Councilmember Mary Waters.

Council Member and the Captain.

Member Waters did submit her team did just uh memo indicating that she would not be present for the AM uh budget hearings, so it is excused.

So noted.

Councilmember Angela Whitfield Calloway.

Member Whitfield Callaway indicated that she would be absent for the day.

Her absence is excused.

Council President Pro Them call me on the second.

Here.

Mr.

Chair, you have a quorum.

I'm sorry, and I think I neglected to mention that Member Johnson also indicated that she would not be a present for the AM budget hearings.

So noted, Mr.

Chair.

Thank you so much.

All right.

So we are now going to dive right into the DIA's budget hearing.

So come on down.

Thank you all for being here, and thank you for your patience as well.

And when you get to the uh upfront, just keep in mind that the mics, if you see red, that means they're off.

You've got to push that button at the bottom until it turns green, and then we're ready to go.

So whoever would like to begin, the floor is yours.

Welcome.

Thank you.

Thank you and good morning.

Um we really appreciate uh the chance to come and attend the budget hearing every year.

Uh while we're not part of the formal budget process, we're really happy to take this annual opportunity to come and share all that's happening at the museum in detail the special benefits that are available through the Wayne County Art Services Agreement.

Um before we begin, I want to introduce the leadership team that's here with us today.

Um, beginning with Salvador, there you are.

Salvador Salar Pans, our director, president, and CEO.

Um, Elliot Broom, our chief operating officer, and then in the gallery, we have Kate Spratt, our chief financial officer, Anthony Smith, our vice president of learning and audience engagement, Judith Dolcart, Deputy Director of Art Education and Programs, and Melissa Pena, um, executive director of talent, culture and operations.

And I am Julie McFarland, I'm executive director of public affairs and community engagement.

Um so we have a brief presentation today.

Uh Salvador will begin with information on current and upcoming exhibitions.

Um Anthony is gonna share a little bit about our museum's art and wellness suite of programs.

Elliot will provide an overview of the cultural center planning initiative, and then I'm just gonna finish up with um a brief walkthrough of benefits for Wayne County residents.

So um handing it over to Salvador.

Yes, thank you, Julie, and thanks for the opportunity.

Uh if we can move the slides forward, uh our first slide is uh three images of our new rinstall African American galleries that we opened last October.

We are one of the first museums in the country to collect African American art.

We have one of the largest collections of African American art in the world.

Um we also have uh curatorial department devoted to African American art.

We are the first encyclopedic museum to have this department devoted to African American art.

And uh we decided as a team uh to bring the African American collection to the center of the museum experience next to Rivera Court and tell the history of African American art from the 1800s to the uh 1980s.

So very very exciting material for the schools and the general visitor to really learn uh like if you are reading in a handbook, the history of African American art and culture.

You know, many visitors to the museum come and they want to see the Impressionist galleries and they can do that, or the Renaissance galleries now they have the opportunity to really learn this part of our history in the context of the history of the history of art in the world.

So very excited about this.

Next slide, please.

We are also in the process of reinstalling our modern and contemporary collection in the uh north wing second floor.

This is been uh a work in process for the last year.

We are planning to have these galleries open in uh the fall, and uh it will show a new um re uh rethought uh installation of these galleries with uh new um uh floors, new ceilings, and a new navigation throughout throughout uh uh the building, including as I mentioned, uh all the impressionist collection, post-impressionist, early modern, and contemporary all the way to 2026.

Very very excited.

It will include in each gallery for contempor contemporary Detroit artists in the context of uh the contemporary art that is happening today in the world.

Next slide, please.

Uh we are offering to the residents of Oklahoma Kong County as well as the general visitor from other counties and around uh the country.

Uh a wonderful exhibition on Anishnabe art.

We have uh been working with the 13 tribes in the Great Lakes.

This is uh a phenomenal exhibition on contemporary Native American art and has been very successful.

We've had uh over 60,000 visitors already.

It's a great compliment for the schools who come to the museum to see our Native American galleries, but now they have and can deepen into the experience of the Great Lakes, uh, Native American tribes.

And uh the exhibition has been reviewed by the Wall Street Journal and many other uh national and local uh newspapers.

It is uh really fantastic.

One of the things that we are doing is acquiring uh a large part of the works that were produced.

So we have so we will have the largest collection of contemporary Anishinaabe art in any museum in the country, and we are planning in the future to travel this section of our collection throughout Michigan and perhaps other states in the United States.

We are also uh preparing an exhibition that will uh open in September on the uh American artist, Georgia O'Keeffe.

She is really the mother of modern art in America.

And uh it will be a really exciting show.

We're bringing 40 works by this artist, and uh the exhibition focuses on her interest in architecture.

