What Can You See for Free at the DIA? Vermeer, Picasso, Dalí and More

After tri-county voters in the election yesterday, the Detroit Insititue of Arts wants to make sure that residents get their money's worth.

“When we announced that we would seek the millage, we pledged that if it were to pass we would provide free admission to residents of all three counties. We are immediately following through on that pledge," said Graham W. J. Beal, DIA director, in a press release.

Tri-county voters approved a tax of 0.2 mills for the next 10 years to fund the arts authority, so admission is now free to residents of Oakland, Wayne and Macomb county residents.

Here are some of the special exhibits that residents can see:

A painting by Johannes Vermeer on loan from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. will be on display through Sept. 2. The painting, Woman Holding a Balance, is on view in the Dutch galleries, and the museum wants people to take advantage of the rare opportunity to see a Vermeer painting, as there are only 11 in U.S. museums and 35 in the world.

Two other current exhibitions also can be accessed through the free admission. Five Spanish Masterpieces features loans of paintings by Salvador Dalí, El Greco, Francisco de Goya and Diego Velázquez, along with the DIA’s celebrated Melancholy Woman by Pablo Picasso. Picasso and Matisse: The DIA’s Prints and Drawings showcases almost all the DIA’s works by these two great modern artists.

Museum hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Fridays, and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.