The Detroit Institute of Arts

The Museum I chose to visit was the Detroit Institute of Arts in Detroit, Michigan. The DIA hours of operation is; Wednesday and Thursday 10 a.m.

– 5 p.m., Friday 10 a.m.

– 10 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

The day I visited the museum admission was free to the public, but regular admission is usually $8 for adults, $6 for seniors, $4 for youth (6-17) and $5 for college students (with valid school photo ID). Admission is free for children 5 and under, Detroit residents on Friday’s and for members of the DIA. Graham W.J.

Beal is the current director, president and C.E.O of the DIA, Beal has been the director since 1999.The DIA offers several different types of art which include; Native American, Egyptian, Ancient Middle East, African, Islamic, Asian, Contemporary, African American, Modern and promenade, Rivera Court, American, Great Hall, European: Medieval and Renaissance, Ancient Greek and Roman, European: inspired by Italy, European Decorative Arts, Fashionable Living, Era of Revolution, British, and Dutch Golden Age. They have so many different works of art on display, but there were a few that got me in learning more about the art and the artist that created it. There was a writing desk from 1690 made by a German named Anton Luchtenstein, and a Christian Imagery of Jesus and his mother Mary, created by Donatello.

The labels were very easy to read and understand.Everything that I seen in the museum was beautiful, but there was one work of art that caught my eye. It was a clock from 1767 made by the S`evres Manufactory of France and painted by Charles – Nicolas Dodin (1734-1803). The S`evres factory also known as the most important French Porcelain factory was founded in 1740 in the royal chateau of Vincennes.

Their commercial production began around 1745 when permission was granted by Louis XV, who was the king of France from September 1, 1715 until his death May 10, 1974. The clock that S`evres invented is made of Gilt Bronze, soft Porcelain plaques, Enameled Metal and Glass Brilliants. The clocks that were made by the French in 1767 were made with two sets of numbers, a set of Roman numerals for the hour and a set of regular numbers for the minutes. I believe the iconography set for the clock symbolizes the ancient Roman times.At the time of my visit the Detroit Institute of Arts had several different Exhibitions and Events.

They were offering; The Detroit Revealed, Once upon a time, Detroit revealed on film, Sunday Music bar, family performace by Joe Reilly, Paper Marbling, Drawing in the galleries and the Big Picture Guided Tour. Some of the Exhibitions and Events that will take place in the future are The fifth annual Detroit public schools student Exhibition, Patti Smith: Camera Solo and Five Spanish masterpieces. I also took a short visit to the DIA shop just to check out the items they have to offer, and just as expected they have a variety of things; they offer jewelry, arichival prints, custom archival paint, Wall art, children items hand bags and wallets, paper goods, personal accessories, and t-shirts. The prices in the DIA shop were very reasonable especially for the quality of the items.The DIA offers a few different ammenities, they have three different types of memberships the first is just for members that as a price range of $65-110, Supporting members, $180-$1000, and Associate members $2,000 - $10,000.

They have the DIA Café and they also offer Studio Classes for all ages. I noticed that the building didn’t have a lot of handicapp accessible doors usually there is a button you can push so that the handicapp doesn’t have to struggle with they door, but I didn’t noticed them any where. I do think that it would be easy for a disabled person to get in there because they have easy access into the building from the first floor, if they can’t walk a long distance they can valet their cars and they have huge elevators that can take you from floor to floor.Since this was my first time ever visiting the museum, I talked to one of the employees and explained my paper that I had to write, and she was very helpful, she told me where I should start at, and where to work my way to.

Without her help I would have been lost. In my opinion, this museum is designed for kids 8 and up because there is a lot of delicate items in this building that are not supposed to be touched and I know the first thing my 5 year old twins would want to do is run around and touch things.With out here help I would have been lost. The museum is easily accessible from all major freeways even though the DIA is closer to the John C. Lodge, you can still take the other major freeways to access the Lodge freeway. They don’t have a parking lot, but I still think they offer conveniant parking options because they have valet parking and your able to park within walking distance of the DIA for a maximum of $2 and that $2 gives you a minimum of two hours to park.