Michigan Capitol and Detroit Institute of the Arts

I can say now with conviction that there's no better time to visit the Michigan Capitol than on a rainy day with 25 parochial-school 4th-graders from ultra-rural Beal City. Accompanied by a good friend from California, I tagged along on a tour given by a retired special-education teacher who excellently maintained control and interest of both the students and the adults. Together, we learned that the current Michigan Capitol, a grand, neoclassical domed structure, completed in 1878, is the third capitol to house the Michigan legislature. The first capitol was located in Detroit. A new temporary capitol was built in Lansing when the state capital was moved to this spot, shielded by marshy woods from the dangers of a Canadian invasion. The permanent capitol, built to be fireproof, was started in 1872 and finished in 1878. This building was built of brick with a cosmetic Ohio sandstone facade. Incidentally, the temporary wooden capitol burned to the ground in 1882.

The Michigan Capitol successfully communicates the values I've perceived in Michigan and Michiganders: pride without pretension, open-ness with savvy. As a public space, the capitol welcomes visitors but then doesn't try over-hard to impress them. At the same time, the extraordinary attention to detail that went into the renovation of the building in the 1980s is apparent everywhere. The water-colored ceilings shine warmly and the textured paint on the walls and false-marble mouldings invite visitors to remain aware of their surroundings as they are gently urged by docents to get to know their legislators and their staffers, to think wisely about how the state's money is spent. In a building like this, I am reminded of the value of not always striving for that perfectly utilitarian image. Inspiration can be a tangible quality of a public space.

This same inspirational quality suffuses the Detroit Institute of the Arts, located in an accessible section of Detroit right off of I94. Detroit's grand boulevards do not glitter, especially in the driving autumn rain and the DIA, accessible now primarily via its limestone annex does not overwhelm the visitor with grandeur upon entry. The inspiration emerges through the process of discovery within the museum. Everywhere are internal courtyards filled with light that seem to invite the visitor to stumble upon them. The first we found was the Kresge court designed with 4 facades each meant to evoke a different period in the history of European art.

The most astonishing space we stumbled upon in the museum was the Rivera court. Perhaps, our experience serves as a testament to the unplanned, serendipitous museum visit. We literally ran into the Diego Rivera Detroit Industry murals as we wandered from early European art to modernism. Suddenly, we were surrounded by a magnifcent and disturbing allegory of industry: the delicate balance with the natural world and the ambiguous consequences for social systems. Each figure was rendered with a larger-than-life humanity. I've purchased the definitive book on the murals and look forward to returning to the museum for a more informed visit next time; perhaps I'll listen to the (free!) audio tour and mix my awe with guided interpretation.



In general, the DIA does an excellent job of offering educational interpretation within its galleries, moving beyond the conoisseur-model and toward a more informative approach. As my husband noted with approval, the DIA feels like a cultural history museum, not just like an art museum.