WIDELY REVIEWED: DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS RENOVATION AND EXPANSION

The Detroit Institute of Arts reopens today after a six-year, $158 million renovation and expansion by the architect Michael Graves. As Mark Stryker writers in the Detroit Free Press, the “buzz for months has focused on whether the visitor-friendly philosophy driving the reinstallation of 5,500 pieces—with its emphasis on thematic displays, big and bold labels in plain English, and interactive elements—was another step in the long death spiral of Western civilization or the stirring of a counterrevolution.” He continues: “It works . . . [favoring] an earthly public square that actively mediates a discussion between the visitor and the art.” In the Detroit Metro Times, Rebecca Mazzei concurs: “Aside from special exhibitions, only a small number of people went [to the old DIA] frequently. This renovation gives more of us reason to excitedly return and look with fresh eyes.” In the New York Times, an article published on November 11 focused on the exhibition of new work by artist Julie Mehretu that opens with the museum. A review by Holland Cotter of the new building and its rethought exhibition galleries was published today and contains this assessment: “There is potentially much to feel good about. A master plan designed by the architect Michael Graves, reorganizing the museum’s interior and expanding its gallery space by 31,000 square feet, has been completed. The permanent collection, with its gems of Flemish, Dutch and American art, has been freshly and inventively reinstalled. A new gallery of African-American art, one of the few of its kind, is in place. But there is also much to ponder. . . . In short, this story of a vulnerable institution in a spirited but depressed town is one of modest triumphs mingled with failures.”