So it is uh uh a different view or a different approach to the other exhibitions that have been done on OK.

So I think it will be uh a very successful show for our communities.

Next slide.

During this summer, uh while we they install the Anishnabi exhibition, and when we uh finish the installation of uh our modern and contemporary wing, we will be providing uh interactive opportunity in Grey Hall for families and their children to come to the DIA during the summer months, and in Grey Hall, we will have this uh three um digital uh interactives where people can you know uh do movements in front of them, uh dance uh and the interactive uh react with different shapes and colors.

It's very exciting.

It's a way for us to promote the museum as a place for art, but also as a place for fun.

So I encourage uh you and your families to come this summer to the museum to play a little bit with with uh the interactives in the museum.

Next slide.

And now I'd like my colleague um uh Anthony Smith to speak a little bit about uh a project that we are developing in the museum for which I am very very excited, excited, is connected to art on wellness.

Tony?

So as you probably already know, science, research, and human experience support the fact that the arts have power to inspire, uplift, and bring people together.

Um for many years the DIA has presented programs to the Detroit area and its surrounding communities that allow them to not only engage with creativity but enhance their mental as well as their physical well-being.

This year, the DIA will launch an art and wellness initiative that brings all of these programs under one umbrella and provide a network of varied non-clinical art making opportunities.

Some of the programs included in this initiative include our community groups program that partners the DIA with Tri-County Area Human Service organizations like Hennhouse and provides gallery tours and art making in a safe nurturing space that encourages participants, creative expression, and socialization.

The meaning through art making program is a program for students that includes a peer-based discussion of artwork in the DIA galleries, followed by an open-ended art making activity inspired by student knowledge and personal experience.

The DIA Healing Arts Program partners with children's hospital of Michigan to supply age-appropriate art kits and resources that are related to our exhibitions and our collection.

Our social emotional guided tours program invites students to participate in guided tours, emphasizing themes like friendship, generosity, kindness, patience, and honesty, followed by a self-guided or teacher-led activity, something like a team building exercise.

The Artful Living Program offers opportunities in creative construction and common connections to museum visitors.

The Artful Living Program includes sensory-friendly Saturdays activities that are crafted for people with chronic conditions or particular sensory needs.

In the Minds on Art Program, we partner with the Alzheimer's Association of Greater Michigan to include guided tours of the DIA along with art making lit by DIA studio staff.

And finally, the DIA Art and Medicine Program is a partnership with the Henry Ford Health System that is currently being crafted by the staffs of the DIA and Henry Ford.

These programs are the anchors of our new art and wellness initiative that we'll officially launch in the latter part of this year.

Thank you, Tony.

Next slide.

Good morning.

So before I jump into the DCCA, I would like to just let the council know that the for the last two years the DIA has uh worked on two major uh capital projects in the museum.

One, Salvador referenced, which is the renovation of our modern and contemporary wing of the museum, and the second is uh installation of air handlers.

We we had two air handlers that serve our Prince and Drawings Gallery that were beyond their useful life, so we have endeavored to replace those, and at the same time it gave us an opportunity to uh renovate the Prince and Drawings Gallery, which is formerly known as the Schwartz Gallery of Prince and Drawings.

Uh and that space hadn't had a uh any material uh upgrade or renovation since its its inception, which was 1978, so it was definitely a need.

So we look forward to reopening uh the Schwartz Gallery later this year, at near the end of the year.

As it relates to the DCCA partner organization, and uh in just uh for your knowledge, DCCA stands for Detroit Cultural Center Association.

It's comprised of 12 partner organizations, all of the arts, cultural, and education uh institutions that are in the midtown neighborhood.

Since 2018, we've worked on a plan to better connect the institutions.

Uh currently, we're while we're all in the same neighborhood uh in the in the same immediate district.

We aren't necessarily as well connected as we could be.

And I'd like to reference uh, for instance, in Chicago, you have uh the Shed Aquarium next to the Field Museum, next to the Adler Planetarium, and those institutions were similarly, even though they're all on the lakefront, they were all disconnected.

They had a major initiative to better connect those institutions so that when people came to that area of downtown Chicago, they could they could more easily make their way from institution to institution.

Our long-term vision uh tied to this is to do the exact same thing in Detroit.

Uh, next slide, please.

This is just uh an image of how uh the cultural district could change with this plan, converting some streets from vehicular to either pedestrian only or combination of pedestrian and vehicular.

Um think of some streets.

We really don't have any that exists currently in Detroit, but in some other cities uh and in uh abroad, there are streets that have pylons that rise.

And when those pylons are up, no no uh vehicles can move down those streets, and so pedestrians can walk safely.

But uh on certain days, if there are certain programming where vehicles are needed or if emergency vehicles need to make their way in, pylons can lower, and that street returns to being uh vehicular.

