With just four weeks, excitement for the Michigan Arts Festival is mounting across the University of Michigan campus and beyond.
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Running Sept. 25 through Oct. 26, the month-long celebration promises to mobilize the community to “Follow Your Art,” experiencing the university campus as a vibrant stage for creativity, personal exploration, and social connection.
Since the festival was first announced in May, more than 100 events have been added to the calendar, with new collaborations, major performances, and immersive experiences showcasing the depth and diversity of the arts at U-M.
What’s new:
- Festival Kickoff at Michigan Theater: Grammy Award-winner and U-M Artist-in-Residence Rhiannon Giddens launches the festival at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 25 with a Penny Stamps Speaker Series talk titled “Music of the American Underclass – What Really Made America Great.”
- The opening weekend continues with the University Musical Society on Sept. 26 at Hill Auditorium with Verdi’s powerful “Requiem.” UMS follows with “Nigamon/Tunai,” a sumptuous, nature-inspired immersive theater experience, on Oct. 2-8 at the Power Center.
- Stamps Gallery will debut two powerful exhibitions this fall: “Untold Stories, Part II,” a faculty art showcase, with an opening reception Sept. 18, followed by an exhibition opening performance: “The Bureau of Personal Belonging” from Witt Artist-in-Residence Stacy Kirby on Sept. 27.
- SMTD’s Theater & Drama opens with the play “Gloria” on Sept. 25 with performances through Oct. 5 at U-M’s Arthur Miller Theatre. Their production of “Cabaret,” directed by Broadway’s André Garner, opens Oct. 2 at the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre.
- The LSA Zell Visiting Writers Series hosts acclaimed poet and essayist Roger Reeves at UMMA’s Stern Auditorium for a Reading and Q&A at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 16. Celebrated for his lyrical brilliance and critical depth, Reeves is the author of “Dark Days: Fugitive Essays and Best Barbarian,” a finalist for the National Book Award and winner of the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award.
- UMMA hosts its fifth annual queer night Oct. 24, part of its Feel Good Fridays event series. Open late and full of surprises, this lively evening invites audiences to explore art, music, and culture in a welcoming, high-energy atmosphere.
- Leading up to the festival, the U-M Creative Currents Podcast is premiering a special series spotlighting the people and projects behind the upcoming Michigan Arts Festival. Tune in for interviews with Stamps Gallery’s Srimoyee Mitra, UMS’ Cayenne Harris and Mark Jacobson, UMMA’s Jim Leija, SMTD’s Paul Feeny, Penny Stamps Speakers Series Director Chrisstina Hamilton, and more.
The festival is coordinated by the Arts Initiative in partnership with U-M programs, units and other community partners.
“This is more than a showcase or campaign — it’s a month-long invitation to expand your engagement with the creative world,” said Mark Clague, executive director of the Arts Initiative. “We want every member of our campus and local community to discover something new and fun that resonates with their interests, to explore the arts in new ways, and to feel inspired to make creativity part of their life.”
From large-scale performances filling Michigan Stadium to hands-on workshops and intimate artist talks, the Michigan Arts Festival is poised to be a powerful demonstration of the university’s belief that the arts are for everyone.
Rebekah Modrak
Federal funding for individual artists ended in the 80s culture wars. The arts have been sustained by institutions like UM, but our university “leaders” recently decided that $100,000 per arts unit (a nominal amount for this university but a crucial lifeblood for us) is too much of an investment. This article and “celebration” of the arts is disingenuous for those of us in the arts who have just been informed that the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) has chosen to eliminate 100% of Block funding, which funds arts creation by faculty in Taubman, SMTD, and Stamps. These cuts will decimate arts production here.
Lois Miller
Excitement and pleasure at this inaugural UM arts “celebration” is certainly tempered by critical arts funding cuts and cuts and cuts, while we watch UM brick and mortar builds around town, and the UM sports behemoth talks of “increase in expenses” rather than “profit deficits” (because it’s now sharing well-earned revenues with athletes). Intelligent people ponder. Possible donors pause.