For security reasons, monetary values assigned for insurance purposes are not public information. When the museum building was planned in the 1920s, the galleries dedicated to the art of each culture were built to look like architecture of that time period. The south wall is built in a Flemish style, and the west wall suggests English architecture. The sculptures that decorate Kresge Court are mostly original French and Italian medieval and renaissance pieces. A curator is a person responsible for the care, selection, presentation, and interpretation of objects in a specific part of the collection.
Docents are volunteers who have been trained to give tours of the museum.
Works are purchased from art dealers or at auction or are gifts to the museum. A committee of museum board members reviews proposals to decide which works to accept for the collection. Most paintings in the DIA are not exhibited in their original frames. Curators usually buy frames or have them made to resemble the ones used at the time the painting was made. We apologize for the inconvenience.