So this is just an example uh kind of you would be looking at the south side of the DIA, kind of changing the way the DIA looks in this in this rendering from the architect, and you would be approaching from kind of the area between the Charles Wright Museum and the Michigan Science Center.

Next slide, please.

So uh I I may have presented this last year.

This is the underground garage that sits at the corner of Woodward and Farnsworth Street that sits under the south lawn of the DIA.

As you'll see here, these are two images on the lowest level taking photos of these, what we call the supported slab, which would be the first level of parking.

The garage was closed in 2011 when it was uh owned by the city of Detroit, because at that point the city deemed it was not safe for parking uh and they could no longer support the the upkeep.

So ultimately the DIA we we took possession of the garage, and we have ever since, and that was in 20 that was uh 2015, I believe, that we took possession.

And over the course of many years now, uh you know, 11 years, we have been working as part of the DCCA now to raise funds to renovate and return public parking to the district.

While the DIA, while we while we own this this uh parking deck, it would be an amenity for all of the institutions that are in uh the cultural district for all visitors and and staff uh to use.

The hurdle, uh as you'll see right there, is that bottom number that we we actually got an original quote uh or you know uh from one estimating company we we weren't sure that that was accurate, so we asked for a second just to verify.

And uh so that is that is the current estimated construction cost of of currently uh it's about 49 49 million dollars.

So we are uh hard at work working with the DCCA and uh in some parts Midtown Detroit Inc.

trying to raise raise the funds because uh this garage is the cornerstone.

It seems kind of unbelievable, but the renovating the garage is the is the cornerstone for the entire DCCA uh initiative because it unlocks the rest of the potential.

And the idea is that the big parking lot that sits behind the DIA uh would be transformed into a great lawn.

Think Millennium Park in Chicago, a big gathering space for for performance, for entertainment, um, you know, for many, many for gathering.

But we can't take away that parking because that is the single largest uh area for parking at 411 spaces in the district without having a place for people to park if that goes away.

So that is why if we can uh ultimately raise the funds to to rebuild this garage, then we can begin transforming the rest of the spaces in the district.

That concludes my presentation.

Thank you.

Thank you, Elliot.

So next slide, please.

So just to end the presentation, um, in consideration of the generous tri-county millage support, the DA provides services and benefits for residents of Wayne Oakland and Macomb counties.

So I just want to go over those kind of at a high level.

In your folders, you have a kind of detailed report on a lot of our activity from last year.

Uh so this is just going to be kind of the balcony view.

Uh, this first slide just provides the outline.

So it's really four areas of service.

Yes.

Um, free admission, our K through 12 school program, senior group program, and community partnership program.

So I'm just gonna go into a little bit of detail on each category.

Uh next slide.

So the first area of the service agreement is free admission.

Um, this is to the museum six days a week, um, and this is general admission to the museum, and it is unlimited.

Um, I always say this is really unlock what unlocks you know everything that we've talked about here today, our exhibitions, um, you know, all of the programs that we have in your folders too.

You also have a programming calendar.

Um, if you you know look through there, there's all kinds of things to enjoy at the museum.

Always check the website.

Um, there's things that get added after the print deadline, but you know, your free general admission includes all of that, and we really want um our residents to come and use uh that use the DIA as a resource.

Also, in your folders is a smaller piece called 12 Artworks to Inspire.

We've been using this a lot at our community events to try to give residents a little taste of the museum, give them a little bit of a primer, maybe help them be more comfortable when they get to the museum, give some familiarity with some of um some of the artworks in the collection.

Last year we had almost 60,000 Detroit residents take advantage of free admission.

Next slide.

So the DIA, as part of the service agreement benefits for Tri-County residents is K through 12 field trips.

So that includes free transportations, and there's options for guided experiences or self-guided.

Our guided experiences focus on a range of subjects.

In your long form report, you'll see all the details on that.

We also offer free professional development for teachers.

We want to make sure that we're getting educators into the museum so they can learn about what's available to them, kind of take our deeper dive into the material and learn for ways to make those connections in the classroom so that one off field trip experience really keeps giving before and after in the classroom.

In 2025, we had nearly 12,000 Detroit City of Detroit students come in for the field free field trip program, and many, many Tri-County educators take advantage of that teacher professional development.

Next slide.

The third area is our senior group program.

This is a group program for seniors.

If a senior group would like to come to the museum, they can either come for a guided or a self-guided visit, or they can come for our monthly melodies at the museum program.

Our next one is a week from tomorrow, and we book, you know, really wonderful talent for that program.

The performances begin in our film theater on usually the last Thursday of the month at one o'clock.

If a group has at least 25 people, we will provide that free bus transportation just like we do for the K through 12 field trip program.

