Detroit Car Design To Be Celebrated

The Detroit Institute for the Arts (DIA) is one of the major art museums in the U.S., located in a grand building on the city’s famous Woodward Avenue. This June, it’s going to celebrate Detroit’s auto industry and its contribution to the arts with a new exhibit on American auto design from the 1950s to today.

Part of the ‘Detroit Style: Car Design in the Motor City, 1950-2020’ exhibit will feature 12 vehicles from ‘the Big Three’ Detroit automakers, both concepts and production cars. Included will be the wild 1958 Firebird III and 1959 Corvette Stingray Racer concepts from General Motors, a 1970 Plymouth Barracuda, a 1998 Chrysler Chronos concept, and a modern Ford GT.

While the cars themselves are amazing pieces of design history, what will make this show even more special is the inclusion of rare conceptual drawings, paintings and sculptures, done by the automakers’ own creative geniuses during the design process. Usually, automakers destroy these artworks periodically for security purposes and heavily restrict designers from keeping their work, making these authentic and futuristic pieces in the exhibit even more amazing to behold beyond their beautiful craftsmanship.

The exhibit runs from June 13 to January 10 of next year, coinciding with the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, which starts on June 9.

*Images courtesy of Detroit Institute for the Arts