DIA Picks Brighton for Inside|Out Program

The Detroit Institute of Arts has selected Brighton among the 25 Metro area communities that will feature Inside|Out outdoor art installations this spring and summer.

"Now in its fourth year, Inside|Out brings reproductions of masterpieces from the DIA’s collection to the streets of metro Detroit," a DIA press release said. "Inside|Out aims to connect with audiences outside the museum walls in places where they live, work and play."

Brighton will host Inside|Out summer installations from July until August (see below for a complete list of participating communities); which artworks the cities will host has yet to be determined.

Brighton Community Development Department Deputy Director, Planning and Zoning, Lauri French, and City Councilwoman Claudia Roblee, who chairs the Brighton Arts and Culture Committee, were on hand Friday as the announcement was made in the Detroit museum's gilded Crystal Ballroom.

"We're very excited," said French, who also serves as BACC liaison.

She noted the community was scheduled to participate in Inside|Out a couple years ago, but it had to be put on hold because of DIA funding issues at the time.

"I think it's great exposure for people in Livingston County for people who come to downtown – we have a very walkable downtown," with convenient parking, French said, adding that Brighton already has its own downtown art installation consisting of approximately 30 pieces.

"I think it's also good exposure for people who might not come down to the DIA," she said of Inside|Out.

French said the city will cross-promote the Inside|Out installations during the Brighton Fine Arts Festival in the summer.

Roblee said though the DIA has final say, the BACC is looking at about a dozen prominent downtown locations to feature the artwork such as at the COBACH Center and in front of the Mill Pond.

The Inside|Out program is funded through a partnership with the Miami-based John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, one of whose goals is to foster the arts.

New this year, residents of participating Inside|Out communities are invited to visit the museum for free on a so-called "community weekend," during which they will receive free admission, as well as a 10 percent discount in the Cafe DIA and museum shop, $1 off Detroit Film Theatre tickets and free admission to showings of the DFT 101 film series. Berkley and Huntington Woods' community weekend dates have yet to be determined.

"Obviously, I'm excited as a resident of Huntington Woods," DIA Community Outreach Coordinator Joan Walton said Friday. "It's going to be a beautiful installation and I think our community is really going to embrace it."

2013 Inside|Out lineup

Spring (April - June)

• Ann Arbor
• Dearborn Heights
• Fraser
• Hazel Park
• New Baltimore
• Novi
• Pontiac
• Redford Township
• Rochester Hills
• Southwest Detroit
• Utica
• Walled Lake
• Westland

Summer (July-August)

• Berkley
• Brighton
• Detroit (Belle Isle, Indian Village and surrounding area)
• Hamtramck
• Huntington Woods
• Lincoln Park
• Pleasant Ridge
• Shelby Township
• Sterling Heights
• Warren
• Woodhaven
• Ypsilanti

"Like" the DIA InsideOut page on Facebook or follow @DIADetroit #InsideOut on Twitter for updates on the program.