Detroit Institute of Arts Thanks Metro Area Voters

Regionalism was the word of the day recently when the Detroit Institute of Arts announced which suburban communities will host Inside|Out installations this spring and summer.

Oakland Township's neighbor Rochester Hills was among the 25 communities selected to host reproductions of the museum's masterpieces as part of the 2013 program, which will be the first since a millage to help support the DIA was passed in August.

Voters in Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties approved a tax of 0.2 mills for the next 10 years to help cover the museum's operating costs. In return, tri-county residents will receive free admission to the DIA for the next decade. In the meanwhile, the museum's fundraisers will work to build a sustainable endowment.

"I cannot tell you what an important and critical vote that was," DIA chief operating officer Annmarie Erickson said Feb. 8 as the 2013 Inside|Out communities were announced in the museum's Crystal Ballroom. "Your help really did an amazingly critical thing for the DIA.

"It also was an amazing statement on regionalism," she added. "This kind of back and forth is going to be essential to moving forward in southeast Michigan."

The Inside|Out program is funded through a partnership with the Miami-based John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, one of whose goals is to foster the arts.

"Museums and culture are what help us draw and retain young people with advanced education," Huntington Woods City Commissioner and Southeast Michigan Council of Governments Vice Chairman Jeff Jenks wrote on Patch in August. "Arts and culture help our region grow and prosper and in that process increase the values of our homes."

"Like" the DIA Inside|Out page on Facebook or follow @DIADetroit #InsideOut on Twitter for updates on the program.