Despite the city’s economic woes, The New York Times reports that Detroit’s art scene is thriving, with a number of galleries returning to locations within city limits, and a number of arts hubs have already developed, alongside a popular art open with over 60 participating galleries.  “I think we’ll have a little cloud for a while, but I don’t think it’s going to be long-lasting,” said George N’Namdi, founder of the N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art. (more…)

The Detroit Free Press reports that city emergency manager Kevyn Orr has contracted Christie’s to appraise a portion of the Detroit Institute of Arts‘ city-owned collection.  While some have taken this as a further step in the potential selloff of much of the DIA’s collection, Orr himself spoke out on the contrary: “There has never been, nor is there now, any plan to sell art. This valuation, as well as the valuation of other City assets, is an integral part of the restructuring process. It is a step the city must take to reach resolutions with its creditors and secure a viable, strong future for Detroit and its residents.” (more…)

Graham Beal, the current Director of the Detroit Institute of Arts, has published a letter in the New York Times, asking journalists and analysts to refrain from overt speculation and panic on the future of the city’s museum.  “True, any successful effort to liquidate D.I.A. art would precipitate a series of events likely to lead to its closing, but we are a very long way from actions that would ‘denude its prestigious collection of its most valuable artworks. ‘We believe that a healthy D.I.A. is, in fact, a crucial component in any recovery of the city of Detroit.”  He writes. (more…)

Detroit’s bankruptcy filing this week has once again placed the future of the Detroit Institute of Arts collection in question, with creditors sizing up the museum’s collection of works by Caravaggio, van Gogh and more.  Despite arguments for the preservation of the collection, emergency manager Kevyn D. Orr’s spokesman, Bill Nowling claims:  “We cannot negotiate in good faith with our creditors by taking assets off the table. And all of our creditors have asked about the worth of the D.I.A. And we’ve told them that they’re welcome to find out.” (more…)

Michigan’s Attorney General Bill Schuette has spoken out on the proposed plan to auction off parts of the Detroit Institute of Art’s collection to pay off some of the city’s considerable debts.  Speaking on Thursday, Schuette emphasized the public nature of the collection, and its role as part of a public trust.  “The art collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts is held by the city of Detroit in charitable trust for the people of Michigan, and no piece in the collection can thus be sold, conveyed or transferred to satisfy City debts or obligations.”  He said. (more…)

Mike Kelley, Eternity is a Long Time (Installation View), Photo by Agostino Osio Courtesy Fondazione HangarBicocca, Milan All Mike Kelley works © Estate of Mike Kelley  

Running in tandem with this summer’s Venice Biennale, Milan’s HangarBicocca is currently presenting a selection of works by the late American conceptual master Mike Kelley, culling together a series of sculptures, installations and video from the last few years of his life, alongside several of his earlier notable conceptual pieces.

Mike Kelley, Eternity is a Long Time (Installation View), Photo by Agostino Osio Courtesy Fondazione HangarBicocca, Milan All Mike Kelley works © Estate of Mike Kelley   (more…)

In response to a city proposal to sell off work from the Detroit Institute of Art’s collection to cover a city debt of $15 billion, the Detroit Institute’s director has stated that the work is held “in the public trust,” and cannot be bought or sold. “They’re interested in making a healthy and viable Detroit,” the director, Graham W. J. Beal, said on Friday in a telephone interview. “We believe that that kind of action — diminishing our collection, the cultural value — would not be in the long-term interest.”

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Mobile Homestead, one of the last works created by American artist Mike Kelley before his suicide last year, will open at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit on May 11th.  The piece, a loyal recreation of Kelley’s childhood home in suburban Detroit, will be used as a community space of sorts, open for the people of Kelley’s home city to hold shows, art events or meetings.  “He kept saying to me, ‘This is never going to happen — it’s a joke,’ because that’s the way he was,” said Marsha Miro, founder and director of the contemporary museum. “But he also said he thought it would be one of the most important things he ever did, partly because it would keep on being a living piece.” (more…)

As part of a Juxtapoz Magazine-benefit auction for the Ride It skatepark in Detroit, artist Matthew Barney has designed a special edition skateboard, tipped with a chunk of graphite. Part of Barney’s ongoing “Drawing Restraint” series, the design allows riders to literally inscribe their movements across a terrain. (more…)

‪‬W Magazine posits Detroit as Berlin.  Struggling economy allows cheap spaces for creatives [AO Newslink]

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