The Dayton Art Institute will celebrate the museum’s 100th birthday by throwing the biggest birthday party in Dayton, Happy Birthday DAI: Centennial Community Birthday Party, on Sunday, April 7, from noon to 4:30 p.m.
This community open house is a FREE family event that will have many family fun activities and entertainment throughout the entire museum. The Mimi and Stuart Rose Auditorium will host performances such as the musical group Forte, Kettering Children’s Choir, Stivers Dancers, Zoot Theater, and a showing of the Decoding Dayton episode Dayton Art Institute: 100 Years of History. In the Great Hall a FREE photo booth and a caricaturist will be set up to capture the fun at DAI. The Shaw Gothic Cloister will feature a DJ, and piano performances from Kareem Powell. Become an artist yourself in The Lange Family Experiencenter, where many art activities will be available for kids of all ages. Enjoy many pop-up performances throughout the Galleries all day long while taking in DAI’s exceptional art collection and traveling exhibitions.
“On February 28, 1919, the fledgling Dayton Art Association was incorporated as the Dayton Museum of Arts, beginning the 100-year-history of the Dayton Art Institute,” said Dayton Art Institute Director and CEO Michael R. Roediger. “In January 1930, Julia Shaw Patterson Carnell dedicated this building to the community, asking them to ‘treat it kindly’ and requesting that the DAI be a ‘friendly place.’ We extend Carnell’s welcome to the entire community to join us in this celebration.”
This is just one of the many centennial celebrations occurring throughout the year. More details about the “100 Happenings for 100 Years” will be shared on the DAI’s website and social media.
The Dayton Art Institute’s Centennial Community Birthday Party is hosted with sponsorship support from the Miriam Rosenthal Foundation for the Arts, Iddings Foundation and Frank M. Tate Foundation.
Happy Birthday DAI is a FREE event for everyone in the community. Entrance to the event also includes FREE admission to the special exhibition For America: Paintings from the National Academy of Design and focus exhibition Dorothy Height’s Hats.
