We're been duped by the DIA!

**old guy** · December-06-12, 03:55 PM

Just out of curiosity, how much were they charging to see the special exhibit?

**MikeM** · December-06-12, 04:08 PM

Originally Posted by Bobl

TexasT correctly pointed out that general admission was to be offered free to the residents of Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne Counties, if they voted for it.

Nobody who reads or has access to news coverage was duped.

From Danny's link: "The contract the D.I.A. entered into with the counties is pretty clear. It says unlimited admission."

It's a matter of a single word, but where is the contract language?

JVB · December-06-12, 04:09 PM

I didn't support the millage, even though I like the museum. It's not enough money to bitch about but it still should have been on the ballot in the general election, not some special election that so few people voted in.

Also, anyone pretending that the DIA wasn't trying to dupe anyone must have forgot all the commercials about how if the millage didn't pass we would be in danger of losing the museum. That was complete bullshit, so I guess we can say they duped people on that.

**Jason** · December-06-12, 04:17 PM

Yeah it was understood that only general admission would be free. No one got duped, they just didn't understand what they were voting for.

General admission gets you a lot of art though.

I'm guessing the types of people who didn't understand the general/special admission thing are also the types of people who wouldn't know enough about art to care about or prefer the special exhibits over the normal museum anyway.

**pkbroch** · December-06-12, 04:26 PM

Originally Posted by old guy

Just out of curiosity, how much were they charging to see the special exhibit?

$15.00 per adult, $ 8.00 student child, If you are a DIA member a bit less.

P.S. It was worth every penny.

We are also Henry Ford Members but paid extra for the Titanic exhibit.

Shollin · December-06-12, 04:32 PM

Originally Posted by poobert

No so fast, there. While the county's approval is certainly commendable, the one glaring rejection in the southern portion of the county was War'n. The state's third largest city, seeking to maintain it's reputation as an uncultured backwater and continue its efforts to become an increasingly blighted dump with a bug-fuck crazy mayor, rejected the measure, despite being just about as close to the DIA as you can be.

LOL

Love the irony. You're the first person to get your panties bunched up if someone were to make similar generalizations about Detroit, but you continue to insult people from Macomb county

**Kathleen** · December-06-12, 07:46 PM

Originally Posted by pkbroch

$15.00 per adult, $ 8.00 student child, If you are a DIA member a bit less.

P.S. It was worth every penny..

We concur!! The Faberge exhibit was one of the best special exhibitions we've ever seen at the DIA!!!

**Kathleen** · December-06-12, 07:49 PM

Originally Posted by Bobl

TexasT correctly pointed out that general admission was to be offered free to the residents of Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne Counties, if they voted for it.
Nobody who reads or has access to news coverage was duped.

Never once imagined that voting for the millage would cover admission to the special exhibits which are so expensive to do that the museums hosting them rarely make any money, meaning that they would have to cut back on a lot of other activities or hours or staff to fund special exhibits free to the public.

JVB · December-06-12, 07:54 PM

Originally Posted by Kathleen

Never once imagined that voting for the millage would cover admission to the special exhibits which are so expensive to do that the museums hosting them rarely make any money, meaning that they would have to cut back on a lot of other activities or hours or staff to fund special exhibits free to the public.

The average person has no idea how museums are run, so assuming they would understand that is silly. Then again, look how many people vote that have no idea how government and economics work. Most voters are ignorant, which explains how we end up with the government we have.

**rb336** · December-06-12, 08:24 PM

Originally Posted by MikeM

From Danny's link: "The contract the D.I.A. entered into with the counties is pretty clear. It says unlimited admission."

It's a matter of a single word, but where is the contract language?

It is actually unlimited GENERAL admission, which has never included special showings

**Novine** · December-06-12, 08:52 PM

Nothing in the Macomb millage language says anything about free admission of any kind. Anyone claiming reliance on the ballot language for a claim of any kind of free admission is full of it.

**MikeM** · December-06-12, 10:19 PM

Originally Posted by rb336

It is actually unlimited GENERAL admission, which has never included special showings.

I know it's general admission; I'm quoting Drolet, who is quoting the contract.

**313WX** · December-06-12, 10:32 PM

Originally Posted by Detroitej72

Clearly these are not people of culture!

Macomb County [[especially the southern portion) is traditionally blue collar.

I've never considered blue collar folks to be the cultural type. In fact, per the article, it appears the more white collar parts of Macomb County [[northern portion) are the ones pursuing this lawsuit.

Shollin · December-06-12, 10:39 PM

Originally Posted by 313WX

Macomb County [[especially the southern portion) is traditionally blue collar.

I've never considered blue collar folks to be the cultural type. In fact, per the article, it appears the more white collar parts of Macomb County [[northern portion) are the ones pursuing this lawsuit.

A lot of southern Macomb county is now Detroit. Warren, Eastpointe and Roseville have seen more Detroiters move in.

**Gistok** · December-07-12, 12:20 AM

Originally Posted by 313WX

Macomb County [[especially the southern portion) is traditionally blue collar.

I've never considered blue collar folks to be the cultural type. In fact, per the article, it appears the more white collar parts of Macomb County [[northern portion) are the ones pursuing this lawsuit.

Actually you cannot really pigeon hole Macomb County... there are blue collar areas of south Warrren, more white collar in North Warren and both in Sterling Heights. Clinton Township has some of the richest residents in the county along the Clinton River Valley [[Moravian and Millar Roads have some subdivisions with homes $500K+) and some of the poorest east of Gratiot @ 15 Mile... then you have all the well-to-do waterfront and riverfront homes... eastern SCS, parts of Shelby and Washington Twp are also very affluent.... and then you have poor pockets in Chesterfield, Mt. Clemens, Roseville and Richmond. So there's no real demographic that fits all of Macomb County in a neat package.

