Contact: Pamela Marcil, (313) 833-7899 pmarcil@dia.org www.dia.org
(Detroit)—The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), offers many activities in August, both inside the museum and outside in metro Detroit communities.
Programs are free with museum admission and free for residents of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties unless otherwise noted. For more information, call (313) 833-7900 or visit www.dia.org.
Guided Tours: Tuesdays–Fridays, 1 p.m.; Saturdays–Sundays, 1 & 3 p.m.
General Guided Tours of select galleries provide an overview of the DIA’s collection.
Family Guided Tours explore family and kid-friendly art and show adults ways to engage children in lively discussions during future visits.
Detroit City Chess Club: Fridays, 4–8 p.m.
The club’s mission is to teach area students the game and life lessons. Members have won state, regional and national competitions. People wanting to learn how to play chess should show up between 4 and 6 p.m. There will be no teaching between 6 and 8 p.m., but visitors can play chess.
Drawing in the Galleries (for all ages): Fridays, 6–9 p.m. Sundays, noon–4 p.m.
Drop-In Art-making (for all ages)Tuesdays, 11 a.m.–3 p.m.: Aztec Codex
Wednesdays, 11 a.m.–3 p.m.: Paper Marbling
Thursdays, 11 a.m.–3 p.m.: Refrigerator Magnets
Fridays, 11 a.m.–3 p.m.: Paper Dolls
Fridays, 6–9 p.m.: Mobiles
Saturdays, Noon–4 p.m.: Drum Sticks
Sundays, Noon–4 p.m.: Collage Portraits
Art-making in the CommunityDearborn Homecoming Festival, Aug. 1 & 2, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.: Ankle rattles
Shelby Township Art Fair, Aug. 8, 10 a.m.–4:30 p.m.; Aug. 9, 10 a.m.–3:30 p.m.: Mosaics
Saturday, August 1Detroit Film Theatre: International Festival of Short Films at Kensington Metropark: 9 p.m.
Enjoy award-winning animated and live-action international shorts under the stars. The movies are preceded by a short reel of films by award-winning Michigan students presented by the Michigan Student Film Festival. The movies are included with park admission. For park information, visit www.metroparks.com.
Sunday, August 2Sunday Music Bar: Mike Dobday: 1–4 p.m.
Pianist Mick Dobday performs avant-garde jazz, contemporary jazz, Latin jazz and classical standards in Kresge Court.
Detroit Film Theatre: Human Capital: 2 & 4:30 p.m.
Human Capital is a dynamic account of desire and greed in an age of financial uncertainty. On the night before Christmas Eve, a cyclist is run off the road by an SUV. As details emerge of the events leading up to the incident, a well-to-do family, will intertwine with another that is struggling to maintain a middle-class life; before long, both families will be affected in ways they could never have expected. In Italian with English subtitles. Tickets are $8.50 and $6.50 for DIA members, seniors and students.
Friday, August 7Friday Night Live: André Mehmari: 7 & 8:30 p.m.
Brazilian pianist André Mehmari is a jazz and classical music composer, arranger and instrumentalist in who has been compared to Keith Jarret in his ability to combine classical influences with improvisation.
Detroit Film Theatre: Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack!, at Stony Creek Metropark: 9 p.m.
Fifty years after the “death” of Godzilla, new disasters plague Japan. An old mystic insists the new catastrophes are being caused by Godzilla, who has once again risen to avenge the disasters of World War II. When the military can’t stop the havoc , Mothra, Baragon and King Ghidoraha, giants who protected Japan in ancient times, are summoned to do battle with big G. In English. The evening begins with short films by award-winning Michigan students presented by the Michigan Student Film Festival. The movies are included with park admission. For park information, visit www.metroparks.com.
Saturday, August 8Detroit Film Theatre: International Festival of Short Films at Stony Creek Metropark: 9 p.m.
See Aug. 1 for description.
Sunday, August 9Sunday Music Bar: 1–4 p.m.
Detroit pianist Stefan Kukurugya performs jazz, pop, R&B and classical standards in Kresge Court.
Detroit Film Theatre: The Tales of Hoffmann (restored): 2 & 4:30 p.m.
This 1951 fantasy tells the stories of three women—a mechanical doll, a magical siren and a composer’s daughter—and the havoc they wreak in a poet’s dreams. This new 4K restoration is the most complete version ever seen in America. Tickets are $8.50 and $6.50 for DIA members, seniors and students.
Thursday, August 13Fash BashThis annual summer celebration of fashion and art, one of the DIA’s signature fundraisers, encompasses a cocktail reception on the front steps, an Art of Fashion runway show and a paparazzi after party with cocktails, dancing and late night bites. For more information call 313-833-5646 or visit
www.dia.org/fjc Friday, August 14Friday Night Live: Kristin Slipp and Dov Manski: 7 & 8:30 p.m.
