So Much Larger Than Life: Meggie Ramm's winsome "Batcat: Cooking Contest!" graphic novel helps kids process big-time emotions

VISUAL ART WRITTEN WORD PREVIEW INTERVIEW

Meggie Ramm and their book "Batcat: Cooking Contest!"

Author photo by Heather Nash.

Best friends don't always have exactly the same interests, but it can be especially fun when what excites one pal complements the thing the other enjoys most.

For Batcat and Al the Ghost, one literally feeds the other: Al loves to cook and Batcat loves to eat. What happens, though, when their favorite hobbies take on a competitive edge?

Batcat: Cooking Contest!, the third volume of Meggie Ramm's early middle-grade graphic novel series, finds the colorful residents of Spooky Island testing their respective skills as part of a local festival.

The book is fun and cute, and it explores Big Emotions.

Ramm will launch Batcat: Cooking Contest! with a signing session at Vault of Midnight in Ann Arbor on Saturday, April 26, 4-6 pm. (They will also be at Sidetrack Books in Royal Oak on April 19 and at Constellation Cat Cafe in Lansing on May 2.)

I spoke with Ramm about the latest book, the origins of Batcat, and what they hope kids and parents will take away from volume three.

Dedicated Followers of Fashion: Gutman Gallery's "In Style" exhibit highlights wearable design

VISUAL ART PREVIEW

Scotty Jones' Mad Mod Model bag.

Scotty Jones' Mad Mod Model bag. Photo courtesy of Gutman Gallery.

The Guild of Artists & Artisans' Gutman Gallery is a fashion-forward exhibition space—at least from April 4 to May 17 when the glam squad comes to town.

The Ann Arbor gallery is hosting In Style: Fashion + Wearables, which features 26 designers and artists working in a variety of media. These dedicated followers of fashion were selected by guest juror Cheryl Zemke, proprietor of the Wyandotte boutique that bears her name.

There's an opening reception at Gutman Gallery on Friday, April 4 from 6-8 pm, with The Guild of Artists & Artisans inviting you to this free event with a simple request: "dress to impress." (In my case, that means my finest sweatpants.) DJ Batz will spin jams, the South African winemaker Babylonstoren will pour the vino, and Sweet Heather Anne cakes and TeaHaus will provide some nosh and drinkables. (There's also a "live mannequin fashion show," which sounds like nightmare material—but if things get hairy, I'll be wearing my sweatpants and can dash away tout suite because I love depeche mode.)

Some of the works in In Style: Fashion + Wearables include: 

Sasha Gusikhin's NeuroArts Productions organizes multidisciplinary creative events to promote mental health awareness

MUSIC VISUAL ART PREVIEW INTERVIEW

Photo of Sasha Gusikhin in a white shirt standing in front of a green hedge.

University of Michigan senior and NeuroArts Productions founder Sasha Gusikhin. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Sasha Gusikhin founded NeuroArts Productions in response to a tragedy.

Luke Balstad was Gusikhin’s best friend, and a straight-A student at Harvard, but he also knew that he needed mental help assistance. Balstad was in therapy, was honest and open about his bipolar condition, and was attended to by a supportive network—but it still ended with him dying by suicide in 2022.

Balstad was being treated with medications—he tried at least 10—and therapy in the standardized modern way, but Gusikhin believes that let her friend slip through the cracks.

“No amount of checking in on Luke would have been able to save him," says Gusikhin, a University of Michigan senior double majoring in biopsychology, cognition, and neuroscience along with voice performance. "He had all of this care and yet there was all this impression with this one size fits all, this ‘let’s try this, and that, and that.' When we do that we are never attuned to: ‘What if this medication [causes a] toxic reaction to that person’s brain chemistry?’ It’s very dangerous, and it can cause very dangerous situations and even loss of life in this case.”

Gusikhin's NeuroArts Productions organizes multidisciplinary arts events to promote mental health education and reform.

