A few weeks ago, I visited the Detroit Institute of Arts.

It wasn’t the first time I had been there, but it was the first time I went in with adult eyes.

Not only did I see the art for the first time in years, but I also thought deeper into its meaning and its creation. I couldn’t stop wondering what the museum or ones like it would look like in 100 years, or even 1,000.

There were few modern pieces at the institute when I visited — compared to the numerous historical pieces — but it was enough to have me not only questioning the future of art but even slightly fearing it.

I’m afraid the beauty will be lost, but I suppose I’m also curious to know what beauty will be created.

I remember seeing a few photographs that truly captured the modern era: virtual reality headsets and all.

Is that the future of photography? Will the ugly truth of our digitized world be on display in the future?

I also wonder about the mediums artists will use. I fear that all things tech will be utilized and society will forget what it’s like to hold a paintbrush. I also worry that, should paintings and drawings continue to be created, they might feature the ugly truths we’re too familiar with now.

Will sculptures show kids with poor posture playing video games? Will modern structures be chiseled into stone or will we dismiss sculptures and instead have 3D-printed art, the emotion from an artist’s hands lost completely?

But, again, I’m curious to see what new materials they might come up with in the next 100-plus years. By then, I can imagine, 3D printing will be a thing of the past.

Continuing through the museum, the more I saw, the more I imagined the future of art.

I think back to pieces I saw with women wearing exquisite gowns and their hair pinned to perfection. Their dresses were beautifully beaded and the artist found ways to reflect that in their work.

Will our art be people in sweatpants with messy buns? Will oversized graphic tees and mom jeans be our versions of corsets and crinoline skirts?

My biggest fear of all is that art museums will become a thing of the past. I worry that people of the future might settle for viewing art through a screen.

I hope it’s not forgotten that art is meant to be beautiful.

I’ve been looking up theories on what people believe art will look like in the future. Many of them suggest they will become statements of the environment and the consequences of human activity.

Humans are not always beautiful and the way they treat the world and the people around them isn’t always ideal, so I hope that art doesn’t forget about the good in the world and the possibilities in optimism.

Will art imitate life, or will life imitate art in the future?

Finally, I can’t help but wonder what people will think is beautiful in the future.

Maybe, to them, what I’m afraid to see in art will be beautiful pieces of history, and perhaps they might find it enchanting.

No matter what, I believe art will never die. However different it may look in the future, I can’t imagine people would ever forget about it completely.

Art demands to be seen, and, despite my fears, I have hope that curiosity will continue and the creation of more beautiful things will come.

Torianna Marasco can be reached at 989-358-5686 or tmarasco@thealpenanews.com.