Humanize the Numbers

The Robert and Mary Ann Bury Community Gallery is a changing exhibition space made available to local historical societies, museums, non-profit organizations and educational institutions, selected for their contributions to the metro Detroit community. Organizations are featured in order to share their stories and provide new perspectives on the issues, ideas and individuals that have shaped our region’s rich history.

It was officially renamed as a tribute to retiring long-time Executive Director Bob Bury and dedicated in a ceremony on November 1, 2018.   

Our Community Gallery program received the 2020 Leadership in History Award from the American Association for State and Local History! Learn more

NOW OPEN in the Robert and Mary Ann Bury Community Gallery

Humanize the Numbers

Humanize the Numbers is a collaborative photography project that brings together men incarcerated within Michigan Department of Corrections facilities and students from the University of Michigan to create images of those directly impacted by mass incarceration. Inside a system where people are tightly regulated and identities are reduced to ID numbers, this project reveals the faces and stories of those inside the criminal legal system. 

Visit to see a selection of photos from the project and hear from those who are usually silenced.