Jan. 5, 2021 (DETROIT)—This week the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) says farewell to Jean-Antoine Houdon’s terracotta sculptures of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington from the Musée du Louvre. This loan was part of the DIA’s Guest of Honor program that borrows works from other museums to present alongside the current collection. The works have been displayed in the DIA’s American gallery alongside Franklin and Washington’s portraits since Oct. 2019 and will close Sunday, Jan. 10. This Sunday is also the last day to see the virtual Community Group Exhibition show.

Other programs this week include a new film streamed through DFT @ Home, a video featuring four Detroit car designers talking about their art and preferred tools, a Thursday senior program, and more.

Here are this week’s new events:

Exhibition Video
Panel Discussion: A Conversation with Car Designers
In honor of the exhibition Detroit Style: Car Design in the Motor City, 1950-2020, four car designers sat down to discuss their favorite art materials to use when designing a new vehicle. Featuring designers Ed Welburn, Craig Metros, Ralph Gilles and Emeline King.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsILCjLmRBc&feature=youtu.be

Community Partnership
CLOSING SOON! 12th Annual Community Group Show Exhibition
The DIA’s 12th Annual Community Group Show, being held virtually for the first time, ends Sunday. This year’s show features work from seven organizations and 100 artists presented in a video along with discussions from the participants and program coordinators about the work.

www.dia.org/art/exhibitions/12th-annual-community-group-art-exhibition

Thursdays at the Museum
Thursday, Jan. 7 | 1 p.m.
Community Group Art Show Highlights & Mindfulness Demonstration with Art Therapist Karianne Spens-Hanna
This week DIA studio instructors will share highlights from the 12th Annual Community Group Art exhibition, featuring works of art created through a partnership between the museum, and seven human service agencies in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. Art therapist and Mariners Inn art program coordinator Karianne Spens-Hanna will then lead participants through an art-based mindfulness exercise.

www.dia.org/events/tatm-presents-art-demonstration

Field Trip from Home
Education Resources: The United States’ Core Democratic Values
This is the last week to see the DIA’s Guests of Honor from the Musée du Louvre. Created by a renowned sculptor of the Enlightenment, Jean-Antoine Houdon, these terracotta busts depict two of America’s founders, Benjamin Franklin and George Washington. In the education resource created for this special exhibition, students will use the Core Democratic Values (CDV) and the Houdon exhibition materials to explore the ways in which ideals promoted by the founding generation connect to the present.

www.dia.org/education/resources/core-democratic-values-past-and-present

DFT @ Home
Ikarie XB-1
New this week is Ikarie XB -1. This internationally known avant-garde film has been mangled and re-edited throughout the years and presented with the title Voyage to the End of the Universe. The DIA’s film theatre presents the official 4K restoration as a sci-fi landmark that finds terror, wonder and hope in the unknown reaches of the galaxy.

The Detroit Film Theatre is generously supported by Buddy's Pizza and the tri-county millage investment.

www.dia.org/events/dft-home-ikarie-xb-1

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The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), one of the premier art museums in the United States, is home to more than 60,000 works that comprise a multicultural survey of human creativity from ancient times through the 21st century. From the first Van Gogh painting to enter a U.S. museum (Self-Portrait, 1887), to Diego Rivera's world-renowned Detroit Industry murals (1932–33), the DIA’s collection is known for its quality, range and depth. The DIA’s mission is to create opportunities for all visitors to find personal meaning in art.