Arbor Update

Ann Arbor Area Community News

Support Arts & Culture in Washtenaw County -- Tuesday, August 18 at 10a.m.

Posted by Angela Martin-Barcelona on 12. August 2009

The Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan is providing up to $1 million of general operating support to match gifts to support participating arts and cultural organizations made online at www.cfsem.org. A match of $1 will be provided for every $2 contributed. There are more than 70 organizations competing for these funds and only seven organizations are eligible to participate in Washtenaw County. We’d like to see a good portion of this money come here! (Organizations include: The Arts Alliance; Leslie Science and Nature Center; Performance Network Theatre; Purple Rose Theatre Company; University Musical Society; University of Michigan – Museum of Art and Exhibit Museum of Natural History.)

The challenge program starts at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, August 18, and will end as soon as the $1 million dollars of match is exhausted. Rumor has it that matching funds will be exhausted within an hour – so timing is everything!

Here’s how the community can help support arts and culture here in Washtenaw County:
(1) Save the Date & Donate. Tues., August 18 – 10a.m. Connect to www.cfsem.org to donate $25-$10,000 to participating arts and culture organizations in Washtenaw County. This is a race – once the $1 million matching funds are exhausted, the challenge will be over.
(2) Spread the word. This is a grassroots effort – If we all give a little, we can achieve a lot! Be sure to share this unique giving opportunity with your family, friends, and co-workers.
(3) Attend a Challenge Party. Plan to attend the morning and evening parties on the 18th to give, mingle, & have fun.
• Ann Arbor Challenge Party/TweetUp — The Arts Alliance will be partnering with NEW and the other participating Washtenaw County organizations to host a “Challenge Party” on the 18th from 9a.m.-1p.m. at Sweetwaters on Washington St. Come support good causes, enjoy good coffee, and have a good time. We’ll have an hourly raffle of great prizes! (If possible, please bring your own laptop)
• Challenge Party in Saline — Stop in to support arts and culture and mingle with peers at My Favorite Café (101 S. Ann Arbor St., Saline) from 9:30-11a.m.
• Challenge AfterGlow — Join the Arts Alliance and the other participating Washtenaw County organizations for an evening celebration of arts and culture! We’ll be at the Aut Bar from 5-7p.m. (Even if matching funds are exhausted, there will still be an opportunity to donate to participating organizations online at www.cfsem.org).

For more information, visit the Community Foundation website or follow the event on Twitter at #artsculturemich

Local Candidates' Survey - Opinions on arts and culture

Posted by Angela Martin-Barcelona on 31. July 2009

The Arts Alliance has contacted all candidates running for elected office in Washtenaw County to obtain their views on arts and culture in this region. To view all responses (and lack thereof), click here.

The survey, conducted annually in advance of the primary and general elections, was distributed to candidates throughout Washtenaw County for the offices of:
• Ann Arbor City Council, Wards 3 & 5
• Manchester Village, Village Trustee – Regular Term & Partial Term

As a public service, the Arts Alliance asked the candidates to respond to the following two questions about their positions on arts and culture in our community.
1. What is your position on public funding for arts and culture?
2. If elected, what measurable actions will you take to ensure that arts and cultural offerings survive and thrive in Washtenaw County? Please be specific.

The Arts Alliance is a non-partisan organization that endorses no candidate running for office.

About the Survey
Starting in early July, candidates were contacted about the survey 4 times by email (dependent on what personal information was posted on the Washtenaw County website), and of the 9 candidates contacted, the Arts Alliance received 6 responses.

Public Art = Local Artists?

Posted by Nancy Shore on 13. March 2009

City Council recently approved a public art installation as part of the new City Municipal Center. This installation will integrate storm water mitigation into its design. The art is being designed by a German Artist. The decision to use a foreign rather than a local artist has prompted several letters to the editor

In an email to City Council, Margaret Parker (Chair of the Ann Arbor Public Art Commission) explained why the Commission chose a non-Michigan artist:

  • “Michigan artists were considered for this project and will be considered for all Percent for Art projects. But the technical aspects of the integration of storm water made it essential to chose an artist with proven experience in this specific area. Michigan artists participated in past public art projects at 4th and Washington and the Plymouth Road Water Tower. “
  • “For the first Percent for Art project, AAPAC looked for the very best public art available. That was our first priority. The artist is from Germany and does projects all around the world (one is in Portland and one in Chicago). Just as we love the Ann Arbor Symphony, we also appreciate the chance to hear the Berlin Symphony play. Reaching for the best public art from around the world puts our artists on the larger public stage and says loud and clear that Ann Arbor appreciates and wants all our people to live with great art in the public realm.”

