The 2013 campaign to defend the Detroit Institute of Arts
New Met Opera contract sets precedent for further givebacks
By Fred Mazelis, 20 August 2014
An all-night bargaining session produced a four-year deal based on “equality of sacrifice.”
New analysis of the Detroit Institute of Arts responds to creditors and unions
By David Walsh, 12 July 2014
A leading New York art advisory firm issued a report July 8 on the value of the collection at the DIA and the feasibility of a sale of that artwork, as well as its effect on the art market.
Bankruptcy court approves new appraisal of Detroit Institute of Arts collection
By Thomas Gaist, 4 June 2014
Efforts to sell the art collection outright continue despite the much-touted “Grand Bargain”
The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit’s creditors, the investment bankers, the unions, academia and identity politics
By David Walsh, 22 April 2014
A group of Detroit’s creditors has been dangling the DIA’s irreplaceable artwork in front of various hedge funds, private equity firms, billionaire collectors and auction houses.
Creditors, unions renew effort to loot Detroit Institute of Arts
By David Walsh, 12 April 2014
Major Detroit creditors filed a motion in federal bankruptcy court calling on the court to order the city to cooperate with investor groups interested in purchasing some or all of the DIA’s collection.
Report to the Workers Inquiry
Art and the working class
By David Walsh, 26 February 2014
This report was presented February 15 to the Workers Inquiry into the Bankruptcy of Detroit and the Attack on the DIA & Pensions by David Walsh, World Socialist Web Site arts editor.
Behind the fraudulent “rescue” plan
Emergency Manager seeks to extort $100 million from Detroit Institute of Arts
By Thomas Gaist, 18 January 2014
The $100 million demand amounts to an act of extortion and would have a ruinous impact on the museum’s balance sheet.
Australia: National Gallery of Victoria patrons denounce selloff of Detroit masterpieces
By our reporters, 3 January 2014
“These things are owned by the people, not just by the city council; they’re the people’s property.”
”They want to go back to the days when art was only for the wealthy”
DIA visitors support Workers Inquiry
By Jerry White, 30 December 2013
A Socialist Equality Party team campaigned outside the Detroit Institute of Arts Saturday to build for the Workers Inquiry into the Attack on the DIA to be held February 15 at Wayne State University.
Christie’s appraisal paves way for sale of Detroit Institute of Arts masterpieces
By Joseph Kishore, 20 December 2013
An itemized list from the New York City auction house places the combined monetary value of a selection of the DIA’s most significant artwork at $867 million.
Detroit Institute of Arts privatization plan would undermine both art and pensions
By Jerry White, 13 December 2013
Although the details of the secret discussions involving the fate of the Detroit Institute of Arts remain sketchy, a federal mediator in the Detroit bankruptcy case is reportedly close to a deal that would privatize the DIA.
The implications of privatizing the Detroit Institute of Arts
By David Walsh, 12 December 2013
The proposal to set up a private trust that would buy the Detroit Institute of Arts from the city of Detroit is historically regressive and would place the priceless artwork firmly in the hands of the moneyed elite.
The Detroit bankruptcy ruling
By Jerry White, 5 December 2013
The Detroit bankruptcy ruling handed down Tuesday is a turning point in class relations in the United States.
Detroit workers and students react to bankruptcy ruling
By Thomas Gaist, 5 December 2013
A WSWS reporting team spoke with Detroit Water and Sewerage Department workers and Wayne State University students Wednesday about the Detroit bankruptcy ruling.
”Art has a long term value which dwarves that of a quick, soon to be forgotten buck”
UK Royal Academy of Arts curator opposes sale of Detroit Institute of Arts artwork
15 November 2013
As part of the campaign opposing the closure of the Detroit Institute of Arts, the SEP (Britain) solicited this statement from Dr. Adrian Locke.
Nazi looted art works discovered in Munich
By Verena Nees, 13 November 2013
The Augsburg state prosecutor is trying to prevent a public debate about the continuing sale of art works stolen by the Hitler regime.
