DIA to take its final, viral '7 Mile + Livernois' dance party outside this weekend
A simple dance party at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) turned into Detroit's biggest event of the winter season. When word got out, a follow-up event in March drew record numbers. This weekend, one final bash is taking place – and it's so big that they're taking it outside.
On Friday, May 9, another dance party will be held on the DIA museum grounds from 6:30-9:30 p.m. to commemorate the closing of Detroit artist Tiff Massey's historic '7 Mile + Livernois' exhibition. Detroit-based DJs KESSWA and Donavan Glover will provide sounds for the evening.
'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, 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,' Katie Pfohl, DIA Associate Curator of Contemporary Art, said ahead of the March event. '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.'
'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.'
The energy was definitely felt again: More than 2,500 revelers showed up for the March party, with lines stretching out the museum's front doors, down the steps, across the lawn, and all the way out to the street as people waited in freezing rain and snow to get in on the action.
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DIA board vice chair Marsha Battle Philpot expressed awe and gratitude at the size and vibe of the crowd in March.
"I was unprepared for the extraordinary outpouring of people that visited not just the exhibit," she said, "but came to the DIA, so many of them for the very first time. We have a generation or even two here in Detroit, in particular, that had not had the advantage of doing field trips to the DIA because of the budget issues in the school systems. For many, this was their first foray in here, and that was astonishing to see their wonderful reactions.
"The crowd itself was overwhelming. It was shoulder to shoulder, and it was such a wonderful thing. I thought that Diego Rivera might be smiling down at us to see this many human beings congregated beneath his beautiful work in the courtyard. I think that was a real measure of how Tiff's work has impacted the museum, not just because of the work itself, but what she has brought to bear in engaging the community here with the DIA, which has been really extraordinary."
DIA chief operating officer Elliott Broom said the museum is 'thrilled' with the exhibition and all the interest generated around it.
'The exhibition has surpassed 200,000 in attendance, which is quite a feat for our museum,' said Broom, 'and the feedback from the visitors has been overwhelmingly positive. To celebrate the close of the exhibition, we really wanted to do something special, and so – weather dependent – we're going to move the party outside onto the front plaza of the museum. That is something that we have only reserved in the past for Fash Bash.
'The idea is that the guests will be able to dance on the plaza, and we'll have, of course, bars set up if people want to drink, and some light snacks will be available for purchase. But the aim is to do this closing party in a very special way, outside, in open air, which also gives us a chance to welcome a few more visitors. We're guesstimating that we will hit that 2,500 mark, but I wouldn't be surprised if we crest 3,000.'
Broom said that, in addition to the outdoor party, Kresge Court will be open with music and an extra bar to serve overflow or host guests seeking a break from dancing. The museum, he said, also has a rain plan that moves the party back indoors.
'It's been incredible to see momentum build around this show, right up through its finish on May 11,' Pfohl told the Free Press this week. 'Tiff's work has truly brought the city into the museum, creating a citywide celebration of Detroit and its story that will continue to shape the DIA long after this exhibition closes.'
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.
At press time, advanced registration for the event was at capacity. For more information, visit dia.org.
Contact Free Press arts and culture reporter Duante Beddingfield at dbeddingfield@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Last DIA dance party to be held outdoors this weekend
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