Art is like honey.

Antonio Machado, one of the great Spanish writers of all time, described in a poem that his childhood memories were of a patio in Seville and an orchard where lemon trees ripen. I deeply connect with these lines because my childhood memories also have images of a patio--in Valencia (where my family is from)--a patio where the bright Mediterranean sun gave warmth to blooming jasmine. In these memories, on that patio, is my grandfather Antonio, who loved life and who equated anything that was good to eat as being like honey. "Yes, Salva eat this, it is as good as honey!" he would persuasively tell me. At the time, I did not understand his point because, as a child, I found the taste of honey unpleasant. As a grownup, I have come to love honey and enjoy it every day at breakfast--it is a delicious, natural medicine.

By now you might be thinking, what is the point of this column? Well, a month or so ago, the benefits of honey came up in an interesting conversation I had in my office with the DIA development staff and a philanthropy team from a company with which we would like to collaborate. As many of you know, we, unfortunately, can't show our entire collection in the galleries because there is not enough space. In our storage, we have extensive holdings of great works by Detroit artists, including some from the Cass Corridor, and we would like to share these with our community. We proposed in the meeting to have some of these pieces installed in public areas of buildings and other places where they can be shown with the necessary environmental and security precautions. The fact that these works were made in Detroit is an important one. To illustrate this point, I explained to the group that I made sure the honey I enjoy every morning is locally produced because it is thought to enhance the immune system in fending off local allergies and other ailments in the area. In parallel fashion, I thought it was a good idea to have works by local artists displayed in Detroit buildings for the quiet atmosphere they invoke for people frequenting those spaces. Let's say that Detroit art exercises a stronger positive influence to those who live and work in our three-county metropolitan area as local honey does for local residents.

While my approach to honey or the influence of Detroit artists in the city can't really be scientifically proven and quantified, I do enjoy making these parallel connections that speak to our intuition about certain good things. Yes, this is a bit of a romantic idea, but perhaps we can all agree that the exposure to art has an ineffable positive effect and that eating honey feels like it helps our immune system. Can art be like honey? I'd like to say yes. Next time someone comes into my office and asks me who painted Twin Tornados, which hangs on my wall, I will answer that it is by the Detroit artist Gilda Snowden, and that it is as good as honey--as my grandfather would say.

The lights go out later this month for this popular photography exhibition, which closes April 23.

The exhibition of photographs from the DIA's permanent collection includes the bright lights of downtown Detroit, the shadows of nearly abandoned neighborhoods, architectural studies, and street scenes, as well as some of city's famous night spots where notable musicians often got their start performing for small, intimate audiences.

A small supplement to the exhibition features work from Paris and New York taken between 1920 and 1960, which establish Detroit's place in the visual tradition of nighttime photography.

The 80th Annual Detroit Public Schools Community District  Student Exhibition features hundreds of imaginative works created by district students in grades K-12, ranging from paintings, prints, drawings, photography, ceramics, videos, and jewelry.

An opening reception and awards presentation will take place Saturday, April 29, at 4 p.m. in the DFT auditorium.

The 80th Detroit Public Schools Community District Student Exhibition was organized by the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Detroit Public Schools Community District and is made possible with support from the Ruth T. T. Cattell Education Endowment Fund. Additional support was provided by the Detroit Public Schools Foundation.

If you can't make it to the Detroit Tigers' opening day game on Friday, April 7, or even if you can, the Museum Shop's ready for the start of the baseball season with appropriately themed items-cuff links made from old Tiger Stadium bleacher seats or watches and small wallets featuring decorative touches crafted from old Major League baseballs. Baseball not your sport? We've got you covered with similar items made from National League Hockey pucks used in Red Wings games or from National Football League footballs.