You can read the full explanation in this document, which Ms. Parker will be providing to the media.

Thanks to Major Hieftje for providing this information

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Public Forum organized to customize the Washtenaw County Cultural Master Plan for Ann Arbor

Posted by Angela Martin-Barcelona on 12. March 2009

The Arts Alliance will host a public forum discuss the Washtenaw County Cultural Master Plan and steps to customize the plan to meet the needs of our community. Anyone interested in the future of arts and culture in Ann Arbor is welcome to attend the forum which will take place on Thursday, March 26 from 6:30-8:00p.m. at the Kerrytown Concert House (415 North Fourth Avenue).

“There was a tremendous amount of community collaboration and engagement throughout the county-wide cultural plan process,” said John Weiss, Executive Director of the Neutral Zone and Ann Arbor Community Leader Co-Chair. “Now is the time for Ann Arbor to come together as a community and identify the key strategic areas that best match our needs from this plan. This forum and any subsequent meetings will be an excellent opportunity for our residents to be directly involved in the future of our community’s arts and cultural assets.”

The Washtenaw County Cultural Master Plan provides a vision for cultural development throughout the county over the next five years. Its recommendations fall into six strategic areas that were identified from the direct input of nearly 5,000 Washtenaw County residents through an online survey, an artists’ census, a study of the area’s creative economy, and in 29 interviews and community forums. The six strategic areas include Lifelong Arts & Education; Creative Economic Development; Capacity Building, Funding, and Investment; Communications, Audience Development, and Advocacy; Cultural Facilities; and Diversity and Access. Participants at the March 26 public forum will prioritize these six strategic areas and will begin brainstorming the next steps involved for developing a plan specific to Ann Arbor. A final customized report will be available in June 2009.

If you plan to attend this public forum, please RSVP to Angela Martín-Barcelona, Marketing Director at the Arts Alliance.

For more information about the cultural plan, click here.

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Ann Arbor Film Festival March 24-29, 2009

Posted by Nancy Shore on 7. March 2009

The 47th Ann Arbor Film Festival will be at the Michigan Theater March 24-29, 2009.

Highlights of this year’s Festival include

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World Premiere of Slacker Uprising At Mich Theater Thurs

Posted by Nancy Shore on 16. September 2008

Looking for something to do this Thursday?

Michael Moore is going to be at the Michigan Theater to

a. Give a talk on “Shooting Democracy” at 5pm and
b. Show his new film Slacker Uprising. This is a World Premiere of the movie, which will also be available online for free.

Doors will open at 4pm, A section of seats will be reserved for students, all the rest are first come, first served.

Candidates' Survey: Positions on Arts and Culture

Posted by Angela Martin-Barcelona on 30. July 2008

Thought this would add to the Voter Guide discussion:

The Arts Alliance conducted a survey of local candidates running for public office throughout Washtenaw County to learn their positions on arts and culture. The survey, conducted annually in advance of the primary and general elections, was distributed to candidates throughout Washtenaw County for the offices of state representative, county commissioner, mayor, city council member, township supervisor and township trustee.

The Arts Alliance received responses from 48 candidates in 24 of the 45 races that will be decided in the August 5th primary election. In addition, 8 candidates responded in races that will be decided in the November general election.

37 Democratic, 10 Republican, and 1 Write-In candidate responded to the 2-question survey (1. What is your position on public funding for arts and culture? 2. If elected, what measurable actions will you take to ensure that arts and cultural offerings survive and thrive in Washtenaw County? Please be specific.)