School District of Philadelphia considers selling off artwork to cut deficit
By Nick Barrickman, 8 November 2013
In a development that bears comparison to the crisis in Detroit, the Philadelphia schools have contemplated the sale of major works of art.
For a Workers Inquiry into the Attack on the DIA and the Bankruptcy of Detroit!
Statement of the Socialist Equality Party
4 November 2013
The Socialist Equality Party and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality are organizing a Workers Inquiry as the next stage in the Battle of Detroit in opposition to the entire political establishment.
Los Angeles museum visitors oppose sell-off of DIA artwork
“More people should be educated about art today, not less”
By Dan Conway and Danielle DeSaxe, 23 October 2013
WSWS reporters spoke Saturday with visitors to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, who denounced plans by Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr to “monetize” works from the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Union-backed mayoral candidate proposes selloff of DIA artwork
By Bryan Dyne, 19 October 2013
Former police chief and current mayoral candidate Benny Napoleon said he would sell the art at the DIA to prevent the layoff of police officers.
CBS “60 Minutes” report on Detroit: An apologia for Wall Street looting
By Shannon Jones, 16 October 2013
In so far as the report presents any explanation for the crisis in the city, it is to suggest that overly generous wages and benefits are to blame.
Video: Auto workers defend Detroit Institute of Arts
15 October 2013
Chrysler and Ford workers voice their opposition to the threatened sale of art from the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Video: Rally participants speak on the demonstration in defense of the DIA
10 October 2013
Workers and students spoke on their reasons for attending the “Defend the DIA” demonstration on October 4.
Endorsements for Defend the DIA campaign
10 October 2013
Messages of support for the campaign to defend the DIA.
“Without the DIA we would not know anything about culture”
Workers and students speak out in defense of the DIA
By WSWS reporters, 8 October 2013
The WSWS is publishing more interviews from the hundreds of workers and youth who attended last Friday’s demonstration.
The significance of the rally to defend the Detroit Institute of Arts
By Joseph Kishore and David North, 7 October 2013
Hundreds of workers and youth attended the demonstration called by the Socialist Equality Party, in the first expression of mass opposition to the demands of Detroit’s emergency manager.
Video: Hundreds rally to defend the Detroit Institute of Arts
By Andre Damon, 7 October 2013
The demonstration, called by the Socialist Equality Party and International Youth and Students for Social Equality, gave expression to popular opposition to the dictates of Detroit’s emergency manager.
Hundreds rally to oppose sale of art at the Detroit Institute of Arts
By Shannon Jones, 5 October 2013
Five hundred youth, workers, students, professionals and retirees from across the Detroit area expressed the mass opposition to the dictates of the city's emergency manager and the threat to loot the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Workers and young people at demonstration speak out in defense of the DIA
By Tim Rivers, 5 October 2013
Workers and young people spoke to the WSWS about why they had come to the demonstration.
Video: Excerpts from the demonstration to defend the DIA
5 October 2013
Hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the Detroit Institute of Arts to protest plans to sell the artwork by Detroit's Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr. The demonstration was called by the Socialist Equality Party and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality.
Detroit emergency manager escalates threats against DIA art
By Shannon Jones, 4 October 2013
At a Detroit Economic Club luncheon, Emergency Manger Kevyn Orr reiterated his determination to sell DIA artworks to pay off the city’s creditors.
Downtown Detroit tenants facing eviction support demonstration to save the DIA
By Betty Hayes, 4 October 2013
Detroit residents facing eviction due to gentrification are sending a delegation to the October 4 demonstration.
”To sell off any of its assets is to rob us all!”
Endorsements flood in on eve of DIA demonstration
4 October 2013
Messages of support for the campaign to defend the DIA and the October 4 demonstration continue to come in from throughout the US and internationally.
The Detroit Institute of Arts and the defense of culture in the US
By Joseph Kishore, 3 October 2013
On Friday, the Socialist Equality Party is holding a demonstration outside the Detroit Institute of Arts, the first stage in the party’s campaign to oppose the threatened sale of the museum’s treasures.