Last year we had 34 senior groups from the city of Detroit take advantage of our senior group program.

We also have behind the scene art talks.

Those are done by our volunteers, and those take place at community locations.

So if you have a library or a senior group that wants to have a DI experience closer to home, we'll send a volunteer out to do a talk.

And there's lots of details on all of the talks that are available through that.

And we had several groups take advantage of that from Detroit last year.

And then next slide.

The final area of the service agreement is our community partnership programs.

These are in collaboration with nonprofit organizations in cities in the Tri-Counties.

So these are examples of some of our community partnership programs.

Anthony talked about our art and wellness programs.

We did several engagements in Detroit last year.

They're listed in your report.

I think we did Avenue of Fashion was one.

We did a couple out on Bell Isle, and it's just a really great way to meet residents, sort of where they are and handout our materials, and I love DIA buttons and see if we can entice them to come and use their free admission benefit.

And then just highlighting really one of our premier community partnership programs inside out.

Every year we bring reproductions from the collection to communities across the three counties.

Our Detroit partners are the Detroit Design District on Grand Boulevard, which is a first-time partner for us.

And then we'll also be on Detroit Riverfront Southwest Greenway.

Next slide.

And then lastly, just highlighting a few of our community exhibitions.

This is out of our studio program where we bring in social service agency groups for multiple visits, and it culminates in this exhibition in our learning center.

We work with the VA every year, Mariners In, Hannon House, the Detroit Recovery Project, the whole list is in your long form report.

Our annual Afriend is exhibition celebrating El Dia de Muertos.

That is every fall, and that is also in partnership with Detroit's Mexican Consulate, the Southwest Detroit Business Association, and the Mexican Town CDC.

That is a very popular exhibition.

We get many, many school groups who want to come see that and really learn about this rich tradition.

Um and also kind of make that connection and in remembering um, you know, people that we have lost.

And next slide.

Just finishing out with um two of our school exhibitions.

We are getting ready now to open our 89th annual DPSCD student art exhibition uh that'll open on April 24th.

Obviously, that's a long-standing program at 89 years.

And then the youngster is our fifth annual Wayne County High School art exhibition that will follow the DPS C D show.

Um, and then when that when the Wayne show finishes in the DIA, then it goes for another month in the Guardian building.

So just a way to take that exhibition out of the museum and share it with a broader, broader community, and and really get these students to, you know, to exercise their creativity and bring the families in to see this work um in the museum.

So that is uh the end of our formal presentation.

Um we're happy to take any questions.

We did submit answers to the questions that were provided to us on Monday.

Um subsequently we received questions from Councilmember Callaway and Johnson yesterday.

So we will provide answers to those questions in writing um probably fright by Friday morning.

Um there's copies of that in your folder.

So happy to take any questions or comments.

All right, thank you so much for the presentation.

Always a good time at the DIA.

We're gonna start with questions um to my right with uh Pro Tim Young.

Thank you, Ms.

President.

Um that was a wonderful presentation.

Uh I just wanted to ask you just uh first of all, welcome, always good to see you.

I always have a great time at the DIA.

I'll try to become more cultural, you know.

Um, my favorite movie is uh Tal Dega Night, the bow to Ricky Bobby, so I'm not the most you know artistic person, as you would say.

Um but I just wanted to ask you first and foremost.

I want to ask you about your the is the DIA positioned to continue their contra to continue their contributions to their portion of the grand bargain legacy pension contributions.

We have our chief, we have our chief financial officer here who will uh answer those relations.

Good morning, Sprat.

Thank you for that question.

Uh so during the Grand Bargain, we uh uh raised funds to contribute that all flow through the foundation for Detroit's futures.

That's a separate entity, and we do uh have some pledges that are outstanding, so we continue to make payments on those pledges as they come in.

Okay, I just want to know that.

And then um securely, I just wanted to ask you talked a lot about really excited about the African American art piece.

I think that's fantastic and what you're trying to do.

I just wanted to ask you, particularly in this climate.

Is there any focus at all on art in terms of the immigrant experience?

Particularly, you know, from whether it be from Mexico or El Salvador.

Is there any real I I really think it's important for us one to know about that history, that art and culture, and also to be able to put a positive light on that, particularly in this political climate.

Is there any sort of exhibits we should be looking forward to in the future involving that at all?

We don't have a specifically any exhibition that focuses on immigration right now, but I think this is a really good idea, and I think it's very relevant for us.

Now, we work with different communities here in Detroit.

We work with the uh uh Mexican community for our friends exhibition.

We work with the Jewish community for our presentation on um uh Judeca that we have currently in the museum.

We work uh with the Arab American community uh recently for the exhibition on the art of dining, uh food and cultural in the Islamic world.

