Everyone has a favorite secret spot, but a few are eager to share. For this year’s City Guide, we took on the challenge. Along with revealing a few of our own picks, we gathered recommendations from contributing writers, tour guides, and other insiders. And while logging in thousands of steps, we peeked behind closed doors and over balconies, and we ventured inside two completely off-the-grid locations that safeguard some of Detroit’s most precious artifacts.
The DIA houses more than 65,000 works of art, so there’s a good chance you’ll see something new each time you visit. But there are a few things you may have missed. DIA spokesperson Megan Hawthorne shares a few hidden items:
• In the European: Renaissance gallery, have you ever looked directly up? If so, you’ll spot Tintoretto’s mid-16th-century painting “The Dreams of Men” displayed on the ceiling.
• There’s one painting so hidden, it’s literally obscured from view. In the Era of a Revolution collection (third floor, south wing) is Henry Fuseli’s “The Nightmare” (1781). The delightfully macabre painting depicts an incubus sitting on the belly of a sleeping woman while a horse looks on. There’s another painting on the back of the canvas: “Portrait of a Lady,” uncovered by an archivist at some point before the DIA acquired the painting in 1955. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to see it — it’s facing the wall.
James S. Tottis, the DIA’s former curator of art in the department of American art, tells us there is “a whole variety” of what could be considered hidden gems, including:
• A sculpture of Minerva, the former symbol of the Founders Society, can be seen in the niches over the north and south arches looking into the Great Hall from the Woodward lobby.
• Relief medallions decorate the ceilings of galleries W271 and W273. One depicts the facade of the DIA, the other the DIA’s floor plan.
• In gallery W293, there are niches lined in iridescent Pewabic tile designed by Mary Chase Stratton, “both of which are two mosaics done by her.” You can find another mosaic designed by Stratton above a nonfunctioning drinking fountain as you head into the Rivera Court.
More of Hour Detroit‘s “Hidden Detroit”
Sports, Hats, Scenic Spots, and ArtifactsConnecting with Old Detroit and Its Boozy Past
Under the Radar Retail
This story originally appeared in the April 2026 issue of Hour Detroit magazine. To read more, pick up a copy of Hour Detroit at a local retail outlet. Click here to get our digital edition
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