The confluence of the opening of “Life’s Pleasures: The Ashcan Artists’ Brush with Leisure,” and the reinstallation of the American collections in the refurbished galleries of The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) highlights a golden era in Detroit’s cultural and artistic history. This  three-part celebration of Detroit’s golden age organized with Initiatives in Art and Culture marks the DIA’s reopening and celebrates the Ashcan exhibition.

1. (Thursday evening March 27– Friday, March 28, 2008) The first symposium is devoted to what is termed the Ashcan School, expanding the number of associated artists from the commonly identified five or six to a broader group, thus redefining an aspect of our understanding of this School of American painting; in line with Robert Henri’s dicta, these artists captured the world as they found it, absorbing  “the great ideas native to this country.” This symposium is complemented by receptions at the Manoogian collection and the Scarab Club, Detroit’s oldest artists’ club, with rafters signed by artists including John Sloan.

2. (Saturday – Sunday, March 29 – 30, 2008) The prominence given Robert Henri, leading Ashcan artist and teacher, in the pages of Gustav Stickley’s Arts and Crafts bible, The Craftsman, cements the link between the Ashcan school and the Arts and Crafts Movement, the focus of the second symposium. It has been noted that between 1906 and 1911 almost every major craftsman working in Europe and America was represented at the Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts (DSAC), which by 1916 became the first American Society of Arts and Crafts to erect its own building. This two-day component consists of lectures, site visits (Pewabic Pottery, the Guardian Building, and the Eleanor and Edsel Ford Residence, to cite three), architectural tours, and collections exploration, focusing on the importance of the Arts and Crafts Movement in Detroit and the significant, newly re-installed objects in the DIA collections.

3. (Monday, March 31, 2008) A day-long trip to Cranbrook, founded by founding DSAC president George Booth and his wife Ellen and reflecting the concerns of both the Ashcan School and the Arts and Crafts movement, to tour the campus, studios, and collections, and privately view the major Saarinen exhibition. In the 1920s, Cranbrook was designed using the ideals of Arts and Crafts movement. Booth’s philosophy was fully realized at Cranbrook, an institution devoted to training in and development of craft traditions that continues to flourish.

Among those who have agreed to participate in Circa 1900 are: Melanie Bazil, independent scholar focused on the Detroit Arts and Crafts Movement who was Director of Pewabic Pottery Museum/Archives (1988 – 1996); Avis Berman, art historian and author, among whose publications are: My Love Affair with Modern Art: Behind the Scenes with a Legendary Curator (with K. Kuh) and Rebels on Eighth Street: Juliana Force and the Whitney Museum of American Art; Beverly K. Brandt, professor of design, Arizona State University, Tempe and author of seminal publications on the Arts and Crafts movement including The Craftsman & The Critic; W. Scott Braznell, independent scholar in modern American design with a specialty in metalwork; Mark Coir, Director of Archives and Cultural Properties, Cranbrook Educational Community; Michael E. Crane, independent curator and adjunct professor, humanities department, Wayne State University; Iris Eichenberg, Artist-in-Residence and Head of the Metalsmithing Department, Cranbrook Academy of Art; Betsy Fahlman, University of Arizona, Tempe, and authority on Guy Pène du Bois; John Gallagher, writer about architecture and urban development for the Detroit Free Press and co-author AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture (2003); William H. Gerdts, professor emeritus of art history, Graduate School of the City University of New York, and leading scholar in American art; Lisa Koenigsberg, founder and president, Initiatives in Art & Culture, and cultural historian who originated the series of annual Arts and Crafts conferences (19990 and the annual American painting conference (1996); Valerie Ann Leeds, leading authority on Robert Henri; Judith Hansen O’Toole, Director/CEO, Westmoreland Museum of American Art, who has organized exhibitions on, movements and artists of the early 20th century, including George Luks; Barbara Stone Perry, authority on ceramics of the American Arts and Crafts movement among whose publications is American Art Pottery (1997); and formerly, curator of decorative arts, Mint Museum of Art; Julie L. Sloan, stained-glass consultant and author of numerous publications on stained glass history and conservation; Suzanne Smeaton, frame historian and gallery director, Eli Wilner & Co.; James W. Tottis, associate curator, American art, DIA and organizing curator, “Life’s Pleasures: The Ashcan Artists’ Brush with Leisure”; MaryAnn Wilkinson, curator of European Modern Art at the DIA; and Richard Guy Wilson, Commonwealth Professor of Architectural History, University of Virginia, Charlottesville.

Detroit Conference hotels — A special nightly rate is available to participants at:

The Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center - 100 Renaissance Center Drive:
Double or single occupancy rooms are available at the conference rate of $179 per night by calling 800-228-9290 and identifying yourself as a DIA CIRCA 1900 participant. To reserve online, go to http://marriott.com/dtwdt?groupCode=diadiaa&app=resvlink

Reservation must be made by February 28, 2008 to guarantee the conference rate. The Marriott Renaissance Center is 3.24 miles from the DIA.

The St. Regis Detroit - 3071 W. Grand Blvd:
Contact the hotel directly to reserve your double- or single-occupancy rooms at the DIA conference rate of $119 per night by calling 800-848-4810 or 313-873-3000. Identify yourself as a DIA CIRCA 1900 conference participant to receive the discounted rate. Reservation must be made by February 28, 2008 to guarantee the conference rate. The St Regis is located 1 mile from the DIA.

Please fax completed registrations to: Tim Burns, Department of American Art, Detroit Institute of Arts: fax: 313-833-7881 or mail to Tim Burns, Department of American Art, Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Avenue, Detroit 48202. Telephone: 313-833-4025. You may register for one or more components separately or for all three components at a package rate; please note your selection(s) below. To qualify for the Early Bird discount, your registration and payment must be received no later than February 28, 2008. Withdrawals before March 15, 2008, are subject to a full refund.

For additional information
Email Lisa Koenigsberg at:
lisa.koenigsberg@artinititaives.com