So we are really open to work and represent any of the communities that we serve, and we are you know uh very interested in meeting with them, uh hearing from them what they really want the museum to do, and then bring that those ideas to the DIA team and create museum products for for them.

So, yes, we are that's a great point, and we'll we'll look more into it.

That's actually I don't mean to steal the uh thunder from the member from the third district, but I also just wanted to ask you do you do anything with the Bangladeshi community as well?

The Bangladeshi community, the Bangladeshi community in terms of their art or anything, yeah, their history.

Yeah, that's rich it's very rich here.

You know, I've been in Hamtromek several times, and we have had inside out program there, and I have met directly with the Bangladeshi community there.

Uh we don't have an nothing sp at this moment anything specifically about uh the Bangladeshi community, but uh I think that's again a great comment and uh feedback for us.

But what is outreach and communication or schools and no, that's excellent.

I appreciate that.

Those are all my questions.

Look forward to working with you.

Thank you so much for time.

Always good to see you guys.

Thank you.

Member Benson.

Thank you.

You know, thank you all, and good to see you.

Um your cultural center planning initiative, your asset.

I bumped the number to 50 million dollars of contribution needed, and for 411 parks, that's about a hundred and twenty-two thousand dollars per park.

Is the juice worth the squeeze?

So that's a really good question, uh, Councilman Benson.

Uh and so the the 411 uh space that I quoted, that's actually for the um the large parking lot behind the museum.

Oh the garage actually has fewer spaces.

Oh uh so the cost per space actually would go up because it's around 200 and at this point 230 to 250 uh number of spaces.

Okay, and so your question regarding is it worth the juice?

Oh it's we recognize how how uh expensive that is, but we also recognize that we have a uh a large degrading garage sitting at a pivotal corner.

Um and if we can do one of two things, we can either rebuild it or we'd have to remove it and fill it in.

And the cost the again, we've gotten quotes to to do that work, and we and we know we need the parking to fill it in is is a sum that was surprisingly expensive because it isn't we thought it originally that perhaps we could just fill it in, right?

Open it up, fill it in.

Not that easy because it it would essentially act like a bathtub because you have cement retaining walls and uh and a foundation, which so we'd have to physically have that that um removed.

And so when we weighed whether to spend the millions that have been estimated to to remove it or to rebuild it, we we have we decided that it would be a better move to rebuild it because it would again give us the parking that we need in order to continue the transformation of the entire cultural district.

What is the cost to remove?

Uh last quote was close to 20 million.

Okay.

And but if we if to re to replace is 200,000 per park at 50 million dollars.

And that's if we go with a conservative um or even more liberal view of that you get 250 parks out of that versus the 20 million, what is the cost per park for a deck if you put that on the existing surface lot to the rear of the DIA?

We we haven't uh looked into putting building a deck on on that on what's the on the existing uh uh parking lot, only because that is that is the the pivotal piece of the entire cultural district plan to to turn that into a a community gathering space, and if we build on top of that, that that eliminates that possibility altogether.

Again, hence have wanting to to rebuild the underground garage because then we can move that parking uh at least two thirty to two hundred and fifty spaces away, which gives us something.

And then long excuse me, long-term strategy for the the space out back of the museum would to have the Great Lawn, but under a portion of it, build a second one level underground parking structure that would get us back up to the total of about 400 spaces in the within the district.

Okay.

Then so 50 million for a redevelopment of existing asset versus 20 million to remove.

I mean, what was it cost?

What would it cost us to build new?

I mean, oh yeah.

I'm sorry.

I mean, I'm just looking at there's a 30 million dollar delta between rehabbing versus just ripping it out and then identifying parks someplace else.

I mean, that's 250.

That's just a very expensive proposition.

I'd be interested to see who's interested in supporting you financially with that.

So I will go on a limb and say you're not looking to do this with debt.

You would be looking for contributions, and who's prepared to support a $50 million $200,000 per parking space capital improvement.

So to that I'd like to add um, well, we we've been seeking support, and to this to this point, we have received uh 12 we've received 12 million dollars uh in in grant funding.

Uh and we've had foundations also uh put their put money toward the project, but that is that's tied not solely to the garage but also to the wider district plan.

Uh there's a component that of the uh of the underground rebuilding, which would be a what we would hope would become a bit of a destination, uh, and that is because the the current parking structure is uh can accommodate 300 parking spaces, and simply due to cost, we had to shrink the footprint.

We we realized based on the cost estimation that you came up with that we could never rebuild 300 spaces.

So with that space that would be left over, um the architects came up with what I thought was a one of the most compelling uh ideas that I'd heard in the in the since 2018 since this this plan started unfolding, um, and that is to take that space and transform it into what they call a sunken garden.

