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The European Beginning of the Detroit Institute of Arts
Some people don’t know the history of the center of Detroit’s culture
Today, the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) is a legendary part of the city’s identity. During troubled times, it is a beacon of hope to the residents. Many people around the state and even the country flock to Midtown to check out the works of art on display in the museum.
But not many know the iconic museum’s origins and how it became such a player within the art world.
Back in 1881, The Detroit News Owner James E. Scripps took his family on a five-month European vacation. While on his trip, he kept journals about the art that they saw particularly in Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands.
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the newspaper magnate began to publish his journals in his paper. There was an appetite for art in the Motor City, so he continued to work the angle as much as he could. He also began to form plans to expand the series into something more permanent.
He published Five Months Abroad. It was a bestseller and proved yet again that the residents of Metro Detroit wanted art. Scripps decided that now was the time to figure out how to give the people what they wanted.