Curiosity Knocks: "asses.masses" at Stamps Auditorium showed the power of building community

VISUAL ART THEATER & DANCE REVIEW

A person standing in front of videoscreen controller operating a video game on larger screen.

A scene captured at the 2023 presentation of asses.masses in San Francisco. Photo courtesy of UMS.

Even as I accepted the assignment to attend and write about asses.masses—a daylong collaborative video game art installation brought to Ann Arbor on February 15-16 by UMS—I wondered why I’d made this choice.

It would take me away from my family for nearly an entire Saturday (the program ran from 1-9:30 pm); I’d have to drive from Farmington to Stamps Auditorium on a snowy, freezing February day, all too aware that I’d also be hosting guests in my home the next morning; I had no idea what kind of food would be provided at the event; and while I’m an absolute puzzle fiend, I’m decidedly not a gamer. (The whole idea of Twitch, where viewers can watch others play video games, is something I still struggle to wrap my head around.)

If I’ve learned anything in recent years, though, it’s that I should always follow my curiosity, and I’d repeatedly wondered what this collective all-day video game experience would look and feel like.

My short answer, after attending asses.masses? Community-building. But let’s start with the basics.

Created by Canadian duo Patrick Blendarn and Milton Lim, the game’s narrative involves a herd of donkeys who have been replaced, as workers, by machines, so many of them decide to confront their human overlords and push back against their (existential) obsolescence.

UMMA's "La Raza Art and Media Collective, 1975 to Today" highlights the pioneering work of a campus student group

VISUAL ART INTERVIEW

Wide view of UMMA's Irving Stenn Jr. Family Gallery, host of the La Raza exhibit.

Wide view of UMMA's Irving Stenn Jr. Family Gallery, host of the La Raza Art and Media Collective, 1975 to Today exhibit. Photo by Elizabeth Smith.

La Raza Art and Media Collective, 1975 to Today, a new exhibit at the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA), highlights creative Latinx students and faculty who have influenced the campus for decades but whose presence is too often overlooked.

The La Raza Art and Media Collective (RAMC) was a student group from 1975 to 1977, formed by Ana Cardona, Michael J. Garcia, Jesse Gonzales, Julio Perazza, George Vargas, S. Zaneta Kosiba Vargas, and Zaragosa Vargas. RAMC organized cultural gatherings and art exhibits, and between 1976-1977, the group also produced a journal of Latinx essays, poetry, and art.

RAMC grew out of the late '60s Latinx political movement. Allied with other student groups, RAMC advocated for Latinx and Chicanx students, combating discrimination and stereotypes while building community. But as La Raza members started to move on from college, the group disbanded and became memory-holed to a certain degree even as other Latinx groups emerged.

Common Ground: Philippa Pham Hughes' "Hey, We Need to Talk!" at UMMA is an interactive exhibit that ponders how to build sustainable relationships

VISUAL ART REVIEW

UMMA visitors looking at framed arm hanging on wallpaper featuring large floral prints.

Photo by Mark Gjukich.

What does it mean to create a flourishing society? What does it mean to be American? What does it mean to be an artist in America, to produce artwork about the American condition?

These are a few of the questions posed to the audience in Hey, We Need to Talk!, an exhibit at the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA). Curated by artist Philippa Pham Hughes, the current visiting artist for arts and civic engagement, the project requests that visitors participate in a dialogue about their views on topics such as: How do we build a sustainable future? How do we build meaningful connections in our communities? How do we overcome division?

Hughes has adorned the Eleanor Noyes Crumpacker Gallery with a custom decorative floral wallpaper. It is not just any floral wallpaper, but a composite of 50 individual flowers, representing each state flower. Not only that but it was designed by Ouizi (Louise Jones), an artist revered both internationally and locally for her large-scale floral murals, one of which can be found at 200 South Ashley Street. In a short essay, Hughes writes on the significance of the floral motif, noting their symbolic use throughout history in a variety of contexts, many of which included political revolution, making them “beautiful and powerful symbols of resistance, revolution, and resilience.”

