Although many in-person events have been put on hiatus, there are still community-supported activities that you can enjoy while social distancing. Please reference the daily calendar for more up-to-date online events.
Alternative Activities
Please reference our daily calendar for scheduled livestream events.
Music
– Free and paid livestream performances from many local musicians, including favorites such as Mark Braun (aka Mr. B), Chris Buhalis, and Peter Madcat Ruth. Consult your favorite musician’s social media pages for more information.
– Upcoming livestreams are listed on the public Facebook groups Ann Arbor Loves Live Music! (bit.ly/aalivemusic) and SE Michigan Live Music (bit.ly/semilivemusic).
– UMMA’s “Sight and Sound” series features music composed by U-M music students, inspired by works of art in the museum. umma.umich.edu/MusicLabels
Theater, Opera, and Dance
The University Musical Society is shut down, but some of the organizations whose live broadcasts it has been bringing to town are rebroadcasting their shows for free online.
– The Metropolitan Opera offers nightly full-length productions TBA. 7:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. every day or so (each production is available for 23 hrs). MetOpera.org/User-Information/Nightly-Met-Opera-Streams
– The National Theatre (London) offers weekly full-length plays TBA. 2 p.m., every Thur. (each production is available for 1 week). bit.ly/yttheatre
Watching & Listening Material
– U-M Art School’s popular Penny Stamps Speaker Series offers pre-recorded lectures by artists from around the world. Stamps.umich.edu/Stamps
– Osher Lifelong Learning Institute has free pre-recorded and livestream lectures. Olli-umich.org
– The AADL’s catalog of eBooks & audiobooks is available at AADL.org/Catalog/eBooks
– Literati Bookstore’s digital events series features live interviews with authors & poets and a book club. Full schedule at LiteratiBookstore.com
– The U-M Clements Library lecture series offers recorded lectures with closed captioning. Clements.mivideo.it.umich.edu
– The Ann Arbor Art Center’s “Studio Stories” video series showcases the studios of Michigan artists. AnnArborArtCenter.org/Studio-Stories
– The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra offers “Musical Minutes,” short educational videos about famous composers. a2so.com
Interactive Web Pages
– Quizzes, museum-themed coloring pages, digitized galleries, and more from UMMA. umma.umich.edu
– Social media-based activities from the Ann Arbor Summer Festival, including their “Quarantine Confessions” challenge in which participants submit anonymous stories of their quarantine shenanigans. a2sf.org
Films
– Ann Arbor Film Festival. Home-viewing rentals of select films from this year’s festival. aaFilmFest.org
– Burnout Film Society offers at-home viewing suggestions, including schlock classics and forgotten gems. Facebook.com/8BallMovieNight
– Emagine Entertainment offers new releases available for rent. Emagine-Entertainment.com/Virtual-Cinema
– The Michigan & State Theaters continually update a list of movie suggestions, featuring live virtual watch parties. MichTheater.org/Screenings
Galleries & Exhibits
– Ann Arbor Women Artists, bit.ly/aawartists. Juried exhibit of work in various media by members of this local organization.
– U-M Clements Library, bit.ly/clements-lib. Multiple online exhibits about early American history, featuring digitized documents from the Clements collection.
– U-M Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, bit.ly/kelsey-library. Digitized versions of past exhibits, plus the current exhibit Randal Stegmeyer: Exposing the Past, a collection of Stegmeyer’s photos of Kelsey Museum artifacts.
– U-M Libraries, lib.umich.edu/online-exhibits. Digitized materials from library collections, featuring everything from children’s books to illustrations of 19th-century fashion.
– U-M Museum of Art (UMMA), umma.umich.edu. Digitized materials from UMMA’s collection. Also, “Medicine @ the Museum,” an online exhibit of artwork from UMMA’s collection that is related to COVID-19 or the history of medicine.
– West Side Art Hop Showcase, bit.ly/wsarthop. Work in various media by artists who have been featured in this local art fair.
Family & Kids Stuff
– U-M Museum of Natural History adds new science-related programs to their web page Museum@Home every Wednesday. bit.ly/michmuseumathome
– UMMA offers narrated “virtual field trip” videos, lesson plans, printable coloring pages, and more. umma.umich.edu
– Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum and Leslie Science & Nature Center’s STEM at Home web page includes activities, crafts, videos, and more. AAHOM.org/Experience/Programs/Type/Stem-At-Home
– The Humane Society of Huron Valley offers animal-themed crafts and picture book readings. bit.ly/hshvonline
– 826 Michigan’s virtual writing challenge includes quirky weekly topics, as well as the opportunity to get feedback on your stories and have your final version read to a virtual audience. 826michigan.org/Dr-Blotchs-Writing-Challenge.
– AADL’s DIY crafting videos. AADL.org/CreativeBug
– AADL’s regularly updated puzzle-based online kids game Bummer Game. Play.AADL.org
– AADL’s livestream library storytimes. AADL.tv
– The Ann Arbor Art Center offers craft ideas, printable art games, prerecorded drawing lessons, and more. New material every Tuesday. AnnArborArtCenter.org/Art-Resources
– Interactive virtual art projects from the Ann Arbor Summer Festival, including their “Kooky Kreatures” drawing activity. a2sf.org
– Virtual art classes for kids age 5–11. doodles-academy.org/doodles-at-home
Nature
Select City, U-M, County, and State parks and trails are open from dawn to dusk. Usage is limited to activities that do not involve direct contact with others. Visitors must practice social distancing. Note: Park facilities are closed.
– City of Ann Arbor parks, trails, & nature areas include Bird Hills and Kuebler Langford nature area (650 Beechwood Dr.), Barton nature area (W. Huron River Dr.), Cedar Bend nature area (1495 Cedar Bend Dr.), Fuller park (1519 Fuller Rd.), Furstenberg nature area, Parker Mill county park (4650 Geddes Rd.), Cobblestone Farm (2781 Packard St.), and others. Full list of locations available at a2gov.org
– U-M nature areas include Matthaei Botanical Gardens (1800 N. Dixboro Rd.), Nichols Arboretum (1610 Washington Hts.), Saginaw Forest (3900 W. Liberty), and Stinchfield Woods (9401 Stinchfield Woods Rd., Pinckney).
– Southeast Michigan Land Conservancy’s properties include the Pittsfield Stream Corridor (1130 W. Textile Rd.), Jack R. Smiley Nature Preserve (3040 N. Prospect Rd.), LeFurge Woods Nature Preserve (2384 N. Prospect Rd.), and Springhill Nature Preserve (3260 Berry Rd.).
– Legacy Land Conservancy’s properties include the Lloyd and Mabel Johnson Preserve (Platt Rd. south of Lillie Park), Sharon Hills Preserve (Sharon Hollow Rd., Manchester), and Woodland Preserve (3777 W Joy Rd.).
– Pittsfield Preserve (south side of Textile Rd., west of Platt Rd.)
– Washtenaw County Parks & Recreation nature preserves include Baker Woods Preserve (11914 Trinkle Rd., Dexter), County Farm Park (2230 Platt Rd.), Fox Science Preserve (2228 Peters Rd.), and Scio Woods Preserve (4000 Scio Church Rd.). Full list of open locations available at washtenaw.org/288/Parks-Recreation
