The upmost sign lets you know you are looking at the entrance to the Galleria.

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Galleria (Detroit Public Library)

5201 Woodward Ave
Detroit MI 48202

The Detroit Public Library's Main Li­brary has always exhibited art in ex­hib­its of fixed du­ra­tion. But re­des­ig­nat­ing a map room "Gal­le­ria" for the purpose of ex­hib­it­ing art is a rel­a­tive­ly new de­vel­op­ment.

Each exhibit has generally been in­stalled on a Monday, when the Main Library is closed to the public but there is staff in the building, and taken down on a Sat­ur­day or a Mon­day.

Each opening reception is typically on a Wed­nes­day, sometimes a Tuesday, those being days the Main Library is open until 8:00 p.m.; then the reception starts at 6:00 p.m. However, there has been one opening reception so far that did extend past the library's regular hours. Art De­troit Now has generally failed to announce open­ings at the Galleria in a timely manner.

Almost needless to say, the Galleria's gal­lery hours were the same as the Main Li­brary's reg­u­lar hours: Tuesdays and Wed­nes­days from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and Thursdays through Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and, when ap­pli­ca­ble, Sunday hours are from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. As far as I know, you can't call for an appointment.

On March 13, 2020, the Detroit Public Li­brary announced the Main Library and all branches would be closed from March 14 to April 5 to avoid exposure to the co­ro­na­vi­rus. Months later, the Main Library and a few branches reopened, but the Gal­le­ria has been used more as a con­fer­ence room.

Current exhibition

• The Color of Sci-Fi, Anthea Calhoun, Kimberly Givens, Molouk Harp, Tia Nichols, Justin Perry, April Shipp, Mandisa Smith, Miriam Uhura, etc. Opened November 9 and slated to run to November 30.

Upcoming exhibitions

Not announced yet. There might be something just in time for Noel Night, like maybe opening that night.

Past exhibitions

Ana Candioti with her painting of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the opening reception on December 1, 2018.

• The Original Americans: A Native American Story in Art, Sheila Chingwa, Josephine Cirullo, Paul Collins, Patrick Collins, Pilar Cote, Elizabeth Gibson-Hartline, Katiera Gibson, T. J. Gibson, Tim Gibson, Odeimin Walker Keshick, Debbie Klein, Maiingan, Katrina Mitten, Konstance Patton Ke-Nee-Go-Keshek, Rosa María Zamarrón. August 21, 2024 — October 31, 2024.
• Scope, Jamar Lockhart. May 20, 2024 — July 30, 2024.
• Désirée Kelly encore. December 2, 2023 — February 28, 2024.
• Then & Now: A Retrospective of Portraits, Désirée Kelly. December 7, 2019 — March? ??, 2020?
• Poetry in Color, Birmingham Society of Women Painters. September 11, 2019 — November 1, 2019.
• Abstract Soul, Jerome Brown. July 23, 2019 — September? 28?, 2019.
• An exhibit about head-wrapping. ???May 14, 2019???? — June 29, 2019.
• Safe Space. March 30, 2019 — May 3, 2019.
• 50 Years of Immortality, an exhibit by Ana Candioti honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. Opened December 1, slated to run to March 3.
• A photographic chronicle of President Barack Obama's presidency, by Andre Smith. June 6, 2018 — August 31, 2018.
• Birmingham Society of Women Painters. April? ??, 2018 — May 26, 2018.
• High school students exhibit. November ??, 2017 — February? ??, 2018.
• An Eric Perry exhibit. October ??, 2017 — November ??, 2017.
• A documentary exhibit rather than an art exhibit. July 5, 2017 — August 1?, 2017.
• Ethereal Space, Sanda Cook. April 24, 2017 — June 24, 2017.
• No More Heroes, Luke MacGilvray. February 28, 2017 — April 22, 2017.
• Exhibit of children's art. November 29?, 2016 — January 21, 2017.
• Portraits in Motion, John Sobczak. November 22?, 2016 — January 21, 2017.
• Tailgating: A Celebration of Football Fans, photos by Alonso del Arte and a portrait of Ndamokung Suh by John Marroquin, Jr.. October 18, 2016 — January 21, 2017.
• Siana and SuVon Treece. October 4, 2016 — January 21, 2017.
• Crown City, solo show by Bree Gant. October 20, 2015 — January 15, 2016.
• Detroit Inspired, solo show by Timothy Orikri, June 23, 2015 — August 29, 2015.
• Detroit Public Schools annual student exhibition. April 18, 2015 — May 31, 2015. All of the students in this year's exhibit show much artistic potential. Previous student exhibits were either in the Adam Strohm Hall or in the lobby hallway near the Cass entrance.

A photo from the tailgating exhibit, which opened October 18, 2016. Ryan Wesley and Mandy Hohnstadt knew each others' team loyalties when they met. They fell in love anyway.

The lobby hallway near the Cass entrance, which had previously been used to show art by Timothy Orikri, now is used for what would be more properly called "documentary" exhibits than art exhibits (like the one honoring the library's past executive directors).

The Adam Strohm Hall on the third floor has also been used to show art in the past, but now it does not appear that in the future it will ever be used to show anything other than the permanent collection.

And in any case, the high ceiling of Strohm Hall made lighting problematic. As the map room already had lighting and a lower ceiling, the decision was made in 2014 or 2015 to relocate the maps and use the room as a gallery.

External links

• DPL website. (The Galleria doesn't seem to have its own page on this website).

News

• Alonso del Arte, "Timothy Orikri unveils gift to the Detroit Public Library", Examiner.com, June 25, 2015.
• Staff report? "Argentinian Artist Ana Candioti, Paintings Celebrating Black History Month", El Central, January 31, 2019, p. 1. Article is given in English and Spanish versions.

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