Save The Detroit Institute Of Arts

As the real thieves, the fat jackals and vultures begin to circle one of the premier collections of art and art history on the planet, it is time for the real people to step in and save it from the threatened looting by the real opportunistic criminals on this planet...the 10%, who say that we the underclass don't understand, appreciate or cannot be trusted to conserve the culture we are all a part of . This Museum, The Detroit Institute of Art, was an important part of my life, and it was given to the City of Detroit. It is part of our cultural

Breugles Wedding Dance 1586
part of the DIA collection

heritage. I watched as a mummy was unwrapped by scholars on stage in 1962. The most important collection of Roman/Egyptian funerary wax paintings on the planet is in this museum. But that's not all. A world class collection of classical European Painting, Breugels, Bosch, Fragonards, Van Gogh and that doesn't even touch the tip of the collection of American Art which is available to the citizens of Detroit. The Museum is owned by the city, but much of the work was bequeathed to the people of Detroit. The museum has had an average of 500,000 visitors each year over the last 10 years. How arrogant and cruel for the fat hyenas who think they can loot this priceless heritage for their own private lairs because the poor don't appreciate nice things...Greedy Vultures and Hyenas are the reason we can't have nice things. They have already had the appraisers from Christies in to put a value on this incredible collection. If this unprecedented cultural looting is allowed to occur, it will make it easier for the fat vultures to do this again and again. Nothing will be safe, because, they will have set a precedent that the common man doesn't deserve nice things. If you want a nice painting...buy it and hide it in your vault or trade it like a commodity like any normal robber baron would. I n many ways, what is being attempted in Detroit is a Test Case to begin the pillage of our cultural institutions everywhere. There is no "message" except the triumph of greed over humanity. If you are poor and you want a pretty picture to look at, why don't you just buy something "nice" at WaMart?

Here in France, the Government has made culture an important part in the economic reinvigoration of cities like Lens, which was devastated like Detroit by a shift in the industrial base in the last 20 years is now the home of a new Museum, The Louvre-Lens. It was created in on the site of an abandoned factory complex and today after 3 years? It is one of the most important museums in France. It shares the collection of the Louvre in Paris and has contributed to the economic rebirth of the northeastern Pas-de-Calais region. Yes, Lens is an economically depressed city that had a falling demographic, but giving the citizens this resource has restored pride and boosted the regional economy.  Last year, Lille was the official Cultural capitol of Europe This year it is Marseille. In each case, the cities have enjoyed an economic boom and a resurgence in local pride. Detroit has so much cultural history and it was one of the grandest architecturally enriched cities in North America, but it was allowed to decay and you have to ask, WHY? Poor people need art, they need culture, they need to be uplifted. The upper classes of the late 1800's knew this. That is why we have great museums in America. The role they have played in the cultural life of our cities and society is inestimable. Why do we, the common people, the workers, the oppressed have to be the ones to save our cultural heritage from the rapine greed of the criminals who want to loot the planet for their immediate profit? It's always been like this. We have to be the moral backbone, the firewall against the robber barons. Because if you give them an inch they will take everything. There is a class but we are not the aggressors and the aggressors are winning...If we let them. The struggle to save the DIA is just beginning, but we will win. What can you do? Join the DIA. I have been a proud member since 1966! You can donate directly here. This fund also supports the fight for Detroit's pension benefits. Recently a group of Detroit Corporations have pooled their resources to save the Museum and came up with almost 400 million dollars! Check out the Save The DIA facebook page!
 Defend The DIA!

One of the 4 sides of the incredible Diego Rivera Mural in the Sculpture Court of the DIA.
It is one of the largest murals ever painted in the Western Hemisphere. It is an incredible surrealistic tribute to American Labor, Technology and the political will of the people. In the painting, you will find Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and Lenin. This was done during the Depression, when the economic straits of the world were at a much more crucial and acute point than we face today with the ongoing "crisis" which the elite scavengers are using as an excuse to loot this treasure chest.

You almost feel as if a lot of the aggression against the DIA is directed at the Rivera mural and what it stands for. 2 years later, Rivera was commissioned to create an incredible mural for Rockefeller Center in NYC, but it was destroyed because Rockefeller was persuaded that the mural was too dangerous and too political.  Well, I guess he flipped out because it showed him hanging out with loose women and drinking...

Man At The Cross Roads...One of the panels of the mural by Rivera that was destroyed in 1934 by Rockefeller

Here's a detail from the mural. A portrait of Henry Fords son, Edsel with a page of hand written script. What does it say?

Read it and weep. Once men were made of much nobler stuff.