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The redesigned Kresge Court is a cozy spot for DIA patrons to congregate.

oversaw the bankruptcy case in federal
court, received the Dennis W Archer
Public Service Award from the Detroit
Metropolitan Bar Association Foundation.
The awards program was held at the DIA.

THE DIA
EMPLOYEE:
BARBARA HELLER
Barbara Heller of
Birmingham has
worked at the Detroit
Institute of Arts as a
a
conservator for more
Barbara Heller
than 30 years. Now she
is director and conservator of special proj-
ects.
During Detroit's bankruptcy proceed-
ings, Heller worked with the attorneys
to provide details about the items in the
museum's collection. Determining the
worth of the collection was extremely
complicated, she said.
Many of the objects in the museum's
collection have never been adequately val-
ued, she said. The DIA generally declares a
value for a piece of art only when it is lent
out, and that is done for insurance purpos-
es. Many objects were acquired through
bequests and donations from private
donors. The donor declares the value of
the piece, but rarely does the museum do
an independent valuation, and the object's
value often changes in the years following
its acquisition.
Often the actual ownership of pieces is
difficult to determine, Heller said. "Some
purchases in the 1920s and 1930s were
made with city funds, but those account
for a very small portion of the collection"
she said.
Many of the people connected with the
museum felt the collection was a pub-
lic trust, not a city of Detroit asset that
could be sold, said Heller, a member of

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December 10 • 2015

Ji

Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield.
She said in her heart of hearts she never
believed the collection would be sold. "I
had confidence in the saying engraved
on the Woodward Avenue entrance to
the museum: 'Dedicated by the people of
Detroit to the knowledge and enjoyment
of art:" she said. "It says by the people,
not for the people
The DIAs attorneys were preparing to go
to court to make the case that the museum
was a public trust when the Grand Bargain
was proposed. Heller was relieved.
She said she's noticed a change in atti-
tude among museum visitors since the
tri-county millage was approved in 2012,
especially those from the suburbs. That
measure raises about $22 million of the
museum's $32 million annual operat-
ing budget.
Residents of the entire area now see
the DIA as their museum, she said, rather
than as something connected only to the
city of Detroit, and they treasure it.

Carolyn

Marjorie Fein

Silverstein

THE DOCENTS: CAROLYN
SILVERSTEIN AND MARGE FEIN
Carolyn Silverstein of Franklin and
Marjorie Fein of Grosse Pointe Park both
started working as interpretive program
volunteers at the Detroit Institute of Arts
in 2007 after retiring. Silverstein worked
for the Social Security Administration,
and Fein taught French and Spanish

at University Liggett School in Grosse
Pointe Woods.
Interpretive program volunteers (gen-
erally known as docents) serve as tour
guides, provide information for visitors
about the art in various galleries and
speak to groups about the museum.
Fein, a member of the interpretive
program volunteers board, said she was
"scared, worried and angry" at the thought
that the collection might be sold to relieve
Detroit's debts.
"No one likes to think of art as some-
thing that should be sold to pay bills" she
said. "When I look at works of art, I don't
see dollar signs. I see the incredible talent
of the artist. Some of these paintings were
made 500 or 700 years ago, and I'm look-
ing at the actual brushstrokes the actual
artist put on the canvas" She said thinking
about the threat to the DIAs collection still
makes her a little teary.
As a federal retiree, Silverstein sym-
pathized with those trying to help the
pensioners. But she also saw the DIA as an
important asset to the region.
"The DIA not only has an encyclopedic
collection of art objects from many cul-
tures and ages, but is also in the forefront
of art museums in its outreach and inter-
pretive programs" said Silverstein, a mem-
ber of Temple Emanu-El in Oak Park.
The DIA, she said, "is a place where
art, history and culture can be experi-
enced in a way that book learning can
never achieve.
"I studied art history in graduate school,
but never really appreciated how many
connections could be made between the
art of different cultures and ages until I
became a docent at the DIA."
Silverstein said she thought the Grand
Bargain was a "stroke of genius"
"Everyone associated with the DIA,
including me, breathed a huge sigh of
relief" she said.
Fein, a member of the Grosse Pointe
Jewish Council, agreed. "Everyone feels
so much better. I don't feel the same kind
of threat"

THE VOLUNTEERS:
JULIE ROTHSTEIN
AND BEN SHIPPER
Julie Rothstein, 50,
of West Bloomfield
remembers visiting the
Detroit Institute of Arts Ben Shipper
as a child, trailing her
mother, Roberta Stulberg, who worked
as a docent for about 20 years. Rothstein
herself was a docent for nine years. She
worked with school groups, helping the
students to develop critical thinking skills
about the artwork they saw.
In 2010, Rothstein was asked to join the
board of the Friends of Prints, Drawings
and Photographs (FPDP), one of 12 DIA

auxiliaries. She is just finishing a two-year
stint as the group's president.
Ben Shipper, 28, of Huntington Woods
came to the DIA more recently. While
attending law school at Loyola University
in Chicago, he volunteered for Lawyers
for the Creative Arts, which provides free
legal services for struggling artists.
Back in Detroit to take a job
with Deborah Gordon Law, he wanted to
continue his involvement with the arts.
Early last year, he signed on as a DIA vol-
unteer. He's part of the Gallery Service,
helping visitors find their way around.
Rothstein, a member of Temple Israel in
West Bloomfield, said she did a lot of travel-
ing as a young woman and saw how impor-
tant museums are to their communities.
"I realized how special the DIA is and
how lucky we are to have this wonderful
museum in our own backyard.
"As a docent, I worked with hundreds
and hundreds of children and saw the
impact their first visit to the museum had
on them. It was devastating to think that
this might not exist anymore" she said.
Shipper said the atmosphere in the
museum was tense during the bankruptcy
proceedings because no one knew what
would happen. Visitors would make cracks
about wanting to see a particular painting
before it was sold. "There was a feeling
of 'You don't know what you've got till it's
gone"' he said.
As an attorney, he didn't really expect a
judge to order the sale of the collection. "It
would be like Greece selling the Parthenon
to pay its debts" he said. "It just isn't going
to happen"
Rothstein felt the Grand Bargain was a
brilliant solution. "I'm very happy that we
could protect the DIA and raise $100 mil-
lion for the Detroit pensioners" she said.
She and Shipper both sense renewed
energy at the museum.
"There's a wedding there almost every
week, and lots of special events" said
Shipper, who likes to sit in the museum's
Kresge Court with a book when he's not
at his volunteer post. "It's not just a bunch
of rooms with art; it's becoming more of a
cultural community center" *

This story is part of a series, Detroit Bankruptcy:

One Year Later, presented by partners of the Detroit

Journalism Cooperative to help audiences understand

the continuing and future impacts of the city's bank-

ruptcy and recovery on residents, neighborhoods,

city government and policymakers. DJC partners

are the Center for Michigan's Bridge Magazine,

Detroit Public Television, Michigan Public Radio,

WDET and New Michigan Media (a collaboration of

the five largest minority media outlets in Southeast

Michigan). Funding for this project came from the

John S. and James L Knight Foundation, Renaissance

Journalism's Michigan Reporting Initiative and the

Ford Foundation. To view the series, go to

nextchapterdetroit.com .

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December 10 • 2015

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