Australian filmmaker condemns moves to sell DIA collection
3 October 2013
Paul Cox said: “Selling these fine works of art is the most disturbing news I’ve heard for a long time.”
Video: Press conference held for “Defend the DIA” demonstration
By James Brewer, 3 October 2013
The Socialist Equality Party and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality held a press conference Tuesday to prepare for Friday’s rally to defend the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Detroit area residents speak against sale of DIA art and budget cuts
By a WSWS reporting team, 3 October 2013
An SEP and IYSSE campaign team spoke to workers and young people at Detroit’s Eastern Market about the threatened sale of DIA artworks and the ongoing cuts in social services.
Visitors to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art condemn the sale of DIA artwork
By a WSWS reporting team, 3 October 2013
Informed about the threatened selloff of the masterpieces of the Detroit Institute of Arts, visitors at New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art responded with shock and voiced support for public access to culture.
The working class and the Detroit Industry murals at the DIA
Diego Rivera’s “Battle of Detroit”
By Tom Mackaman and Jerry White, 3 October 2013
The production of Rivera’s murals at the Detroit Institute of Arts, begun just months after the massacre of protesting workers near Ford’s River Rouge industrial complex, was a major political event.
“The art at the DIA belongs to the people, not to the rich!”
SEP and IYSSE hold press conference to announce October 4 rally to defend the DIA
2 October 2013
Lawrence Porter, the SEP’s assistant national secretary, delivered the main remarks at the press conference, which was covered by local media.
More endorsements of the “Defend the DIA” campaign
2 October 2013
Messages of support for the October 4 demonstration to defend the DIA continue to stream in from the US and internationally.
The Obama administration and the Detroit bankruptcy
By Joseph Kishore, 30 September 2013
Obama administration officials visited Detroit to provide a fig leaf of “reform” to the emergency manager’s plans to slash pensions and health care and sell off art from the Detroit Institute of Arts.
“The DIA has really helped educate me”
High school students defend Detroit Institute of Arts
By Zac Corrigan and Usman Clemens, 30 September 2013
The DIA, which regularly hosts school visits and runs outreach programs to area schools and communities, has long had a powerful impact on young people.
On the 80th anniversary of the DIA’s Rivera Court
Museum show misrepresents Detroit’s crisis and history
By Tim Rivers, 30 September 2013
An exhibition of 14 mural panels commemorating the completion eighty years ago, in March 1933, of Diego Rivera’s Detroit Industry frescoes opened September 4 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit.
Detroit blues singer Thornetta Davis: “DIA is important to the youth of Detroit”
28 September 2013
The campaign to defend the DIA is winning widespread support from workers and youth throughout the country and internationally.
Detroit’s Belle Isle, Frederick Law Olmsted and popular access to culture
By Tom Mackaman, 28 September 2013
Along with the Detroit Institute of Arts, Belle Isle Park in Detroit, initially designed by celebrated landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, is being sized up for sale or liquidation.
Video: Detroit creative art students denounce DIA selloff plans
27 September 2013
Students and visitors at the College for Creative Studies, across the street from the Detroit Institute of Arts, spoke to the WSWS.
Film showing in Detroit, Michigan: The Rape of Europa
27 September 2013
The Wayne State University International Youth and Students for Social Equality will be showing a film today on the Nazi looting of European art.
Worldwide support for campaign to defend DIA
27 September 2013
The campaign by the Socialist Equality Party to defend the Detroit Institute of Arts is evoking support from all over the globe.
Detroit city workers denounce threatened sale of DIA art
By WSWS reporting team, 26 September 2013
A WSWS reporting team spoke to Detroit city workers Tuesday about the threat to sell works from the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Workers, students, musicians endorse demonstration in defense of the Detroit Institute of Arts
26 September 2013
Students, artists and workers are among those calling for support for the October 4 demonstration called by the SEP and IYSSE to oppose the selloff of art.
The working class and the Detroit Institute of Arts
By Joseph Kishore, 25 September 2013
The fight against the sale of artwork at the Detroit Institute of Arts is of the highest importance to the working class in Detroit, throughout the United States and internationally.
