Photographing the Asian American Diaspora
Billed as “photographs of the Asian American diaspora in the Midwest,” Strange You Never Knew is an anthropological study as much as an artistic one.
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Event Reviews
Leon Makielski’s Midwest Perspective
An impressive selection of Makielski’s landscape work can now be seen at the Michigan Art Gallery in Pittsfield Twp. This exhibit and sale, lasting until May, shows sixty-one paintings, almost all of them landscapes, painted en plein air in Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan.
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La Raza: Arts and Media Collective, 1975–Today
At the height of El Movimiento—the Chicano/Latino labor and civil rights movement led by Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez—a group of mostly Mexican American U-M social work students founded Trabajadores de la Raza, intended to support underrepresented students and promote justice at the university. This group would evolve into the La Raza Arts and Media Collective, part of a vast network of grassroots organizations throughout the country. In UMMA’s glass-walled Stenn gallery, La Raza: Arts and Media Collective, 1975–Today celebrates its fiftieth anniversary.
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Event Review: Stargazing
The planetarium rotates three shows every month, but the Sky Tonight, which runs twice every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, is always the “star” attraction. The presenter, usually a U-M science student, leads an exploration of the current night sky, gives tips on how to find the cardinal directions, constellations, and planets on your own, and winds up with a trippy full-speed-ahead jaunt through the stars that feels both like a roller coaster and a ride on a spaceship.
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Event Review: The Sun Will Come Out to Dexter
This year’s winter show from the Encore Musical Theatre Company is Annie, the classic 1976 musical by Thomas Meehan, Charles Strouse, and Martin Charnin based on the comic strip about a gutsy redheaded orphan who escapes from her orphanage during the Great Depression.
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Event Review: Creature Discomfort
The legend of the Mothman originated in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, where between November 1966 and December 1967, locals reported sightings of a winged humanoid creature with huge, glowing red eyes. While skeptics argued that the sightings could be attributed to sandhill cranes or large owls, the incidents led to widespread fear and speculation, some believing it to be an extraterrestrial or supernatural entity. After the Silver Bridge collapsed into the Ohio River in December 1967, killing 46 people, theories arose that the Mothman was an omen of impending disaster.
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Event Review: Machine Dazzle’s Ouroboros
The ancient Egyptian and Greek symbol of a snake eating its tail, Ouroboros, is also the inspiration for the three-part art installation by U-M Stamps Roman J. Witt artist-in-residence Machine Dazzle (né Matthew Flower). The resident artist works jointly with students and faculty to create a work of art: Ouroboros, a room-sized “snake” that hangs from the ceiling at UMMA’s Irving Stenn Jr. Family Gallery.
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A Tiger Daughter Returns
These days, Charlene Kaye only gets back to Ann Arbor on tour, but she launched her music career playing open mics as a U-M English major in the late aughts.
Read MoreComposing Nature’s Melodies
To write his new orchestral piece, Evan Chambers took a walk in the woods.
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Angkor Complex: Cultural Heritage and Post-Genocide Memory in Cambodia
Sopheap Pich’s 2012 Seated Buddha—Abhaya Mudra, made of bamboo and rattan, greets visitors to the...
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Event Preview: Tiny Expo
If you love art but hate the crowds and heat of the city’s summer art fairs, you’ll swoon over the...
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Event Review: The Ann Arbor Model Railroad Club
The Ann Arbor Model Railroad Club’s headquarters, contrary to its name, is located in Dexter. Next...
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Fred Thomas
Fred Thomas is a key figure in southeast Michigan’s underground music scene and has been for...
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Diva Royale
Jeff Daniels lives in Chelsea and commutes to work on both coasts. While appearing on Broadway, an...
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The Michigan Flippers Tournament
Pinball Pete’s was doing a brisk bit of business on a warm, sunny Sunday evening, having seemingly...
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A Jukebox for the Algonquin
The Purple Rose bills A Jukebox for the Algonquin as a “serious comedy about sex, drugs, and...
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Pro Wrestling Takedown
The air in Building G at the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds was chilly but abuzz with energy in...
Read MoreGallery Review: Legacies Recovered
A remarkable exhibit on display at the University of Michigan’s Lane Hall, “Portraits of Feminism in Japan,” depicts nine major feminist activists, writers, and artists from Japan. A diverse group of artists, including Takatoshi...
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Event Review: Teacher as Artist
Full disclosure. I’ve known Elena Townsend-Efimova since my daughter was in kindergarten at the...
Read MoreGrey Box in the Winter Woods
Prince Charles and Princess Diana embrace, surrounded by festive bunting, bouquets of flowers, and even cherubs, in a painting celebrating their wedding. It’s like a message from a forgotten time, before their divorce, the...
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