By Allie Clayman, Detroit Institute of Arts

When I first arrived at the DIA in May 2011 as an eager intern, I had no idea what outcomes to expect of the Inside|Out program that I had been enlisted to help implement. How would people react when they came upon a reproduction of a Van Gogh painting hanging next to the entrance of their favorite restaurant? Or what would they do if they one day discovered a Monet on display along their usual running trail? My questions have been answered over the course of the past three summers, and I have been privileged to witness the overwhelmingly positive response to Inside|Out as it has grown and developed each season. The program has changed significantly over the years, but the goals have remained constant: to surprise community members with art in unexpected places, to encourage broader thinking about cities and communities, and to invite our metro Detroit community members to think about art and the DIA in new ways.

Van Gogh, Bank of the Oise at Auvers, 1890 – Milliken State Park, Detroit, Fall 2011

Jasper Francis Cropsey, Indian Summer, 1866 – Lytle Pharmacy, Rochester, 2010

When we first began to implement Inside|Out, there was not an efficient system for execution in place. The Inside|Out coordinator and I did much of the grunt work the first summer I interned, in 2011, and it was an interesting experience, to say the least. Upon my return to school in the fall, many of my peers (who had also been interns at various companies) complained that they dealt with monotonous office work for eight weeks, but not me. I learned how to varnish frames and apply adhesive vinyl to Alumacorr—the material that the reproductions are printed on (I even know what Alumacorr is now); I learned how to erect scaffolding and securely hang a reproduction of a Caravaggio on brick and mortar; and by August, I could probably recite the labels for all 88 Inside|Out reproductions from memory. But most importantly, I connected with a lot of people that summer – I shook many hands, reached out to representatives from various communities, and met the mayors and village supervisors of many metro Detroit towns. We brought art to 11 communities in the area, and although we were forced to tackle much of the physical and manual work it took to get Inside|Out off the ground, we laid the foundation for what the DIA’s Community Relations department continues to work so hard to do: make art and the DIA more accessible to people all over metro Detroit.

Inside|Out Summer 2011 Installation by DIA staff and interns

In the second and third years of Inside|Out, the physical labor became easier and more manageable: we had acquired contractors, sign installers, map makers—the works! Now, after six installations, we have become experts when it comes to implementing Inside|Out. The DIA is able to more efficiently utilize the program as a means of continuously connecting and partnering with communities throughout Metro Detroit. Communities are enthusiastic to have the Inside|Out reproductions hanging in their cities and eager to embrace the program in their own way. Inside|Out has become a real partnership between the DIA and the citizens of metro Detroit, through community dinners, bike and walking tours, social media, community weekends at the DIA, fairs and festivals, and photo contests, among many other aspects. It has been truly gratifying to see Inside|Out grow this way.

Lantern Tour in Farmington, Spring 2012

What began as a small project managed by a coordinator and her intern is now a program that involves several departments in the DIA and has been installed in over 80 communities regionally. Just as the reproductions are unexpected in parks and on building walls, the success and positive response to Inside|Out was itself unexpected and surprising to me. I believe that the program, and the enthusiasm with which it has been received, demonstrates that community members are eager to enrich themselves and their communities with art. Working on Inside|Out and watching it develop over the years has really made me consider how to make art more accessible and engaging outside of museums and cultural institutions. I hope, as I move on to attend Columbia University to get my MA in Arts Administration, that I can take what I have learned from Inside|Out and continue to make art available and meaningful to people in my community throughout my life.