Uh I I apologize, I don't have renderings of the of the sunken garden today, but I will tell you, and I hope you will trust me that when I saw the plan, I thought this would become a destination because there is nothing like it in Detroit, nothing like it in Michigan.

I went online and started doing research.

I could find only one project in the United States that had something similar to what the architects proposed.

Uh so I was really excited, and everybody that has you know that has learned about this and seen some of the rendering since then, everybody is it's unanimous.

Everyone is excited because it's such a unique proposition that we could have right there in the heart of of the midtown district and the Detroit, and it would be on the side to the side, filling the void of the current parking structure.

And uh, no need for me to trust I've verified.

I've seen the rendering very impressive um repurposing of an existing failing asset.

So in the foundations are interested in supporting that is fantastic.

Good luck with the uh getting the rest of the funds.

Then question to LPD the Grand Bardian barred Detroit from ever owning the museum again, and we were the ones that rescued the museum back, I believe it was 1910 when it was failing the first time.

That's when Detroit took ownership of it.

I was a bit disrespectful to say we could never own it again.

We were the last ones that save it when it failed, that was just me.

Would we be able to participate in providing support financially to the museum since we were barred from ever owning it again?

Your final question, I can't really answer.

I know that rather than saying we were barred, I think what was created was a truss.

And I think the assets were placed in trust.

And whether or not we can add to that trust is a question I can't just answer right here right now, but we would be happy to undertake um an analysis of that issue to determine whether or not the city could participate.

Of course, you'd have to have the funds to do that, I guess.

I'm not suggesting that we would want to others are just wondering if we would be able to if you put a question to us, we'd be happy to answer.

All right, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Member McKenna.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Good morning, everyone.

Um apologies for my tardiness, but I appreciate you being here this morning.

I uh have I appreciate going to the DIA and all this have a great time on there.

So um thank you all so much for what you do.

I had a question around um excited about the exhibits around African American um art and history.

Uh as you pointed out around the uh DACC with um also having the Wright Museum and the Car Center there.

Just wondering if are you just wanted if you could talk about the support or any support that you have there for those institutions, especially around um uh the car center, but also the right, but just thinking about that as those are two places that also have expansive African American exhibits.

Thank you.

I'd be happy to.

So uh as the C DCCA is in the the one slide that uh was shown.

It has we have 12 partner organizations, both the Car Center and of course the Charles Wright Museum are our pivotal partners uh as we work on the plan.

So uh the DCCA is a relatively newly formed nonprofit that oversees that portion of the district now, and each of the institutions have a member on that board.

So they are definitely involved in in decision making.

Everybody has has an equal footing.

Absolutely.

Well, thank you for that.

Uh, we'll love as the guest form, would love to stay updated on that because I think also um the need around uh museum and museums and institutions that show our art and history and making sure that if there are folks that are maybe struggling or such that we could support each other in that as well.

Uh I had a follow another question on um do you do you have numbers on how many of your employees are Detroit residents?

Uh my colleague Melissa Penyff, who is uh the executive director of Talic and Culture can answer that.

Thank you.

Should we come forward?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um that's a great question.

We have answered that question in previous years.

Obviously, I would need to run the data, and I can certainly provide that when we provide the rest of our um answers to the questions submitted.

Thank you.

Uh and I'll make sure to submit that around as well.

And also if you could give a um uh outlook on if there are any uh workforce pipelines or development when it comes to uh Detroit schools and and our um colleges as well.

So thank you for that.

And I'll have additional follow-up questions, um, especially around.

I know there is some program that goes on in the juvenile detention facilities, but I would love to learn more about uh what's going on there if we can do more um with that as well.

So thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Thank you all for being here.

Thank you.

Member Santiago Romero.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Good morning.

Good to see you all.

Um, I too love the DIA.

Our office has uh been to Melodies in the Museum.

It has been a big hit.

Thank you for lunch and the cookies.

My seniors really love it, and it's so much fun to be with them and join the museum.

Also really grateful for the partnership programs that you have, like the Community Offrenda Project.

Um, I think it's inspired other community of Frida projects as well.

So I appreciate the inspiration um and uh the ult and culture.

Um the DIA uh did this a few years ago.

I actually have a background in photography.

I deeply believe in the importance of documenting our stories, and there was a program, I believe it was in partnership with the DIA and the library, maybe.

But I remember that a bunch of us, young people, older people, a bunch of Detroiters, got um film cameras.

Uh, they were and like film that you go to CVS and process film cameras.

Um, and we just told to document to take pictures.

There's a really beautiful exhibit.

Um, and I thought that was a really wonderful way to promote photography.

Um here on the 13th floor, we have a lot of walls and a lot of space.

And you know, in DC, they they they showcase their artwork um in their in their halls.

So legislators see the artwork of uh of their young people.

