On the evening of Friday, July 28, a group of 30 people gathered to enjoy light refreshments and small talk before a docent of the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) started to talk about the artwork featured around the Downtown area. The docent, Linda Cadariu, started the evening by describing how the DIA came to be, naming off affluent families that would be familiar to most Michiganders: Dodge, Wilson, and Ford. These families visited Europe in the late 19^th century and bought art work to display in their homes, eventually realizing that these pieces could be enjoyable for other Detroiters and thus laid the foundation for the DIA to be founded.

There are seven pieces of art hanging on businesses and publically owned business. They range from pieces created in Iran to the Netherlands to the United States, being painted as early as 1579 to as recent as the last decade. In addition to a diverse showing of paintings that are hung up, there is also a tile mosaic.

All of these pieces give a different flavor. The piece by Joye Opoku Ofei displays the journey of African Americans and their history in this country. While this piece displays horrors of slavery, it also shows those who have become successful like Oprah Winfrey. On the other hand, the painting by Edwart Collyer gives a unique self-portrait that does not actually show a face, just the things he appreciated.

Our Downtown DIA Inside | Out Display will be up throughout the end of October for you and your family to come and enjoy.

Madison Kubinski, Downtown Event Specialist