About the DIA

The Detroit Institute of Arts strives to be the town square of our community, a gathering place for everybody and create experiences that help each visitor find personal meaning with the art, individually, and with each other.

A central view of the Detroit Industry Murals in Rivera Court

Strategic Plan

When the DIA successfully secured millage funding through 2032 with the renewal in March 2020, it provided an opportunity for the museum to create a new road map for the next three to five years. This strategic plan serves as a blueprint for the entire organization to follow as we collectively implement our priorities for the future and evaluate our success serving our communities.

Pillars

See the 2022–2027 Strategic Plan

The Thinker pictured in front of the Detroit Institute of Arts

History

Founded in 1885, the museum was originally located on Jefferson Avenue, but, due to its rapidly expanding collection, moved to the current site on Woodward Avenue in 1927. The Beaux-Arts building, designed by Paul Cret, was immediately referred to as the "temple of art." Two wings were added in the 1960s and 1970s, and a major renovation and expansion that began in 1999 was completed in 2007.

The museum covers 658,000 square feet that includes more than 100 galleries, a 1,150-seat auditorium, a 380-seat lecture/recital hall, an art reference library, and a state-of-the-art conservation services laboratory.

 

About the Collection

The DIA's collection is among the top six in the United States, with more than 65,000 works. The foundation was laid by William Valentiner, who was director from 1924 to 1945 and acquired many important works that established the framework of today's collections. Among his notable acquisitions are Mexican artist Diego Rivera's Detroit Industry fresco cycle, which Rivera considered his most successful work, and Vincent van Gogh's Self-Portrait, the first Van Gogh painting to enter a U.S. museum collection.

A hallmark of the DIA is the diversity of the collection. In addition to outstanding American, European, Modern and Contemporary, and Graphic art, the museum holds significant works of African, Asian, Native American, Oceanic, Islamic, and Ancient art. In 2000, the DIA established the General Motors Center for African American Art as a curatorial department in order to broaden the museum's collection of African American art.

Learn more about the Collection

Leadership

Director, President and CEO

The museum's director is Salvador Salort-Pons, who arrived in 2008 from the Meadows Museum at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Salort-Pons served as Executive Director of Collections Strategies and Information before becoming Director, President and CEO in 2015.

Salvador Salort Pons in a blue suit and tie, stands with his hands folded in front of himself in front of the front steps of the Detroit Institute of Arts
  • Bryan C. Barnhill II
  • Ann Berman
  • Dr. Charles M. Boyd
  • Richard A. Brodie
  • Denise Brooks-Williams
  • Mary Culler
  • Joanne Danto
  • Charles Dunlap
  • Blake Ellis
  • Lawrence T. García
  • Christine Giampetroni
  • Thomas Guastello
  • Sonia Hassan
  • Hassan K. Jaber
  • Charley Jackson
  • Shirley Kaigler
  • David P. Larsen
  • Matthew B. Lester
  • John D. Lewis
  • Dr. Hubert W. Massey
  • Julie Matuzak
  • Nancy Mitchell
  • Ali Moiin
  • Takashi Omitsu
  • Marsha L. Philpot
  • Damon Porter
  • Judith Pritchett, Ph.D.
  • Christine Provost
  • W Fair Radom
  • Dina Richard
  • Victoria J. Rogers, observer
  • Tony Saunders
  • Renata C. Seals
  • Paula F. Silver
  • Michael Simcoe
  • Lori Singleton
  • Jason E. Tinsley
  • Padma Vattikuti
  • Rhonda D. Welburn
  • Kimberley Wiegand

Chairman | Lane Coleman

Vice Chairs | Ralph J. Gerson, Cynthia N. Ford

Secretary | Maria Donovan

Transition Officer | Bonnie Ann Larson

Legal Counsel | Josh Opperer, Alan S. Schwartz

  • Hon. Charles W. Anderson III
  • Jeffrey T. Antaya
  • Tina Bassett
  • Chacona Johnson-Baugh
  • Yvette Bing
  • Andrew L. Camden
  • Elaine C. Driker
  • Hon. Trudy DunCombe Archer
  • Kenneth Eisenberg
  • Nicole Eisenberg
  • Walter O. Evans
  • Dede Feldman
  • Jennifer Fischer
  • Eugene A. Gargaro, Jr.
  • David M. Hempstead
  • Jean Wright Hudson
  • George G. Johnson
  • Ralph J. Mandarino
  • Richard A. Manoogian
  • Dave E. Meador
  • Reuben A. Munday
  • Glenda D. Price
  • Katherine D. Rines
  • Diane M. Schoenith
  • Thomas W. Sidlik
  • John W. Stroh III
  • Samuel Thomas, Jr.
  • Reginald M. Turner, Jr.
  • Amanda Van Dusen
  • Janis Wetsman
  • Hon. Helene N. White
  • Trudi K. Wineman
  • Hon. Dennis W. Archer
  • Dr. Bettye Arrington-Martin
  • David Bing
  • Gayle Shaw Camden
  • Lois Pincus Cohn
  • Mary Kay Crain
  • Junia Doan
  • Peter A. Dow
  • Sis Fisher
  • Marilyn Flint
  • Sidney E. Forbes
  • Edsel B. Ford II
  • Eleanore Gabrys
  • Mary Anne Gargaro
  • Stephanie Germack-Kerzic
  • Allan D. Gilmour
  • Robert Gorlin
  • Argentina Hills
  • Ed Levy, Jr.
  • Linda Dresner Levy
  • David B. Lewis
  • John Marshall
  • Mariam Noland
  • Philip H. Power
  • Ellen Price
  • John Rakolta, Jr.
  • Ruth F. Rattner
  • Maureen Roberts
  • Roy Roberts
  • Richard L. Rogers
  • A. Paul Schaap
  • Carol C. Schaap
  • Dennis Scholl
  • Alan E. Schwartz
  • Alan S. Schwartz
  • Nettie H. Seabrooks
  • William W. Shelden, Jr.
  • Eliot R. Stark
  • S. Martin Taylor
  • Raj Vattikuti
  • Joan Webber
  • William Wetsman