In a statement posted to their website late yesterday, the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) has affirmed its support of its host city’s Chapter 9 bankruptcy proceeding.
Detroit
Posted inArt
Detroit Fire Sale: Everything and the Kitchen Rodin
Not long ago, artist Jerry Vile placed a giant Crisco can in front of the “Monument to Joe Louis,” a giant sculpture of a fist in downtown Detroit, as a lewd but hilarious and spot-on commentary on the city’s bankruptcy. Local media glommed onto the stunt immediately: it was a welcome break from the gloomy shroud of news that’s settled over the Motor City. Last week, the artist returned to his guerrilla tactics, hanging oversize DayGlo tag sale signs on landmarks around the city with a crew of collaborators.
Posted inArt
Soak the Insurers and Save Detroit’s Pensioners
Last night, a suburban board in Detroit signaled its intent to pass a resolution discontinuing the collection of the special tax voted in to support the Detroit Institute of Arts should the institution’s art or assets be liquidated. There remains a great deal of anxiety over whether or not Detroit will have to liquidate at least some works in the Detroit Institute of Art collection, a fear which has also culminated in today’s collective action in art media — a day of solidarity. Which is all fine and well (this publication’s Tumblr presence, Hyperallergic LABS, will be participating), but what might be of greater interest to those concerned about the fate of the DIA is a more thorough understanding of how the defaults on the city’s various financial obligations actually affect the Detroit Institute of Arts’s “assets.”
Posted inArt
For Chicago, Detroit Isn’t a Distant Reality
CHICAGO — Much like the city of Detroit’s epic economic saga, this story took me on a wild goose chase. I’m an art journalist reporting on Detroit from Chicago — or, if you would prefer, the Motor City from the Windy City — and that seems odd. The media craze around Detroit just won’t quit, and Chicago is increasingly finding itself implicated in it all. Perhaps the artists are to blame.
Posted inArt
Where Is the Money? Detroit, Stadium Bonds, and Municipal Funding For Culture
When Michigan governor Rick Snyder recently affirmed that Detroit’s $650 million hockey stadium, to be financed with a mix of $450 million in state bonds and private moneys, won’t be derailed by the city’s economic woes, the stark contrast with the fate of the city’s beleaguered art museum could not have been more apparent.
Posted inOpinion
Guerrilla Artist Warns Detroiters to Brace Themselves
Jerry Vile’s guerrilla addition to Detroit’s “Monument to Joe Louis” (aka The Fist) is his tongue-in-cheek way of preparing the citizens of his beloved city to brace themselves …
Posted inOpinion
New Yorker Art Critic Justifies Looting of Detroit Museum
Would New Yorker art critic Peter Schjeldahl suggest that Greece sell the Parthenon to pay its crippling national debt?
Posted inNews
Michigan Attorney General Says Detroit Art Collection Can’t Be Sold
The battle over the future of the Detroit Institute of Arts’ collection is still only a theoretical one, but that hasn’t stopped high-profile people throughout the state from taking sides. The latest entrant into the fray is Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, who says the art cannot be sold to help cover the costs of Detroit’s bankruptcy.
Posted inArt
Community Art Project Victimized by Arson Rises from the Ashes
The Heidelberg Project was started as a way to transform the depressing decay of an east Detroit neighborhood, but it has since experienced its own set of devastations. In both 1991 and 1999, parts of it were demolished, and just this past month there was a fire that wrecked its oldest house. Now the Heidelberg Project is working to turn the charred remains of that structure into a new installation, re-imagining it for a second time from dilapidation.
Posted inOpinion
A Plea for Detroit [UPDATED]
On May 24 the news broke that Detroit’s emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, was considering whether the city could or should sell off the art collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) to help pay back its debts. The reactions pretty much range from “this is a bad idea” to “this is a terrible idea.”
Posted inNews
Detroit’s Bankruptcy Raises Liquidation Worries for Priceless Museum Collection
With Detroit on the brink of declaring bankruptcy, all avenues to rescue the city from insolvency are being put on the table. One of these is the multi-billion dollar art collection held by the Detroit Institute of Arts Museum (DIA), a possibility which could be pushed for in a bankruptcy situation to cover some of the city’s billions in debt.
Posted inArt
Populating the Empty Spaces of Detroit
What’s most often missing from pictures of Detroit are people. They don’t quite work in the landscape of ruin porn, enamored as it of empty, decaying spaces that seem beautiful precisely because they’re devoid of the life they once had. Showing people would suggest that Detroit is more than just a string of abandoned tableaux waiting to be photographed by the next person passing through.