**Bad Brains** · December-07-12, 01:26 AM

People are surprised you have to pay to see temporary special exhibits?

Derrrrrrr.

**Zacha341** · December-07-12, 06:45 AM

I am not... I figured these types of exhibits would have a fee.

Originally Posted by Bad Brains

People are surprised you have to pay to see temporary special exhibits?

Derrrrrrr.

**GPCharles** · December-07-12, 08:28 AM

Thank you, Bobl -

"free general admission" - not special exhibit admission!

JVB · December-07-12, 08:34 AM

The difference between special exhibit admission and general admission is almost like the difference between putting the proposal on the ballot of a special election or a general election, right...? Nothing sneaky about that.

**Scottathew** · December-07-12, 08:57 AM

LOL, I love all the folks that like to paint "No" voters as uneducated art-haters. I like going to the DIA, and I didn't mind paying for it at the gate. It doesn't make sense to subsidize it across the whole region. Make the people who use it pay for it. If it's so damn important to them, they will pay for it. It's important enough to me to pay for it at the gate.

As to this controversy, the ballot language doesn't even mention the DIA, voters not reading the news would have had no clue what the millage was even for or the true intentions for the money. The only thing we could rely on was what the DIA was promising us in their very expensive advertising campaign to the public that would eventually be paid back by our tax dollars.

They got our money, and we're all buying tickets for the next 10 years whether the DIA keeps their end of the bargain or not.

Lots of folks here are making odd analogies about gift shops and car washes. Bottom line is, we were told a "Yes" vote would mean we could go there and look at the art without paying an admission fee, and that turns out to only be partially true. You can see "SOME" of the art for free.

However, places do have special exhibits, such as the Henry Ford. I took my family there this fall and general admission didn't cover the special "Titanic" exhibit.

I feel that those that feel the DIA wasn't fully disclosing everything are justified.

**MikeM** · December-07-12, 10:27 AM

Back to the lawsuit: BUCHHOLTZ, JUDY vs. DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS. Does anyone here have access to the filed exhibits? Or the contract between the Macomb County Art Authority and the DIA?

Quotes from various articles about the suit:

The plaintiffs are asking the court to permanently enjoin the DIA from collecting any admission fee from Macomb County residents and to award the plaintiffs whatever sum they may be entitled from the breach of contract.

They also are asking the court to enter an order enjoining the DIA from further representing to the public that it offers unlimited, free museum admission to Macomb County residents and to award the plaintiffs $250 each plus attorney’s fees, according to the lawsuit.

“The Defendant represented on multiple occasions that the Residents of Macomb County would be offered ‘unlimited, free museum admission’ while concealing that ‘unlimited, free museum admission’ would not apply to whatever the Defendant deemed a ‘Special Exhibition,’” the lawsuit stated in part.

The DIA released a statement late this afternoon strongly denying allegations in the lawsuit that free museum admission includes free access to all special exhibitions.

“Throughout the millage campaign, the DIA was clear that free admission would not apply to all DIA activities and that visitors would still need to purchase tickets to programs such as Brunch with Bach, films at the Detroit Film Theater and special exhibitions such as the highly popular Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus that was on display a year ago,” it read. “The policy was clearly articulated to the county commissioners and county art institute authorities, as well as in news articles.”

"Throughout the millage campaign, the DIA was clear that free admission would not apply to all DIA activities and that visitors would still need to purchase tickets to programs such as Brunch with Bach, films at the Detroit Film Theater and special exhibitions such as the highly popular Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus that was on display a year ago," Annmarie Erickson, chief operating officer, said in a statement.

"The policy was clearly articulated to the county commissioners and county art institute authorities. … We remain firm in our belief that Macomb, Oakland and Wayne County residents are reaping great benefits from this agreement."

**Novine** · December-07-12, 01:48 PM

The claims have already been debunked here. The DIA never promised unlimited admission to everything. No one has any basis to claim otherwise.

JVB · December-07-12, 02:02 PM

Originally Posted by Novine

The claims have already been debunked here. The DIA never promised unlimited admission to everything. No one has any basis to claim otherwise.

The DIA campaign was clever not to say free "general" admission. They said Free Admission, period. Look at this Freep article that said the same thing. Not once do they specify the free admission is limited in any way.

Also, look at their first commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csDcLEnB0Cw. "Imagine this, Special exhibits, school field trips, art workshops — gone. The Detroit Institute of Arts is at risk of closing its doors. But we can save it by passing a low-cost millage." Then it goes on to say that residents of the three counties will receive unlimited free admission to the DIA if the millage passes. Nowhere in there do they say "special exhibits not included", or anything to that effect, in fact they infer that they'll be free since the millage is "what can save it".

And if they really wanted to leave it up to the people, why wasn't it on the ballot in November when more people would be at the polls?

Of course they were deceptive in getting the millage passed, it's OK to admit. That's politics. Obama lied. Snyder lied. Bing lied. That's just what they do when looking for votes. But don't try to pretend like everything was done as clearly as possible.

**Scottathew** · December-07-12, 02:38 PM

That video from the DIA's advertisement clearly says "Free unlimited admission" both in voice-over and text.

There most certainly is merit to say that our current admission is limited to only certain areas, and therefore is not unlimited.

**southen** · December-07-12, 02:42 PM

you get access to the art that the museum owns. a special exhibit is not museum property, it is on loan from another museum or group. look at it as visiting another venue and it might make more sense and cause less outrage.

if you are an institution facing a financial crisis dont you think it makes more sense to make your case as soon as possible instead of waiting? dont blame the DIA for people being too lazy to vote in august. there were enough commercials and enough articles where if you really disagreed with it you could have gone out and voted.