Candidates were given 2 weeks to submit their answers.
Among the findings:
• 30 candidates (25 Democratic and 5 Republicans) or 63%, expressed support for public funding for the arts
• At the County level, 48% of candidates (11) running for Commissioner responded to the survey
• In Ann Arbor, both mayoral candidates and 8 of 9 candidates for City Council responded to the survey

Click here to view the Candidates’ Survey: Final Report

"Vandals" paint over mural painted over Poet's Alley

Posted by Murph on 9. July 2008

Former mural, some rights reserved by Flickr user viscousplatypus under a Creative Commons license

The Ann Arbor News reports that large parts of the mural “Infinite Possibilities”, in the alley just west of the Michigan Theater, were painted over with white paint Sunday night. (A part of the mural is shown at right, under a Creative Commons license from Flickr user viscousplatypus.)

While various people quoted in the article call the whitewashing “disgusting”, or, “not a good thing”, the News quotes the mural’s artist, Katherine Tombeau Cost, as saying that she never expected her art to last forever, and that she hopes the next artist finds a good use for her old venue.

Cost’s comments are appropriate to the history of the alley – completed in 1999, her mural covered over the alley’s previous life as a community canvas known (to this author) as Poet’s Alley.

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County-wide Artists' Census launches April 1

Posted by Angela Martin-Barcelona on 28. March 2008

How many artists live and work in Washtenaw County anyway? The Arts Alliance is launching a county-wide Artists’ Census on April 1 through May 17 to help try to answer just that question.

It’s easy to know how many arts organizations are in the county, but individual artists are often overlooked. Maybe your neighbor is a dancer, or your boss is an actor, or your waiter is a writer and you never knew it.

The census tabulations don’t provide an accurate count of the amount of artists we have in our county, or, for that matter our state. According to the Special Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Tabulations of Census 2000 there are 63,140 artist occupations (making up 1.28% of the total civilian labor force) in the entire state of Michigan. Nearly half (32,635) of the artist occupations are designers. Surprisingly, as per the census there are 265 actors in the entire state, followed by 5,015 musicians and singers, and only 955 dancers and choreographers.

It’s time for artists in our county to raise their hands and be counted!

All artists and creative-minded individuals – visual, performing and literary, no matter their age or training – are encouraged to take this 2-minute census available online at www.artscount.org. Hard-copy versions of the census will be located at public libraries and creative venues throughout the county.

Artists help make Washtenaw County such a vibrant and great place to live. This census will help build the visibility and credibility of the many artists in our community.

The census questions were developed by a team of area artists and arts administrators using models developed by The Arts Economy Initiative, Project on Regional and Industrial Economics, Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota and others. Results of the census will be tabulated and announced as part of the Arts Alliance’s cultural plan report in October 2008.

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All Ann Arbor Music Guide

Posted by Nancy Shore on 5. January 2008

Now I don’t pretend to be an expert on local music. Sure, I’ve seen Joe Reilly and my husband owns a couple of his CDs.

I’ve got some music from Ann Arbor label Ghostly. Caleb from Starling Electric sometimes scans my food at Arbor Farms.

I’ve heard of Gemini, Tally Hall, FUBAR, Saturday Looks Good to Me, Dick Siegel, The Chenille Sisters, etc.

You can see some of these folks (and others) at the new Cold Pork Thursday’s at the Blind Pig.

But what really blew me away this week was checking out the Metro Times and seeing that two Ann Arbor musicians/music groups made it onto the Times’ 2007 critics picks list. The article compiled the top ten picks from all of the Metro Times music staff.

Chris Bathgate’s “A Cork Tale Wake” made Hobey Echlin’s list. Echlin’s comments about A Cork Tale Wake are so Ann Arbor I just have to post them:

“Michigan folk so real in its autumnal glory — think Nick Drake via George Winston — that it made me want to grow a beard, move back to Ann Arbor and work at Zingerman’s.”

Apparently the Metro Times isn’t the only one who recognizes Bathgate’s talent. Another blogger calls Bathgate one of the Most Deserving Artist of 2007.

Local group Great Lakes Myth Society’s “Compass Rose Bouquet” made it onto two critics lists.

So what’s your take on Ann Arbor music. Who do you love and what do you know?

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