Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Saving the Detroit Institute of Arts?
As most of you know, my birthplace, the City of Detroit, is bankrupt. The bankruptcy case is complex and remarkable-- the city apparently bears responsibility for $3.5 billion just in unfunded pension liabilities.
The City of Detroit is the sole owner of the Detroit Institute of Arts, a remarkable place on Woodward Avenue. An issue in the bankruptcy case has been whether or not the art in the DIA can be sold to satisfy the City's debts. The collection has already been evaluated by Christie's for this purpose, and people who love the DIA have been alarmed.
Yesterday's New York Times reported some possible good news. It appears that three foundations with roots in the city-- the Ford Foundation, the Kresge Foundation, and the Knight Foundation-- are offering a deal where they would provide $330 million towards the city's debt if the art is left alone.
It's a good thing, of course, if the art is kept at the DIA, a place I visit every year. Still, there is something profoundly sad about these foundations using money for that purpose, when it could otherwise be used for community-building... but that is just one of many profound sadnesses swirling around this city.
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It was a long time ago but I believe it was the DIA where, in the mid '70s, we would get breakfast on a Sunday morning and listen to live music by groups from the Symphony. Fantastic experience. Then we would go to a later church service.
# posted by 
: 7:44 AM
: 7:44 AM 
From a certain perspective I suppose the Prof is right when he says there is something profoundly sad about these foundations using money to save the art at DIA, when it could otherwise be used for community-building. Perhaps art doesn’t a community-build in a ravaged place like Detroit, but it must do something good to that community. Pablo Picasso said that the purpose of art is to wash the dust of daily life off our souls. I for one find it extremely hard to imagine how it could be possible when a decade or two from now, all a Detroit kid would have left to say is that Caravaggio and Matisse paid for grandpa’s prescriptions.
Investing in an Art Museum IS community building. They can offer programs for kids and adults and help the downtrodden aspire to better and greater.
I agree-- but the money is literally going to pay off pension debts. The sad thing is that it is an either/or.
I have been pondering this all morning. I read the article yesterday and was pleased to hear of this cash infusion. Then I woke and read a FB post from a woman in Detroit who is angry about everything going on in the city from the election to Belle Isle to the Art Museum. Mind you she thinks paying off the debt and funding the under funded pensions will solve all the problems - which I won't.
It scares me to think that these problems pre-date me. We address the symptoms but no one can pin point (or admit) the causes). The DIA brings people into the city that would not spend an afternoon downtown. It is part of the economy of Detroit.
None of the solutions will be painless but The DIA is a big part of the history and community of Detroit and a life without art is a lonely place.
It scares me to think that these problems pre-date me. We address the symptoms but no one can pin point (or admit) the causes). The DIA brings people into the city that would not spend an afternoon downtown. It is part of the economy of Detroit.
None of the solutions will be painless but The DIA is a big part of the history and community of Detroit and a life without art is a lonely place.
Most days, there is a long line of yellow school buses in front of the DIA. They wait for schoolchildren from many districts to pile back into their seats after having been exposed to some absolute wonders. Somehow this happened in the City of Detroit.They have certainly been helped by their neighboring communities. At the same time city workers have plugged along looking forward to retirement.
Both the DIA and the the worker's pension funds have been badly managed in the past. These problems were not caused by art lovers, schoolchildren and workers. We will need more art and the best municipal workforce possible to recover this city.
However, without fresh ideas the system will remain intact that created the problems. $500.000,000 will be spent to keep the status quo rather than to jump start the city. There must be other solutions.
Off the subject,the city council just voted in a new president. She is known to oppose reforming the system.
Both the DIA and the the worker's pension funds have been badly managed in the past. These problems were not caused by art lovers, schoolchildren and workers. We will need more art and the best municipal workforce possible to recover this city.
However, without fresh ideas the system will remain intact that created the problems. $500.000,000 will be spent to keep the status quo rather than to jump start the city. There must be other solutions.
Off the subject,the city council just voted in a new president. She is known to oppose reforming the system.
Selling the art should have been off the table to begin with as this sad struggle sounds more and more like robbing Peter to pay Paul.
I heard a long piece about this issue on NPR yesterday. I understand Detroit is scrambling beyond imagination. Yet, for me, the art of the DIA should be left out of the equation. I have been there once (1990) and found it to be a very impressive art museum.
I think about this in terms of the sacred, the transcendent and sacred space. Like standing in a great cathedral, or standing in a great natural landscape … there is something transporting and transcendent about great art and great art museums. I love that and I love how art museums make me feel. Art museums always extend me and challenge me to imagine the unimaginable. They often make me feel far better about the human condition … even when they trouble me. And they often get me in touch with my better, more creative self. I love that. I am mindful that this can lend itself to an idealized take on art … yet I think there is a place for all that. And particularly so in imploding urban centers.
Like great cathedrals and like World Heritage Sites, such as the Redwoods … certain things should remain protected and sacred … and exempt from the press of more worldly economics.
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I think about this in terms of the sacred, the transcendent and sacred space. Like standing in a great cathedral, or standing in a great natural landscape … there is something transporting and transcendent about great art and great art museums. I love that and I love how art museums make me feel. Art museums always extend me and challenge me to imagine the unimaginable. They often make me feel far better about the human condition … even when they trouble me. And they often get me in touch with my better, more creative self. I love that. I am mindful that this can lend itself to an idealized take on art … yet I think there is a place for all that. And particularly so in imploding urban centers.
Like great cathedrals and like World Heritage Sites, such as the Redwoods … certain things should remain protected and sacred … and exempt from the press of more worldly economics.
# posted by : 5:35 PM
: 5:35 PM << Home
