The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, has one of the largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it covers 658,000 square feet (61,100 m2), with a major renovation and expansion project completed in 2007, adding 58,000 square feet (5,400 m2). The DIA collection is regarded as among the top six museums in the United States, with a comprehensive collection that spans the globe, from ancient Egyptian and European works to contemporary art. Its art collection is valued in billions of dollars, up to $8.1 billion, according to a 2014 appraisal. The DIA campus is located in Detroit’s Cultural Center Historic District, about 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the downtown area, across from the Detroit Public Library near Wayne State University.
Architects highly regard the museum building. The original building, designed by Paul Philippe Cret, is flanked by north and south wings with white marble as the primary exterior material for the entire structure. The campus is part of the city’s Cultural Center Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The museum’s first painting was donated in 1883, and its collection consists of over 65,000 works. With about 677,500 visitors annually in 2015, the DIA is among the most visited art museums in the world. The Detroit Institute of Arts hosts significant art exhibitions; it contains a 1,150-seat theatre designed by architect C. Howard Crane, a 380-seat hall for recitals and lectures, an art reference library, and a conservation services laboratory. M&H Pest Control Detroit
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The museum contains 100 galleries of art from around the world. Diego Rivera’s Detroit Industry cycle of frescoes spans the upper and lower levels to surround the central grand marble court of the museum. The armor collection of William Randolph Hearst lines the main hall entryway to the grand court. The collection of American art at the DIA is one of the most impressive, and officials at the DIA have ranked the American paintings collection third among museums in the United States. Works by American artists began to be collected immediately following the museum’s founding in 1883. Today the collection is a strong survey of American history, with acknowledged masterpieces of painting, sculpture, furniture, and decorative arts from the 18th century, 19th century, and 20th century, with contemporary American art in all media, also being collected. The breadth of the collection includes such American artists as John James Audubon, George Bellows, George Caleb Bingham, Alexander Calder, Mary Cassatt, Dale Chihuly, Frederic Edwin Church, Thomas Cole, John Singleton Copley, Robert Colescott, Leon Dabo, Thomas Wilmer Dewing, Thomas Eakins, Childe Hassam, Robert Henri, Winslow Homer, George Inness, Martin Lewis, Georgia O’Keeffe, Charles Willson Peale, Rembrandt Peale, Tom Phardel, Duncan Phyfe, Hiram Powers, Sharon Que, Frederic Remington, Paul Revere, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, John Singer Sargent, John French Sloan, Tony Smith, Marylyn Dintenfass, Gilbert Stuart, Yves Tanguy, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Louis Comfort Tiffany, Andy Warhol, William T. Williams, Anne Wilson, Andrew Wyeth, and James McNeill Whistler.
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