I'm wondering if there's space or capacity to do a photography project for the 13th floor here at K Mac or at other city-owned properties.

Um, because we have a lot of talents.

We have really talented people.

Um, and I know that it meant a lot for me to go through these programs.

I still remember it, it has memories.

I'm still inspired by it.

Um, can this be a conversation that we have?

And I'm even wondering if maybe every district office can help identify someone in their district.

You know, this could be fine.

Um, this could continue to engage um people in the arts, and for me, is particularly in photography.

Uh so wondering how do we get that process started?

Um, how can we get a program like that going?

I love the program.

I think uh we should sit down and have a conversation and see how we can make it happen.

Uh we wanted to promote the ours, and we're very interested in Detroit talent and beyond, obviously.

So uh yeah, let's let's talk.

Okay, thank you.

We we thought about this in our office.

We thought about maybe hiring someone locally for the summer or stipending them as well.

Um so maybe this can be a way that we encourage more people and into media as well, right?

And we hire here in the city, we have a media team, they're incredibly talented.

Almost every every office here has someone in doing media work as well.

So I think you know, thinking about pipelines, thinking about work and inspiration and supporting each other.

Uh, we will have that conversation.

I will put this into the closing resolution, Mr.

President, to make sure that's it happens on our our end as well.

A photography program uh for KMAC to the closing resolution.

All right, colleagues, there's a motion on the floor.

Any objections?

See none, that action shall be taken.

Thank you, Mr.

Presidents.

Um, my other questions were around parking.

Uh so thank you, Member Benson, for for going into that conversation.

Um, I feel better prepared on on that and how we can help as well.

So, my last question is around staffing as well.

Wondering, also have uh questions around your staffing if it's Detroit staff, but not only that, are your staff unionized?

Um, if they are when did they?

I guess where are we in the process of DIA staff being unionized?

Uh thank you for that question.

So we have historically had two unions at the DIA.

Um, one is our engineering union and the other is AFSME, who represent um our protection services officers and our environmental services officers and some of our um building maintenance workers.

So they have been um unionized for quite a while.

That represents just under a hundred of our staff.

Um, and then just recently, this past fall, we did receive um uh communication from AFSME Cultural Workers United for union representation for um another group of our employees, and we did agree to um voluntarily recognize that union after a car check, and that card check took place at the end of February, and through that process, we now have another just over 200 employees at the DIA who will be a part of AFSME CWU.

Um, and we did agree that we would begin contract negotiations um with that group um within 90 days um of the end of February.

So we are working on that process.

So that will bring us to just over 300 of our employees who are um a part of three different marketing units.

Thank you.

So incredible to hear that, honestly.

The DA is a place where you can get cultured, have fun, and have a good union job um that's supported by by the institution.

That makes me really happy to hear.

Um, and thank you for supporting those efforts.

Uh, those are all my questions for for now, Mr.

President.

Um, it's really exciting to hear all of the resources and opportunities that you have.

Um hope that we can get millages for the rest of our institutions as well.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Thank you.

Uh member Benson.

Uh, to yourself, to member Santiago, I like to join you on the closing resolution around supporting photography in the building.

Thank you.

Okay.

Thank you.

Member Miller.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

First of all, good morning, and thanks for joining us.

I do apologize for again not being able to meet with you prior to uh the hearing, but I did meet with Anne Marie from the Cultural Center.

She is one of your biggest advocates.

Her presentation was amazing.

I was able to see the second garden, the performance um pavilion, and her whole display to support the partnership you have there.

And I will say I do believe the parking is needed.

We need places to park so we can bring in more residents and visitors to the host, the whole area there.

I'm not sure how we're gonna get it done.

Every day residents call in, especially our retirees.

They call in regarding the loss pension that helped save the DIA.

So we're still dealing with that, and I even today had text messages and emails regarding it.

And you would be surprised at some of the things that people say.

But I wanted to acknowledge that to them that I am listening, but I do support the DIA.

I've been a part of the Friends and Flowers.

I look forward to even today.

I said, Well, you know what?

I'm part of a garden club.

I was a president for eight years.

And I like to see maybe my garden club for our May event to come for the reception and lecture.

I think that might be a great event for our garden club, because we always look for something to do, but we have to have a meal.

So I gotta coordinate with you.

My grandson used to play chess there on Friday night.

I'm looking to see some more things for older children.

He's not a child anyway.

He's like 13.

But he says, Graham, I gotta find better things to do on Friday night opposed to playing chess.

So I just wanted to say I was looking at the documents regarding the the membership, and I saw the membership went down a little bit here from one of our questions that LPD asked.

And I was wondering how does where did you stand with the membership, the decline?

Um, if you have any, if you can answer some of that for me.

So uh thank you for the question.

