WHAT:
Wayne State University’s Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute and the Friends of the Freer House are hosting a special lecture by Thomas Brunk, Ph.D. In honor of the grand re-opening of the Detroit Institute of Arts, the public is invited to join the Friends of the Freer House for a timely and intriguing look back at the role of Charles Lang Freer in the original Detroit Museum of Art. Tours and a light reception will follow.

WHEN AND WHERE:
The event will be held on Sunday, Nov. 11th at 3:00 p.m. at the Charles Lang Freer House, located at 71 East Ferry Street in Detroit. Reservations are requested and can be made by calling (313) 872-1790.

REGISTRATION:
Admission is complimentary for members of the Friends of the Freer house; a donation of $5 is suggested for non-members.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Brunk is a historian and authority on the Charles Lang Freer House. He is also a leading expert on Detroit\'s cultural history. Brunk first wrote about the relationship of C. L. Freer and the DIA in a 1981 issue of the Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts. He is an adjunct professor at the College of Creative Studies, a co-founder of the Friends of the Freer House, and lives in Detroit\'s Historic Indian Village neighborhood.

ABOUT THE LECTURE:
From 1890 to 1919, Charles Lang Freer assembled one the world’s great art collections at his home on East Ferry Avenue in Detroit. During this same period a group of prominent Detroiters established the Detroit Museum of Art, today\'s Detroit Institute of Arts. With Freer\'s agreement to donate his art collection to the Smithsonian in 1906, stories and innuendo developed that he had little interest in Detroit\'s own art museum. But this is far from the truth. While Freer had specific concerns with the Detroit Museum of Art\'s early direction in art collecting and exhibition, Freer supported the museum in many ways as a donor and patron.

His role and impact on the development of what is today\'s Detroit Institute of Arts will be explored in this fascinating lecture.

Wayne State University is a premier institution of higher education offering more than 350 academic programs through 11 schools and colleges to more than 33,000 students.