We owe it to Tyler Green of Modern Art Notes for spearheading “A Day for Detroit” and provoking a veritable downpour of tweets and blog posts. Green urged fellow art bloggers to post their favorite works from the Detroit Institute of Arts and tweet with the hashtage #DayDetroit to raise awareness for the museum’s collection. Given the volume of activity, we spent the better part of our day summarizing what happened. Our summary of those efforts below:
- Tyler Green, the man who started it all, posted 10 artworks himself and encouraged his readers to become members of the museum.
- Hyperallergic’s tumblr took up the charge of posting images from the DIA collection, but on the main site Mostafa Heddaya wrote this piece on what Detroit defaulting on bonds actually means for the DIA.
- Jessica Slaven wrote on the DIA for Paper Monument: “I come away with the feeling that pieces were chosen not because they were seen to be the finest example of an artist’s work on the market (though that may have been the case) or acquired in the interest of speculation, as something that might appreciate fastest, but rather that the museum chose objects that are unusually useful or relatable: use objects that appear to fulfill their purpose especially well, images that allow an exceptional moment of understanding and entry. The objects in its collection take on a clarity that comes from being chosen by people inhabiting a city whose chief professional concern is, ‘How can we improve this thing?’”
- Art Practical and Daily Serving joined together to do a group post where their combined writing staff (8 in total) each chose a work from the museum and offered up analysis. Our pick from the litter was Catlin Moore’s choice of Mike Kelley’s “Carnival Time”. As she puts it, the piece “feels eerily apropos in the DIA’s collection as the skewered heads of crooked politicians are coupled with the mercenary icons of big business, a voracious sow, and composite figures of the dissenting Motor City punk scene.”
- The Walker Art Center did the same, with their own list where Walker staff members each contributed their favorite work from the museum. Our favorite there was a 19th century puppet by Pietro Radillo chosen by Walker Photographer Gene Pittman. DIA has an extensive collection of objects and ephemera related to the performing arts.
- Blouin ArtInfo shared Beverly Pepper’s huge wedge sculpture and Mike Kelley’s “Carnival Time”, the latter of which became a popular choice on other blogs afterwards.
- Paul Schmeizer of the Walker Art Center also participated on his own blog, Eyeteeth, choosing 7 images total. Marcel Duchamp’s “Photorelief” and Yayoi Kusama’s “Silver Shoes (23 Objects)” were standouts for us.
- Art Blog focused on the Diego Rivera murals and pointed out how full-size cartoons from Rivera have been scanned by the museum and are available online.
- Two Coats of Paint shared some artwork, but Sharon Butler also posted on how a museum can help the economy in ways that don’t involve selling its collections: attracting tourists.
- Greg Allen quoted Pliny the Elder to make a case about the DIA today. In Pliny’s story, King Nikomede offers to discharge all of the private debt of the people of Knidos in exchange for their statue of Aphrodite. The people of Knidos refuse, and they are remembered for their wisdom: the statue makes them famous.
- JSOnline’s Mary Louise Schumacher threw in her two cents by giving perspective on how the Milwaukee Art Museum has influenced artists that come from the area. According to Schumacher, artists like these impact the economic development of cities. [Art City]
- Edward Winkleman took A Day for Detroit as an opportunity to rave about the DIA’s print collection and three works by Dürer, Rembrandt, and Picasso.
- SF MoMA’s blog, Open Space, posted two Native American drawings and a blanket (amongst other works). These were images we hadn’t see elsewhere, so we were glad to see them getting a little love.
Many art sites and writers will be spotlighting art at @DIADetroit all day long. Kicking it off on MAN: http://t.co/B7nlEKCebZ #DayDetroit
— Tyler Green (@TylerGreenDC) August 14, 2013
Finally, here are some twitter highlights from yesterday:
I proposed to my wife in the Rivera Court @DIADetroit. Can’t imagine my daughter not being able to see the murals. #DayDetroit
— daniel haberman (@dhabes) August 14, 2013
Former @DIADetroit curator and our current Director of Media Relations, Karla Loring picks Eva Hesse for #DayDetroit: http://t.co/8T3wmhkDaD
— MCA Chicago (@mcachicago) August 14, 2013
@TylerGreenDC You should tally up which DIA works get the most mentions. I think Mike Kelley is winning. #DayDetroit
— Kevin Buist (@KevinBuist) August 14, 2013
DMA staffer and Detroit native Shannon Karol says her love of art (and Manet) was born at the @DIADetroit http://t.co/DkeHGE8ge3 #DayDetroit
— Dallas Museum of Art (@DallasMuseumArt) August 14, 2013
A favorite, being that we’re New Yorkers 😉 John Sloan’s “McSorley’s Bar” (1912): http://t.co/TQLWAcIFuP #DayDetroit
— Museum of Modern Art (@MuseumModernArt) August 14, 2013
We appreciate all of the support today! #DayDetroit
— Detroit Inst of Arts (@DIADetroit) August 14, 2013
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