Art on the block

METRO DETROIT — This weekend, shoppers can support a local retailer along with the Detroit Institute of Arts. A percentage of net sales Oct. 22-23 at Wayne and Oakland County Borders stores — including the Grosse Pointe City store — will go to the DIA during Benefit Days[...]The Benefit Days are being held in conjunction with the DIA’s Inside/Out project, in which 40 high-quality digital reproductions of DIA masterpieces have been installed at spots throughout the metro region[...]

DIA Marketing Director Matt Fry said because the DIA is celebrating its 125th anniversary, Beal and the museum’s curators chose 125 works for an upcoming tour in the museum.
“These works embody the strength, breadth and depth of the DIA’s collection,” Fry said. “From there, Larry Baranski, director of public programs, worked with his team to choose 40 works based on the same criteria.”[...]

Created using waterproof vinyl, the reproductions were made by the local company SM/ART Editions, which is selling copies of the works through its website, www.ArtDoneSmart.com.

“We’re having fun with great art,” Fry said. “It’s an opportunity to go out into different communities, meet residents and business owners, and bring a piece of the museum with us — reproduced piece, that is. It’s a reminder of how art is the universal language: Everyone can appreciate something about a great work of art. People are responding in so many different ways, and that has led to great interactions between the people at the DIA and the people of metro Detroit.”

Fry said a couple took wedding pictures in front of “Syria by the Sea” at Michigan Central Station, and one woman told him her daughter had been to all 40 locations to see the art. Beal said public response to Inside/Out has been extremely positive.