Uh membership is very important for us.

Uh now because we are free admission, our membership has decreased.

However, when we organize uh important exhibitions like the George O'Keefe exhibition that we are hosting in in September, our membership goes up because there are some benefits for being a member when we have this important exhibition.

So we are projecting an increasing membership in the next year, and uh through these three through these programs.

Okay.

My daughter had, she was part of your student exposition, and the entire family came out.

I was wondering do you ever have competitive contests?

Because when you have competitive contests, like even my kids did cheerleading, they did band things.

People always come out for competitions.

They want to see their loved ones, they're gonna see their students, and it's a way to generate a higher population if they know there's like an annual contest coming up.

I know sometimes people shy away from competitiveness, but really it drives families to participate, it drives participation.

I mean, anytime you can go to Florida for a chair competition and it's completely sold out, or Vegas for for this band contest.

I would consider, I was gonna talk to some of my friends who are friends of yours about some having some things that maybe uh enhance the youth for drawing.

Sometimes we gotta have the initial, we gotta have that uh an incentive.

Maybe it could be financial, maybe it could be a donation towards a college scholarship or something, um, that we can get um more um institutions to help support that would help with membership and um because kids need that.

We we start small, but we know when it comes to philanthropy, it it fades off.

So you gotta bring people in that want to participate.

My daughter went to Cranbrook, I would say, and that was one of the biggest things with their art gallery there, the sculptures to bring the youth in.

But when they're participating, and it can be competitive, it really makes a big difference.

So I look forward to seeing what you come up with with the parking structure.

We do need that parking.

But if you want to make it walkable and have the sunken part too, that's gonna be good.

But um I'm looking forward to see what uh member Benson, he's he's like a numbers guy to me.

He has a way of trying to make it make it make sense.

So I'll be um talking with him regarding that.

But thank you again for joining us today.

And I look forward to seeing you on your uh 25 group program for free with transportation for seniors.

I have 25 senior buildings in district five.

And can I come more than once?

Yes.

Thank you very much, and uh, thanks for joining us again.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Just got a quick one from me in terms of uh see a whole host of mediums that you have uh at the uh DIA.

What's the commitment to as we transition now into digital art?

I mean, I know that's been a thing for a while, but everything we touch technology, tech tech.

What's the commitment moving forward to uh digital art?

So I think that's a really good question.

Uh the museum will hire its first chief digital officer two years ago, and she's doing phenomenal work for us.

Uh this summer will be experimenting with this digital interactives in Gray Hall.

We don't really know how uh they are going to work for our visitors and they are gonna be interested or know.

So we want to do more things with digital.

We also want to use digital for learning.

We believe digital could be a great bridge between the individual and a work of art.

It's not a replacement of the work of art, but really a tool uh for people to learn and to understand other communities.

So uh our chief digital officer is putting together a plan for the future where exhibitions and educational tools will be available for our visitors.

Thank you.

Any closing statements you'd like to make?

Well, I I think I want to thank my team.

They do phenomenal job, they are so passionate, and also thank the uh the the all the council members and the president for your attention and your time uh to hear our presentations.

I I uh we're excited about the future.

I'm very grateful for your comments and feedback.

The photography uh project is fantastic.

I really like it.

Membership is very important for us as well.

And all your ideas about how can we engage our immigrant communities is something that we are very sensitive and really interested in developing programs.

We believe works of art are beautiful things, and that people can learn a lot uh from them from the culture that they were made, but they are also points where people come together and by looking at a work of art, they can uh establish conversations and understand each other better.

So they are points of making our community better and bringing people together.

So the DIA really believes this is our mission, and um uh we want to continue working for our communities and serving and your collaboration and feedback, not only today but throughout the year, please let us know because we want to do the best for our communities.

Thank you so much.

All right, thank you.

Sports, arts and food.

It brings people together.

Brings people together.

Thank you again for your presentation, colleagues.

Any additional C Pro Tim?

Yeah, one quickly.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Uh, I just want to say, as a result of the gathering space that would occur, as a result of the parking capital improvements.

Will the African World Festival be able to move to that area from downtown?

So I I understand uh that there is a desire to move the African World Festival back into the district.

Um so the idea is yes, you know, it would be open arms welcomed to come back and we'd have a dedicated space, right?

Because previously the festival was, you know, we closed streets in the district and it was held on the streets.

Right.

How beautiful would it be to have a park-like setting where folks could safely gather for for the festival?

So that that is the long-term strategy as I understand it.

Excellent.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

Extra presentation.

Thank you.

Thank you again.

Um we wish you all the best and look forward to working with you moving forward.

Thank you.

Let's now close out the uh budget hearing for the DIA.

Detroit Institute.

And your budget hearing.

Thank you.

Thank you.