Residents may soon experience a healthy dose of culture as they walk the streets of downtown Ann Arbor this spring. This past Saturday, a public reception was held at the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum to kick off Ann Arbor’s participation in the Detroit Institute of Arts Inside|Out program, which temporarily peppers surrounding cities with full-sized, high-quality reproductions of masterpieces usually reserved for the walls of the DIA.
The purpose of the Inside|Out project is to bring beautiful and famous pieces of art to the people of local communities, who may or may not find the DIA normally accessible.
The DIA started the Inside|Out program four years ago and it is still going strong. Every year, right around the time Michigan weather decides to cooperate with its sun-starved residents, nearly 80 replicas of DIA masterpiece paintings are displayed throughout the parks and streets of metro Detroit. This year’s first installment will take place from now until June.
Seven recreated masterpieces will be featured in downtown Ann Arbor this summer, ranging from ancient Egyptian to 20th century impressionism. They will include “Head of a Woman” by an unknown Egyptian artist, “Madame Paul Poirson” by John Singer Sargent, “Indian Summer” by Jasper-Francis Cropsey, “Syria by the Sea” by Frederic Edwin Church, “The Window” by Henri Matisse, “The Fruit Vendor” by Il Pensionante del Saraceni and “Judith and Her Maidservant With the Head of Holofernes” by Artemisia Gentileschi.
If interested, anyone from the established art aficionado to a fledgling finger painting fan can participate for free on Saturday and Sunday. Docent tours begin April 27. The tours leave every half hour from the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, at 220 E. Ann St. in Ann Arbor, from 12-3 p.m.
The works of art will be displayed mostly in the Kerrytown and Main Street areas of Ann Arbor and are within walking distance, so they may be easily viewed as a collection. Complimentary maps will be available to locate the artworks and local activities, and programs are being planned to coincide with the display.
In addition, all Ann Arbor residents will have the opportunity to enjoy free admission to the DIA during the museum’s Community Weekend, held Saturday and Sunday.
Ann Arbor is only one of 13 communities participating in the Inside|Out program this season. The other cities indulging in the culture-inducing program are Dearborn Heights, Fraser, Hazel Park, New Baltimore, Novi, Pontiac, Redford Township, Rochester Hills, Southwest Detroit, Utica, Walled Lake and Westland.
If, for some inexplicable reason, you are unable to view any of the collections this spring, from July to September, 80 more reproductions will be placed in other Metro Detroit communities.
The specific locations are currently being finalized.
Just as Ann Arbor boasts seven fantastic masterpieces, each participating area will have from five to 12 paintings clustered within walking or biking distance.
This year, to offer a refreshing collection of the works available, the DIA has added six new reproductions, including several pieces of modern art. Examples of these include “Hard Ball III” by Robert Moskowitz, “Boy with Plaid Scarf” by Robert Henri, “Winter Landscape in Moonlight” by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, “Mother and Child” by Yoruba (Africa), “Ellen’s Isle, Loch Katrine” by Robert S. Duncanson and “The Window” by Matisse.
The DIA’s Inside|Out program is sponsored by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The Ann Arbor Public Art Commission and the City of Ann Arbor are proudly participating as Inside|Out community partners.
Further details about events, locations and selected artworks can be found at www.dia.org/calendar/event.aspx?id=3755.
