Oceania and the Indigenous Americas:

The Department oversees four separate collection segments: the arts of Africa, Egypt, the South Pacific and the Indigenous Americas. Reflecting current scholarship and geography, Egyptian art is now a sub-section of this department.

American Art:

The Department of American Art covers a broad range of artistic endeavors spanning the early Colonial period through World War II. The holdings include paintings, sculptures, furniture, decorative arts and architecture.

The Arts of Asia and the Islamic World:

The collections of the Department of the Arts of Asia and the Islamic World comprise thousands of works of art produced in Asia and Middle East, from antiquity through present, as well as from North Africa and Islamic Spain.

European Art:

With a broad range of paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts from across Europe, the collection includes works spanning nearly all historical periods from Ancient Greece and Rome up to 1950.

Prints, Drawings, and Photographs:

With approximately 35,000 prints, drawings, photographs, watercolors, posters and artists books, the collection stretches from the present day back to the 1500's and includes a diverse assortment of media.

General Motors Center for African American Art:

Established in 2000, the GM Center for African American Art represents one of the first curatorial departments dedicated solely to African American art at any major art museum.

The James Pearson Duffy Department of Contemporary Art:

This collection, which spans the period from the mid-20th century to the present day, has a particularly strong emphasis on post-World War II American art, including fine examples of Abstract Expressionist painting, Minimalism, and Pop Art.

Performing Arts:

International in scope, the DIA Performing Arts Collection contains more than 10,000 original film and theater photographs, posters and ephemera from the 1890s to the present.

My favorites are the Italian Art wing, with some amazing Italian Renaissance and Baroque artworks, the extensive Armor collection in the Great Hall and the stunning Diego Rivera murals in Rivera Court.  Also of note is their great Impressionist art, featuring works by Degas, Gauguin, and Van Gogh, and their fantastic Egyptian collection. 

The museum is located at:

5200 Woodward Avenue

Detroit, Michigan 48202

Main Line: 313.833.7900

It is about 20 - 30 minutes drive from our hotel, in the Cultural Center near Downtown Detroit. 

Admission is as follows:

Adults $8

Seniors $6

Youth (6 – 17) $4

College Students (with valid school photo ID) $5

Children 5 and under Free

The museum hours are as follows:

Sunday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Monday Closed

Tuesday Closed

Wednesday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Thursday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Friday 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.

Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

If you get the chance to enjoy this gem of Detroit while you are here, please do.  It is really worth it! 



Love is the law, love under will.