The Art of Play: "Oscillation" is a new interactive sculpture in downtown Ann Arbor

VISUAL ART INTERVIEW

Two people interact with Oscillation in New York City.

Oscillation in New York City. Photo by Savannah Lauren.

A new art installation in Liberty Plaza intends to spark play and social interaction in Ann Arbor.

Oscillation relies on people’s movements to create different colors, sounds, and pitches when they interact with it. The installation features five crystal-shaped pieces and acts like a theremin—a musical instrument that you can play without touching it.

“The idea of a theremin interested us because of how it could be played with motion, and we had been wanting to think of a way to enlarge that interaction in the public space,” said Ryan Swanson, whose Brooklyn, New York-based design studio, The Urban Conga, created Oscillation.

“This work felt like the perfect opportunity to develop that interaction to become a public instrument for communal interaction.”

As part of that communal interaction, people will be able to experience Oscillation starting January 17.

The Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority (DDA) is collaborating with The Urban Conga and its touring partner Creos to bring the installation to the city through March 16.

Monday Mix: Michigan Creates, Music Un-Tuxed, A2AC Murals & Planters, Blue LLama live streams, Ann Arbor 200 documentaries

Image created by MondayHopes showing a record player, vinyl, and vase on a cabinet with a portrait painting hanging above it all.

Image created by MondayHopes.

The Monday Mix is an occasional roundup of compilations, live recordings, videos, podcasts, and more by Washtenaw County-associated artists, DJs, radio stations, and record labels.

This edition features an interview with Kerrytown Concert House's Artistic & Executive Director Monica Swartout-Bebow on Michigan Creates; a chat with Ann Arbor cellist Thor Sigurdson on Music Un-Tuxed; two short promo videos for Ann Arbor Art Center's 2024 public art projects; Blue LLama concert live streams; and the numerous arts documentaries created for the Ann Arbor 200 birthday celebration.

AADL 2024 STAFF PICKS: HOMEPAGE

AADL Staff Picks 2024

If you're an Ann Arbor District Library cardholder, you receive a weekly email newsletter listing news, upcoming events, and a slew of recommendations from the catalog. Those recs are also available at aadl.org/reviews, and we're always happy to make suggestions for books, audiobooks, streamable content in the catalog, DVDs, board games, tools, etc. if you visit us at the branches.

But our 2024 Staff Picks allow the AADL crew to go beyond the library catalog—and the calendar year.

We don't limit our year in review to things that came out in 2024 or that can be checked out from AADL; the staff comments on whatever favorite media and events they experienced this year, no matter when or where they originated. Maybe a favorite album of 2024 came out in 1973, or the best book someone read this year is so old that it's out of copyright. It's all good, and it all counts.

Here are the categories of AADL's 2024 Staff Picks:

Michelle Hinojosa's "Logcabins" quilted columns at Stamps Gallery honor her family's history of migration

VISUAL ART REVIEW

Michelle Hinojosa standing next to one of her "Logcabins"

Photo courtesy of Michelle Hinojosa.

In April 2023, Michelle Hinojosa presented her thesis exhibition at the University of Michigan's Stamps Gallery. The exhibition, Lime Green Is the Taco Stand, was inaugurated with a poetry event, "Poetry by the Light of the Quilts," where Hinojosa read a series of poems on immigration and the collective feeling of loss that comes with this experience.

Hinojosa returns to Stamps a year later with a new creation, Logcabins. This time, we encounter her work outside the gallery as her log cabin quilts wrap the two columns of the gallery building.

The two colorful quilted columns help the gallery signal its existence amidst the dreary concrete landscape. Hinojosa’s striking quilts use color combinations that play with shades of yellow, green, pink, blue, and orange to create patterns of tesselations. Developed around the unit of a pink square, the blues and yellows of the respective quilts can be seen as stepped borders surrounding the squares to make a larger square motif. However, on closer inspection, a corner of the motif breaks away from this neat enclosure to connect it to the other blocks on the quilt, forming a sense of continuity unique to tessellated patterns.