The Most Mesmerizing Masterpieces at the Detroit Institute of Arts [2024]

Admission & parking

The Detroit Institute of Arts is located in downtown Detroit at 5200 Woodward Ave.

Containing over 65,000 artpieces and spanning over 658,000 square feet, the Detroit Institute of Arts is the largest art museum in the midwest!

The length of an average visit for me visiting the Detroit Institute of Arts alone is about 2 hours.

A cool way you can get to the museum is by taking the QLINE either northbound or southbound, depending where you are in the city. Exit the QLINE at the Warren Ave stop and walk about 5 minutes.

If you elect to drive there instead, parking in the Museum Lot costs a flat rate of only $7. If you can find parking on the street, you can pay even less by paying by the hour. Many streets in Detroit only charge $1 per hour!

Purchasing a single adult ticket online for the DIA will cost $21.50. I think if you buy at the museum, they're a couple dollars less.

However, if you're a Michigan resident and live in either Macomb, Wayne, or Oakland county, admission to the DIA is free.

Second floor and exterior

Even before you enter the doors of the Detroit Institute of Arts, you get the opportunity to see amazing sculptures and statues outside!

In an honorary mention on Detroit's most beautiful art sculptures, I included The Thinker statue you'll see near the entrance. Granted, this statue is a replica, not the original.

When you enter the museum, you are actually on the second floor, not the first. Once you either purchase a ticket or check-in, you can go left for African American art, go right for European Medieval and Renaissance Art, or proceed straight into the Great Hall.

I would recommend going straight to the Great Hall. But you'll stop. The reason you'll stop?

Let the two pictures below answer that for you!

After absorbing the grandeur of the Great Hall, make the first left into the Manoogian Wing. This entry way leads you to the American art section of the DIA.

A little more...

... and then you see... this.

After walking through the American art section, you can return to the Great Hall and then proceed into Rivera Court, where you'll see murals that are designated as a National Historic Landmark!

These murals are entitled the 'Detroit Industry Murals'.

Here is part of one of the Detroit Industry Murals up close.

From Great Hall, if you enter Rivera Court, turn left, and then walk all the down, you'll come to another section for African American Art.

Many of the paintings in this part of the museum caught my attention, due to their quirkiness, imagination, and use of color.

I liked this one too.

From the Great Hall, if you step inside Rivera Court and then turn right, you'll walk a stone corridor which leads you to other art sections. This corridor itself is just... incredible.

The A. Alfred Taubman Wing leads to European Medieval and Renaissance era art.

In the European Medieval and Renaissance art section, close to an entrance from Great Hall, you'll see this really cool and narrow spiral staircase which leads you down to the first floor of the museum, near Kresge Court.

Now, I'll show some great pieces of art on the first floor...

First floor

On the first floor of the DIA, you'll find Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Egyptian, Native American, and several other art sections.

Below are selections of art pieces that grabbed my attention:

The first floor of the DIA has two dining options: Kresge Court and CafeDIA.

In CafeDIA, one of the stations named Il Forno ('the oven' in Italian) serves Detroit style pizza. Eating some Detroit style pizza while visiting Detroit is one of the many things I strongly suggest doing!

Let's advance up to the third and final floor of the museum...

Third floor

If there is one complaint I have with the DIA (at least when I visited), it's that the third floor was a pain in the ass to get to.

Everytime I thought I had found stairs or an elevator to ascend to the third floor, the stairs or elevator would be closed!

To get to the third floor, I found some stairs near one of the African American art sections-- the section I wrote about earlier in the article.

The third floor of the DIA is the smallest floor. Here, you'll find British, Dutch, and other sections labeled Decorative Arts, Fashionable Living, and Era of Revolution.

The highlight of the third floor is the Fashionable Living section. Be sure to check out the Kenzler Room!

You can also enjoy looking down at the lower floor from the rails.

Conclusion

Of the 65,000+ artpieces inside the Detroit Institute of Arts, what I have shown here is only a tiny fraction. These are the artpieces which stood out to me the most and the ones I personally regard as the museum's masterpieces.

There are many more pictures I could have included in the article. However, I chose not to insert them, as I don't want to spoil the whole museum for you. And given how large the museum is, that'd be difficult to do anyway!

What do you think of the artpieces I curated for this article? Have they inspired you to go visit the DIA? Are there artpieces you feel I should have mentioned but faiied to? Let me know-- I always enjoy hearing from my subscribers and readers!


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