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12 December 10 • 2015 metro » December 10 • 2015 12 continued from page 10 oversaw the bankruptcy case in federal court, received the Dennis W. Archer Public Service Award from the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association Foundation. The awards program was held at the DIA. THE DIA EMPLOYEE: BARBARA HELLER Barbara Heller of Birmingham has worked at the Detroit Institute of Arts as a conservator for more than 30 years. Now she is director and conservator of special proj- ects. During Detroit's bankruptcy proceed- ings, Heller worked with the attorneys to provide details about the items in the museum's collection. Determining the worth of the collection was extremely complicated, she said. Many of the objects in the museum's collection have never been adequately val- ued, she said. The DIA generally declares a value for a piece of art only when it is lent out, and that is done for insurance purpos- es. Many objects were acquired through bequests and donations from private donors. The donor declares the value of the piece, but rarely does the museum do an independent valuation, and the object's value often changes in the years following its acquisition. Often the actual ownership of pieces is difficult to determine, Heller said. "Some purchases in the 1920s and 1930s were made with city funds, but those account for a very small portion of the collection," she said. Many of the people connected with the museum felt the collection was a pub- lic trust, not a city of Detroit asset that could be sold, said Heller, a member of Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield. She said in her heart of hearts she never believed the collection would be sold. "I had confidence in the saying engraved on the Woodward Avenue entrance to the museum: 'Dedicated by the people of Detroit to the knowledge and enjoyment of art,'" she said. "It says by the people, not for the people." The DIA's attorneys were preparing to go to court to make the case that the museum was a public trust when the Grand Bargain was proposed. Heller was relieved. She said she's noticed a change in atti- tude among museum visitors since the tri-county millage was approved in 2012, especially those from the suburbs. That measure raises about $22 million of the museum's $32 million annual operat- ing budget. Residents of the entire area now see the DIA as their museum, she said, rather than as something connected only to the city of Detroit, and they treasure it. THE DOCENTS: CAROLYN SILVERSTEIN AND MARGE FEIN Carolyn Silverstein of Franklin and Marjorie Fein of Grosse Pointe Park both started working as interpretive program volunteers at the Detroit Institute of Arts in 2007 after retiring. Silverstein worked for the Social Security Administration, and Fein taught French and Spanish at University Liggett School in Grosse Pointe Woods. Interpretive program volunteers (gen- erally known as docents) serve as tour guides, provide information for visitors about the art in various galleries and speak to groups about the museum. Fein, a member of the interpretive program volunteers board, said she was "scared, worried and angry" at the thought that the collection might be sold to relieve Detroit's debts. "No one likes to think of art as some- thing that should be sold to pay bills," she said. "When I look at works of art, I don't see dollar signs. I see the incredible talent of the artist. Some of these paintings were made 500 or 700 years ago, and I'm look- ing at the actual brushstrokes the actual artist put on the canvas." She said thinking about the threat to the DIA's collection still makes her a little teary. As a federal retiree, Silverstein sym- pathized with those trying to help the pensioners. But she also saw the DIA as an important asset to the region. "The DIA not only has an encyclopedic collection of art objects from many cul- tures and ages, but is also in the forefront of art museums in its outreach and inter- pretive programs," said Silverstein, a mem- ber of Temple Emanu-El in Oak Park. The DIA, she said, "is a place where art, history and culture can be experi- enced in a way that book learning can never achieve. "I studied art history in graduate school, but never really appreciated how many connections could be made between the art of different cultures and ages until I became a docent at the DIA." Silverstein said she thought the Grand Bargain was a "stroke of genius." "Everyone associated with the DIA, including me, breathed a huge sigh of relief," she said. Fein, a member of the Grosse Pointe Jewish Council, agreed. "Everyone feels so much better. I don't feel the same kind of threat." THE VOLUNTEERS: JULIE ROTHSTEIN AND BEN SHIPPER Julie Rothstein, 50, of West Bloomfield remembers visiting the Detroit Institute of Arts as a child, trailing her mother, Roberta Stulberg, who worked as a docent for about 20 years. Rothstein herself was a docent for nine years. She worked with school groups, helping the students to develop critical thinking skills about the artwork they saw. In 2010, Rothstein was asked to join the board of the Friends of Prints, Drawings and Photographs (FPDP), one of 12 DIA auxiliaries. She is just finishing a two-year stint as the group's president. Ben Shipper, 28, of Huntington Woods came to the DIA more recently. While attending law school at Loyola University in Chicago, he volunteered for Lawyers for the Creative Arts, which provides free legal services for struggling artists. Back in Detroit to take a job with Deborah Gordon Law, he wanted to continue his involvement with the arts. Early last year, he signed on as a DIA vol- unteer. He's part of the Gallery Service, helping visitors find their way around. Rothstein, a member of Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, said she did a lot of travel- ing as a young woman and saw how impor- tant museums are to their communities. "I realized how special the DIA is and how lucky we are to have this wonderful museum in our own backyard. "As a docent, I worked with hundreds and hundreds of children and saw the impact their first visit to the museum had on them. It was devastating to think that this might not exist anymore," she said. Shipper said the atmosphere in the museum was tense during the bankruptcy proceedings because no one knew what would happen. Visitors would make cracks about wanting to see a particular painting before it was sold. "There was a feeling of 'You don't know what you've got till it's gone,'" he said. As an attorney, he didn't really expect a judge to order the sale of the collection. "It would be like Greece selling the Parthenon to pay its debts," he said. "It just isn't going to happen." Rothstein felt the Grand Bargain was a brilliant solution. "I'm very happy that we could protect the DIA and raise $100 mil- lion for the Detroit pensioners," she said. She and Shipper both sense renewed energy at the museum. "There's a wedding there almost every week, and lots of special events," said Shipper, who likes to sit in the museum's Kresge Court with a book when he's not at his volunteer post. "It's not just a bunch of rooms with art; it's becoming more of a cultural community center." * This story is part of a series, Detroit Bankruptcy: One Year Later, presented by partners of the Detroit Journalism Cooperative to help audiences understand the continuing and future impacts of the city's bank- ruptcy and recovery on residents, neighborhoods, city government and policymakers. DJC partners are the Center for Michigan's Bridge Magazine, Detroit Public Television, Michigan Public Radio, WDET and New Michigan Media (a collaboration of the five largest minority media outlets in Southeast Michigan). Funding for this project came from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Renaissance Journalism's Michigan Reporting Initiative and the Ford Foundation. To view the series, go to nextchapterdetroit.com. Carolyn Silverstein Ben Shipper Barbara Heller DIA The redesigned Kresge Court is a cozy spot for DIA patrons to congregate. Marjorie Fein