Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919) made a fortune manufacturing railroad freight cars. He then assembled one of the world’s greatest collections of Asian and American art in his home on Ferry Street. The art collections remained in the house until his death, when they were transferred to the Smithsonian Institution to form the Freer Gallery of Art on the mall in Washington, D.C.

On Sunday, Oct. 7, Wayne State University and the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) will sponsor a free symposium, The Living Legacy of Charles Lang Freer: Detroit and Washington D.C. The program will examine Freer’s significant role in Detroit’s business and cultural life, and the contribution of his art collection to the nation.

Julian Raby, director of the Freer and Sackler Galleries of Art at the Smithsonian Institution, will deliver the keynote presentation, “Freer’s Vision for American and Asian Art – Past, Present and Future,” at 2 p.m. in the DIA’s Danto Lecture Hall. Other speakers will follow.    

The symposium will be followed at 5:30 p.m. by a Freer House benefit reception and tours. The cost is $10 for the public and $5 for members and students.

Wayne State’s Freer House, 71 East Ferry, is home to the Merrill-Palmer Skillman Institute.

For more information on the symposium or the Freer House, contact William Colburn, director, at wscolburn@hotmail.com or visit mpsi.wayne.edu/freer-events.php.

Wayne State University is a premier urban research institution offering more than 400 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 31,000 students.