Detroit renaissance
DETROIT -- Travelers who steer clear of Motown because of the city's less-than-stellar reputation are making a big mistake.
Sure, Detroit has problems -- serious problems -- but unless you're looking to resettle and find a job there, the pluses of a visit easily outweigh the minuses.
This is still a great place to spend a weekend or more, exploring the city's vast cultural institutions, many founded back when Detroit was one of the nation's leading hubs of commerce and industry.
On a visit to the city a few years ago, I spent most of my stay downtown, using the handy People Mover to visit nearby destinations such as the sports venues Ford Field, Joe Louis Arena and Comerica Park; the shops and restaurants at the GM Renaissance Center; and interesting, tourist-friendly downtown neighborhoods such as Greektown.
On my latest trip, I went a bit farther afield, to the midtown Culture Center Historic District, adjacent to Wayne State University. I was lured to the area by a massive renovation of the district's centerpiece, the Detroit Institute of Arts, considered one of the country's most important art museums.
The DIA, as it's known, has just undergone a six-year, $158 million restoration that recaptures the grandeur of the main 1927 Beaux Arts-style building while incorporating the latest innovations in museum conservation, display and interpretation.
The museum, closed for the final six months of the project, reopened at the end of November.
The day of my visit, I arrived just in time for one of the museum's guided tours, offered free with the price of admission. The tours give a great, if cursory, introduction to the 60,000 works of art contained in the museum's 650,000 square feet of space.
About 100 people gathered for the afternoon tour. The size of the tour wasn't a problem, although we did have to board elevators in several groups. I found I could, without appearing to be rude, wander off (staying within the sound of the guide's voice) and look at various items of interest whenever I wanted.
And I found plenty to attract my interest.
The art is still displayed in the traditional manner, clustered by the region and era in which it was produced. But certain galleries also are centered on "big themes," as our guide called them, such as "clothing as an expression of Native American identity."
The new displays offer much more in the way of interpretive notes, labels and information than in the past.
Several books or scrolls, which of course can't be handled by patrons, are displayed with computer screens. Visitors can "page through" the books or "unroll" the scrolls electronically to view the entire work.
In a gallery featuring Renaissance furniture and decorative household objects, a computer "dining table" displays a video of a three-course banquet, complete with changing, specialized tableware for each course.
And at "Eye Spy" spots throughout the museum, children -- and playful adults -- are challenged to find "hidden" elements such as an earring on a portrait or a carved frog on a statue.
But some things just can't be improved upon. In another room, interpretive signs guide visitors through a comparison of paintings and sculptures by Cezanne, Degas, Renoir, Rodin and van Gogh. (The van Gogh self-portrait, acquired in 1922, was the first painting by the artist ever purchased for a U.S. public collection.)
I could have spent my whole trip at the DIA, but I had several other stops on my itinerary.
Columbus has a better child-oriented science museum in COSI Columbus, but the Detroit Science Center, across the street from the DIA, is still a lot of fun for the younger set. Exhibits include an 80-foot-long, 19-foot-tall scale model of the Mackinac Bridge, added last year to celebrate the bridge's 50th anniversary. And like COSI, the Detroit Science Center also has a nice planetarium.
But an institution unique to Detroit is the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. The museum's 10-year-old building is itself a work of art, with a 100-foot high, 55-foot diameter glass dome in the main entrance hall.
The displays, which according to the museum make up the world's largest permanent exhibit of black American culture, moved me more than I expected.
Among the displays is a two-story re-creation of a slave ship. Hearing the creaking of the planks, experiencing the darkness of the cargo holds, and then, as my eyes adjusted to the light, making out the shapes of bodies -- mannequins packed into the space like sardines in a can -- brought into focus the reality of what millions of humans experienced little more than two centuries ago.
The museum also includes traveling exhibits, including the current "Soul Sanctuary: Images of the African American Worship Experience," 75 works by photographer Jason Miccolo depicting scenes from black churches throughout the country.
Another venerable Cultural Center institution, the Detroit Historical Museum, is also worth a few hours of a visitor's time.
My favorite display highlighted the dozens of old downtown and neighborhood theaters that once dotted the region.
An auto-industry display also was fascinating, although it seemed to be several years out of date, with headlines ending before the most recent industry downturn.
The museum also has a fun O-gauge model railway display. The Lionel model-train company has headquarters in Michigan.
A small neighborhood gem is the Scarab Club, formed a century ago by a group of artists and art lovers to advance the arts in Detroit. It is still pursuing that goal.
The Scarab Club home, a delightful brick Italian Renaissance three-story built in 1928, houses art exhibitions and is usually open to the public. (Be sure to visit the second-floor lounge with its original murals, massive ceiling beams and large fireplace.)
One final stop, not within the Cultural Center but certainly within the heart of pop-music lovers, is the Motown Historical Museum. The museum is in the W. Grand Boulevard house where Barry Gordy Jr. founded the Motown record label. This was also where Gordy set up his studio and where dozens of hit singles were recorded in the 1960s.
Visitors can see the original control-room equipment and stand in "Studio A," where stars such as Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and Gladys Knight recorded their early hits.
Leaving the museum, whistling You Can't Hurry Love, I found it hard not to feel optimistic and upbeat, even in Detroit.