Singer Kristin Slipp and pianist Dov Manski present their take on compositions made famous during the golden age of vocal jazz recordings. The duo performs music by Jerome Kern, Hoagy Carmichael and Cole Porter with pop-like, minimalist arrangements.
Detroit Film Theatre: La Sapienza: 7 & 9:30 p.m.
Architect Alexandre hopes to rekindle his passion for life and revive his marriage by going on a trip to Italy with his wife, where he resumes his long-abandoned writing project about Baroque architect Francesco Borromini. The couple’s journey leads them to a place of natural beauty and architectural wonders and to an unexpected friendship with an insecure young architecture student and his anxiety-ridden sister. In French and Italian with English subtitles. Tickets are $8.50 and $6.50 for DIA members, seniors and students.
Saturday, August 15Detroit Film Theatre Saturday Animation Club: Ponyo: 4 p.m.
Ponyo centers on the friendship between five-year-old Sosuke and Ponyo, a magical goldfish who is the daughter of a sorcerer father and a sea-goddess mother. After a chance encounter with Sosuke, Ponyo yearns to become a human so she can be with her new friend. In English, featuring the voices of Cate Blanchett, Liam Neeson and Tina Fey. Tickets are $5 and free for DIA members.
Detroit Film Theatre: La Sapienza: 7 & 9:30 p.m.
See Aug. 14 for description.
Sunday, August 16Sunday Music Bar: Audra Kubat: 1–4 p.m.
Detroit singer-songwriter-instrumentalist Audra Kubat performs original folk songs and ballads in Kresge Court.
Detroit Film Theatre: La Sapienza: 2 & 4:30 p.m.
See Aug. 14 for description.
Friday, August 21Friday Night Live: TBA: 7 & 8:30 p.m.
Detroit Film Theatre: King Kong vs. Godzilla, at Lake St. Clair Metropark: 9 p.m.
The world’s two most famous beasts face off in a battle for supremacy in this 1962 Japanese-American hybrid. This is Godzilla’s and King Kong’s first movie in color. Their wild slugfest, which comes close to flattening Japan, is punctuated by surprising comic moments and unexpected subplots. In English.
Saturday, August 22Detroit Film Theatre: International Festival of Short Films at Lake St. Clair Metropark: 9 p.m.
See Aug. 1 for description.
Sunday, August 23Sunday Music Bar: Leslie DeShazor Adams: 1–4 p.m.
Classically trained violist Leslie DeShazor Adams plays contemporary jazz compositions in Kresge Court.
Friday, August 28Friday Night Live: Tierney Sutton and Mike Garson: 7 & 8:30 p.m.
Tierney Sutton is a six-time Grammy nominee, most recently for Best Jazz Vocal Album for
After Blue, in which she re-imagines the music of Joni Mitchell. Sutton is joined by pianist Mike Garson, who has performed and recorded with David Bowie since that artist’s first North American tour in 1971.
Detroit Film Theatre: The Look of Silence: 7 & 9:30 p.m.
In his 2012 Oscar®-nominated documentary
The Act of Killing, Josh Oppenheimer encouraged the proud perpetrators of Indonesia’s mid-1960s genocide to reenact their own versions of their horrifying crimes before his cameras. His new film goes far deeper, this time following the survivors of a family of the regime’s victims, who confront the killers of their family members on camera. Tickets are $8.50 and $6.50 for DIA members, seniors and students.
Saturday, August 29Detroit Film Theater: Out of the Past: 4 p.m.
This 1947 classic features Robert Mitchum as a private eye hired by shady “businessman” and gambler Whit Sterling (Kirk Douglas) to track down his mistress, Kathie (Jane Greer), who has vanished with $40,000 of Sterling’s money. While well received upon release,
Out of the Past was inducted into the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry as one of America’s true cinematic treasures. Tickets are $5 and free for DIA members.
Detroit Film Theatre: The Look of Silence: 7 & 9:30 p.m.
See Aug. 28 for description.
Sunday, August 30Sunday Music Bar: Tia Hanna and Elden Kelly: 1–4 p.m.
Detroit-based violinist Tia Hanna and guitarist Elden Kelly perform traditional jazz melodies in Kresge Court.
Detroit Film Theatre: The Look of Silence: 2 & 4:30 p.m.
See Aug. 28 for description.
Hours and Admission9 a.m.–4 p.m. Tuesdays–Thursdays, 9 a.m.–10 p.m. Fridays, and 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. General admission (excludes ticketed exhibitions) is free for Wayne, Oakland and Macomb county residents and DIA members. For all others, $8 for adults, $6 for seniors ages 62+, $4 for ages 6–17. For membership information, call 313–833–7971.
Image for Aug. 7 Movie at Stony Creek Metropark: All-Out Monster Attack! ###
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.
Programs are made possible with support from residents of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties.
