Blog Post
Storytime! At the UMMA?!
by hamiltonb
On Saturday, March 26th and again on Saturday, April 16th, children ages 4-7 are invited to hear a story at the University of Michigan Museum of Art! Student guides from the University will read stories related to the art in the gallery, with kids welcome to participate and respond! Storytimes start at 11am. Parents must accompany children, and older siblings may accompany the group. Meet at the museum information desk! For the UMMA event listing and contact information, click here.
Blog Post
U-M Taubman College Presents "The Future of History"
by annevm
A conference organized by the U-M Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning is coming up April 1-2 in Rackham Amphitheater, 915 E. Washington St. "The Future of History" will bring together theorists, designers, practitioners and historians to discuss how architecture has played a role in history, and also how history interprets architecture. The gathering begins April 1 at 4:30 pm, with doors open at 4:15 pm. On April 2, doors open at 8 am. Presentations and hosted conversations are free and public.
Blog Post
Film & Discussion: Brick by Brick: A Civil Rights Story
by Bertha
Brick by Brick is a one-hour, 2007 documentary. It follows three families in Yonkers, New York, in the middle of a confrontation about the politics and law of racial discrimination in housing and schools that challenges and changes their hometown.
Brick by Brick describes how a ghetto was created through public policies. The primary storytellers are local people from different backgrounds, who relate their personal encounters with housing and educational discrimination, as well as others who experience very different opportunities across town.
The film, which is not rated, is co-sponsored by the University of Michigan Community Scholars Program, who will lead a post-film discussion.
Thursday, March 24, from 6:30-8:30 pm (Grades 9 - Adult) at the Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room
Blog Post
Author Lois Lowry Lecturing at Rackham Auditorium
by hamiltonb
Noted children's author Lois Lowry will be lecturing at U of M's Rackham Auditorium on March 31st, 2011 from 4 to 5pm! Lowry's work includes the Newberry Award winning novels " Number The Stars" (1990) and " The Giver" (1994). Her work is well known for addressing challenging topics such as the Holocaust, racism, and death. A booksale will be held before and after the lecture. Seating is free and open to the public, but will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis. For the University of Michigan event listing, click here.
To browse the AADL's collection of material by Lois Lowry, click here!
Blog Post
White Nights: Art that Inspired Literature
by annevm
The work of artists Walter Martin and Paloma Munoz is spotlighted in the exhibit "White Nights" running through March 16. Hosted by the U-M Institute for the Humanities, the exhibit displays "three-dimensional, magical scenes of alienation, beauty, and dark humor, both photographed and set inside snow globes." The reception is March 16 from 5-7 pm, with a reading by Jonathan Lethem of his story "The Traveler Home," inspired by the works of the artists.
Blog Post
"Lastingness: The Art of Old Age"
by hamiltonb
Authors Nicholas Delbanco and Keith Taylor will discuss their book "Lastingness: The Art of Old Age" at the University of Michigan's Hatcher Graduate Library on March 9th, 5:00-7:00pm as part of the University's ongoing Author's Forum.
Library Journal's 2010 review of "Lastingness" describes the book as a "study of geniuses-as they aged-in the fields of literature, music, and the visual arts. Delbanco focuses on the fascinating question of why some people's creative talents flourish with age, while others' fade. He explores and explains our general societal conflict about our elders and the question of when to expect them to step aside. His profiles include Claude Monet, Giuseppe Verdi, W.B. Yeats, and Alice Neal, among others, all of whom lived until 70 or older and remained productive."
Nicholas Delbanco is a Professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Michigan. Keith Taylor is a writer and poet and coordinates the undergraduate creative writing program at U of M. The discussion is free and open to the public, and will be followed by a book sale and signing. The event will take place in the Gallery in Room 100 at the Hatcher Graduate Library.
Blog Post
Trivia Night With UM's "Wikipedians"
by hamiltonb
Lovers of trivia far and wide are invited to Trivia Night, February 10th from 7:00-9:00 PM in the gallery room of the University of Michigan's Hatcher Graduate Library. The event will be hosted by the Wikipedians, a UM student organization dedicated to raising awareness about the behind-the-scenes activity that makes Wikipedia work, and helping people learn how to contribute. The event is in celebration of the tenth anniversary of Wikipedia's creation.
Attendees will form five-person teams, with Amazon gift cards and other prizes being awarded to top teams. Light refreshments will be provided. The event is free and open to the public. Registration is requested but not required, and can be done via the UM Library's event notice. Check out the AADL's materials on Wikipedia and how it works in case you're quizzed on it!
Blog Post
Film & Discussion: Flow
by Bertha
Flow (not rated) is Irena Salina's award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century: The World Water Crisis. Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world's dwindling fresh water supply with a focus on politics, pollution, and human rights. Beyond identifying the problem, Flow also gives a look at the people and institutions providing practical solutions to the water crisis.
This film is cosponsored by the University of Michigan Community Scholars Program. A discussion will be led following the film. Please join us Thursday, January 27, 6:30-8:30 PM at the Downtown Library, Multi-Purpose Room. Grade 9-Adult.
Blog Post
Author's Forum: The Protest Psychosis
by annevm
A conversation with Jonathan Metzl, Derek Griffith and Gregory Dalack -- all of the U-M faculty -- is coming up Wednesday Jan. 19 at 5:30 pm in Hatcher Graduate Library, Library Gallery. This Author's Forum is called "The Protest Psychosis: How Schizophrenia Became a Black Disease." In his book The Protest Psychosis, author Metzl writes about how schizophrenia became the diagnostic term overwhelmingly applied to African American men at the Ionia State Hospital and how that mirrored national trends linking civil rights, blackness, and mental illness.
Blog Post
Take Part in Art -- Art that Tells a Story
by MariaK
People have been using pictures to tell stories since…well, forever! Cave paintings, illuminated manuscripts, and the Bayeux Tapestry are all ancestors of modern picture books and graphic novels. To explore the relationship between art and storytelling, you could always come visit the Youth Art Table downtown, or enjoy our abundant and awesome resources at home.
Some excellent artists – modern and historical – have focused on using art to tell stories. To learn more about these artists try reading:
Brueghel: A Gift for Telling Stories – about the life of Dutch artist Pieter Brueghel.
En mi Familia and Family Pictures by Mexican-American artist Carmen Lomas Garza.
Pretty much anything about Norman Rockwell.
To explore how artists tell stories using pictures, try these books.
Telling Stories in Art by Joy Richardson provides examples readers can use to create their own story in art!
Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud describes how graphic novelists use pictures to tell their stories, and Drawing Words and Writing Pictures by Jessica Abel guides readers in creating their own graphic novels!
Read a wordless picture book to see how amazing a story without words can be.
If you have children ages 4-7, you can also attend one of the University of Michigan Museum of Art’s Storytime in the Museum programs starting January 8. University of Michigan students read stories related to the art on display at the museum to bring art to life!
Finally, to see how art can tell different stories to different people try Twice Told -- a collection of short stories based on paintings. The twist? Each painting inspires two stories by different authors. See how different stories based on the same picture can be! What story would you tell?