DIA's massive dance party last month was like no other. Now it's happening again.
A simple dance party at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) turned into Detroit's biggest event of the winter season — and if you missed it, there's another happening this weekend.
Friday, March 7, another dance party will be held in the museum's Rivera Court from 6:30-8:30 p.m., in conjunction with Detroit artist Tiff Massey's historic '7 Mile + Livernois' exhibition.
'7 Mile + Livernois' is an installation featuring sculptures commissioned by the DIA, and is a vibrant, inclusive peek into Detroit's artistic ecosystem.
February's dance party event in association with Massey's show drew over 1,700 attendees to the DIA in a massive flex of multigenerational, cross-cultural community support.
'It was honestly the most incredible crowd I've ever seen at an art museum anywhere,' said Katie Pfohl, DIA Associate Curator of Contemporary Art. 'The whole city turned out for the set. It was just … it was amazing. I moved here from New Orleans, and so I've worked with a lot of musicians as artists in my own curatorial past. Tiff is also so connected to the city's music scene, and as we were talking about programming for the show, it just seemed like such a natural fit, for an exhibition that is really about celebrating the city's culture of creative expression, to invite musicians from the city to activate the museum.
'It's an incredibly fun, powerful event, but there's also such an interesting throughline in the evolution of some of the city's musical forms. The histories of the automotive industry and factories, music production, and artists like Tiff working with metalsmithing, they feel to me like an intrinsic part of the show, not just a program that we're doing on the side. It's an intrinsic part of Tiff's vision for the project, and her aspiration to really showcase and celebrate the city's creative work.'
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The spectacularly named DJ Problematic Black Hottie will serve up tunes during the March 7 event, and during a May 9 dance party celebrating the exhibition's closing, DJ Kesswa, a favorite of Pfohl's, will preside.
'I think that it's one thing to put on an exhibition,' said Pfohl, 'and it's something else to really invite people in to have a conversation with it. People were there, dancing in Rivera Court, but they were also seeing the exhibition and talking with their friends about it and having an incredible time. For me, it's really feeling the art merge with the music to activate a whole vibe. I'm not trying to get all cheesy about it, but it was really special the last time, and I just can't wait to feel that energy in the museum again.'
Pfohl's advice for people who didn't make it last time?
'Come early,' she said. 'Bring your friends. It ends at 8:30 p.m., but the museum will remain open till nine o'clock. We want to make sure there's enough time for people to experience everything.'
Admission to Friday's 6:30 p.m. party is free with museum general admission at the Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Ave. General museum admission is free for residents of Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties. Non-resident entry is $20 for adults, $10 for seniors and college students, and $8 for children ages 6 – 17.
Contact Free Press arts and culture reporter Duante Beddingfield at dbeddingfield@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: DIA to hold another dance party in Rivera Court on March 7
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