Arts & Culture

  1. Art or infrastructure? Depends on the climate

    ‘Migration Stage,’ an outdoor installation along Seattle’s Elliot Bay, serves a once-and-future purpose, says artist Buster Simpson, MFA ’69. Its movable ‘kit of parts’ provides a unique place to gather, while it functions as ‘sea armor’ to protect shoreline infrastructure against extreme storms. (Image credit: Joe Freeman Jr.)

  2. MLK Symposium gets underway with best-selling author, legal scholar, and social justice advocate

    U-M’s annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Symposium kicked off Jan. 15 with memorial keynote lecturer Michelle Alexander. The theme of the 2024 symposium is “Transforming the Jangling Discords of Our Nation into a Beautiful Symphony.”

  3. UM-Dearborn alum shines on the Detroit Lions Drumline

    The Lions’ breakout season is making DeAndre Hicks’ first year with the team’s “Honolulu Boom” percussion group a memorable one. Joining the drumline was a lifelong dream for this social media specialist at U-M’s Center for Academic Innovation.

  4. Christmas, Crosby, and ‘the Code’

    Michigan’s William Clements Library — one of the world’s leading archives of U.S. history and Americana — holds a small but fascinating cache of papers of the singer and actor Bing Crosby, including several items linked to the holiday movie classic, ‘White Christmas.’

  5. Braiding an identity from history and challah

    Baker and blogger Marissa Wojcik, BA ’16, combines her love of Jewish family tradition with a streak of culinary curiosity to adapt centuries-old recipes for the modern-day foodie. Pass the Canadian Poutine Challah, and try the Chicago Hot Dog Babka.

  6. The unsinkable Sarah E. Ray

    In 1945, Sarah Elizabeth Ray was denied passage on a ferry on the Detroit River because she was Black. She fought the injustice, became a civil rights activist, and her case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Now, her legacy is being preserved in a collection coming to the Bentley Historical Library.

  7. When ‘Red Emma’ came to town

    In the 1910s, anarchist, writer, and provocateur Emma Goldman, described by J. Edgar Hoover as ‘the most dangerous woman in America,’ paid regular visits to Ann Arbor. She described one rowdy U-M crowd as ‘pampered parasites, not one of them with enough backbone to fight a flea.’

  8. Genre-jumping Fulbright scholar takes a novel path

    Aspiring scientist Ariel Djanikian, MFA ’04, read the writing on the lab wall when she found herself prioritizing creative writing over her latest experiment. Her fascinating and often tragic family history informs a recurring theme in both of her novels: the obliteration of one group of people for the convenience of another.

  9. How bedside musicians helped one family cope with tragedy

    The Gifts of Art Bedside Music and Art Program at Michigan Medicine is staffed by musicians specially trained in providing acoustic music for patients at the bedside. Artists will go “where patients, families, and staff members need us,” says coordinator Sam Vandiver.