Support builds for demonstration to defend Detroit Institute of Arts
By Jerry White, 24 September 2013
Momentum is building for the October 4 demonstration called by the SEP and International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) to oppose the selloff of the masterpieces of the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Video: The fight to defend the Detroit Institute of Arts
By Andre Damon, 23 September 2013
In this video, members of the SEP speak about the historical significance of the museum, the political implications of the drive to sell its art, and the fight to organize workers in its defense.
“This is our culture”
Chrysler workers voice support for Detroit Institute of Arts
By Jerry White, 23 September 2013
Auto workers at Chrysler’s truck assembly plant in the Detroit suburb of Warren expressed deep support for the arts and anger over the emergency manager’s threat to sell off the masterpieces of the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Mass opposition in Detroit to planned cuts in pensions, sell off of DIA artwork
By Joseph Kishore, 23 September 2013
Polls show overwhelming popular opposition to proposals from Detroit’s Emergency Manager to cut pensions and sell off art from the Detroit Institute of Arts, potentially shutting down the museum.
Video: Wayne State University students and staff oppose selloff of DIA art
By James Brewer and Lawrence Porter, 20 September 2013
A WSWS team visited Detroit’s Wayne State University campus to campaign against the selloff of art and document the feelings of students and staff.
Students, professors denounce threat to the Detroit Institute of Arts
“It is like selling the soul of the city”
By our reporters, 18 September 2013
At Wayne State University there is widespread opposition to the selloff of masterpieces from the Detroit Institute of Arts threatened by the city’s emergency manager.
The defense of culture and the crisis in Detroit
By David Walsh, 17 September 2013
We are posting today an edited version of a talk given by WSWS Arts Editor David Walsh to a June 13 meeting on the threat to the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Eighty years of the Diego Rivera murals at the Detroit Institute of Arts
By Tim Rivers and David Walsh, 5 September 2013
The murals at the DIA, which Diego Rivera later asserted were his favorite works, represent an artistic coming to terms with modern life and its implications that is almost without parallel.
Residents, visitors denounce plan to sell treasures from the Detroit Institute of Arts
By Tim Rivers, 26 August 2013
Many people the WSWS spoke to Saturday in downtown Detroit expressed outrage over the threat to sell precious works from one of the world’s great museum collections.
Christie’s appraisal of Detroit museum’s artwork “like the weighing of souls”
By David Walsh, 21 August 2013
More details have emerged about the agreement between Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr and Christie’s auction house concerning the appraisal of major works at the Detroit Institute of Arts.
The working class and the defense of the Detroit Institute of Arts
By David Walsh, 14 August 2013
The threat to the DIA speaks to the threat to culture and all of the social rights of working people posed by the existing social order.
Christie’s auction house hired to appraise DIA collection
By Janel Flechsig, 7 August 2013
The auction house is reportedly being paid $200,000 to assess the museum’s artwork for possible liquidation as part of Detroit’s bankruptcy proceedings.
Christie’s appraises the Detroit Institute of Arts collection for possible sale
By Janel Flechsig, 30 July 2013
The world’s largest fine art auction house visited the Detroit Institute of Arts in early June to appraise the value of the museum’s collection in preparation for its possible selloff.
What the WSWS said about the Detroit Institute of Arts millage
15 June 2013
We are reposting below a statement originally published by the WSWS last August opposing a property tax promoted by the political and corporate establishment of Detroit and Michigan for the ostensible purpose of “saving” the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Interview with artist Jef Bourgeau about the threat to the Detroit Institute of Arts
“Art shapes the way you see the world”
By David Walsh and Joanne Laurier, 12 June 2013
We recently spoke to Detroit-area artist Jef Bourgeau about the threat to sell off major works of the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) and related matters.
Socialist Equality Party candidate campaigns against Detroit Institute of Arts selloff
By Andre Damon, 10 June 2013
D’Artagnan Collier spoke to workers and youth about threats to sell off the DIA’s art to pay off Detroit’s bondholders.
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