Michigan Medicine at the University of Michigan has put out a call for artists for its Gifts of Art 2020/2021 exhibition season:

CALL FOR EXHIBITS 2021/22 – GIFTS OF ART - MICHIGAN MEDICINE, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

The Gifts of Art Program is seeking submissions for solo and group art exhibits for the September 2021 to August 2022 exhibition year. One of the first and most comprehensive arts in healthcare programs in the nation, Gifts of Art brings the world of art and music to Michigan Medicine at the University of Michigan. Our nine 2-D and 3-D galleries throughout the medical center are viewed by approximately 10,000 people a day and display over 30 exhibits a year.   

Gifts of Art’s rotating gallery program is intended to support the healing process by calming nerves, lifting spirits, engaging minds and thereby reducing the stress and anxiety often associated with healthcare settings. At Michigan Medicine, inclusion is a core value with the goal of fostering an environment where every individual has a sense of belonging. This value is reflected in the artwork we select for our galleries: art that welcomes, art that amplifies voices, and art that reflects the community we serve at Michigan Medicine. People of all races, ethnicities, ages, genders, sexual orientations, religions, beliefs, abilities, socioeconomic statuses and levels of education are welcome to apply.

For more information about our mission and other Gifts of Art programming, please visit www.med.umich.edu/goa.
 
To see the full prospectus and submit to this call, please visit: med.umich.edu/goa/CallforExhibits.htm

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS:

Last October, The Brass Tacks Ensemble Theater released Our Regularly Scheduled Program, a unique take on quarantine theater, created by Isaac Ellis and James Ingagiola. The 10-part original YouTube series features short performances that touch on comedy and drama, featuring people who must show off their talents to the public, which demands entertainment 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Should these people refuse to perform? The consequences are dire.

The Brass Tacks have just announced that the second season of Our Regularly Scheduled Program will debut on June 3:

Pulp received some sad news from Ann Arbor's long-running Wild Swan Theater:

Curtain Call for Wild Swan Theater

Dear Friends,

It is time to bring down the curtain on Wild Swan Theater. After more than four decades of joyful, exuberant, sometimes zany, sometimes poignant, always heartfelt theater making, it is time to say our goodbyes. 

Like 60-degree days in March, the 59th Ann Arbor Film Festival snuck up on us this year and we didn't get a chance to screen any of the movies before the event launches Tuesday, March 23.

But here all the pertinent details to get you started on this year's edition:

Normally, you might come into the library, talk to someone on staff, get some recommendations, perhaps share a few of your own, and we'd go on our merry ways, content we could engage in a positive social interaction while discussing whatever book, movie, TV show, music, or more that came up.

Art is life and life is people.

But we've not seen most of you since March 13, the last time the Ann Arbor District Library was fully open to the public—and to the staff. While many AADL staffers have returned to the buildings to do important behind-the-scenes work since the summer, many others have been working from home since the closure. And we miss being able to share what we're currently loving not just with patrons but also with each other.

So, to staffers and patrons alike, these are the movies, TV shows, music, books, and more that helped the AADL crew get through 2020. 

Two major arts presenters in Ann Arbor have announced their upcoming schedules:

The University Music Society (UMS) released its full calendar of 2020/2021 season events and the Ann Arbor Summer Festival (AASF) has canceled all its traditional outdoor Top of the Park events, following the late March announcement terminating all indoor performances.

While UMS's schedule is based on the idea that we'll be able to attend indoor shows by September, AASF's June 12 to July 5 outdoor series is coming up too soon to know if the quarantine will be over. But the AASF is coming up with alternate plans to it traditional fest, "including digital offerings, collaborative art projects, and live music reimagined," it said in a press release. "Today, the public can participate in the first of those programs, Kooky Kreatures, a community art project presented in partnership with the Ann Arbor District Library’s Bummer Game. In the coming weeks, the Festival will share additional elements of an adapted season."

UMS's schedule begins September 11, 2020, with a two-night stand by the Paul Taylor Dance Company at the Power Center and ends April 24, 2021, with the Jerusalem Quartet featuring Pinchas Zukerman and Amanda Forsyth. In between is UMS's usual mix of jazz/classical/world music, dance, and theater. The only obvious things missing are the National Theatre Live series of filmed performances by the British theater group and the big, free, outdoor kick-off event.

Check out UMS's entire 2020-2021 schedule here.
Keep up with the evolving AASF schedule here.

Donald Harrison's Welcome to Commie High documentary made its debut at this year's Ann Arbor Film Festival, which was held online, but he had another documentary brewing at the same time. Five Foot Sandwich Board: The Story of Jerusalem Garden was released to YouTube on April 26, covering the restaurant's last days at its first home, 307 S. Fifth Ave., which is now home to one of Chela's eateries. In 2015, JGarden moved to the much bigger 314 E. Liberty St. (the former home of Seva), and the 9-minute Five Foot Sandwich offers a brief overview of owner Ali Ramlawi moving the family business, which his father started in 1987.

With everything being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, musicians are turning to video livestreams to perform concerts. We'll be looking for these sorts of events by Washtenaw County artists and then posting the videos on Pulp, along with any ways you can help these musicians financially. If you are performing a remote or virtual concert, let us know by emailing pulp@aadl.org.

Wax King Sessions - March 16, 2020

Watch Wax Kings Sessions from waxkingsx on www.twitch.tv

Creative Washtenaw Aid 2020 – COVID-19 Support
The Arts Alliance has established the Creative Washtenaw Aid 2020 fund to collect donations and extend assistance to artists and creative organizations adversely impacted by COVID-19. Visit a3arts.org to donate money or to apply for assistance.

With everything being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, musicians are turning to video livestreams to perform concerts. We'll be looking for these sorts of events by Washtenaw County artists and then posting the videos on Pulp, along with any ways you can help these musicians financially. If you are performing a remote or virtual concert, let us know by emailing pulp@aadl.org.

TJ Zindle & The Power Lines at The Bird House - Monday, March 16, 2020

Creative Washtenaw Aid 2020 – COVID-19 Support
The Arts Alliance has established the Creative Washtenaw Aid 2020 fund to collect donations and extend assistance to artists and creative organizations adversely impacted by COVID-19. Visit a3arts.org to donate money or to apply for assistance.

The Ann Arbor Film Festival announced that it is proceeding online this year:

The 58th Ann Arbor Film Festival (AAFF) will be presented as a free live-streamed six-day event March 24-March 29, 2020! We made the decision to suspend all in-person events for the 58th AAFF due to growing health concerns surrounding COVID-19, and instead present short and feature films in competition entirely online.

The online event is designed to be accessible for everyone and will be streamed through Vimeo. Moderated live Q&As with filmmakers will be streamed following the film screenings in order to continue discourse between filmmakers and our audience. Jurors will fulfill their commitment of reviewing programmed films in competition in order to confer the $22,500 in awards.

Each program is different. Films are not rated. All programs are intended for mature audiences, unless otherwise noted. Some films have imagery of a stroboscopic nature.

Check out the entire livestream schedule here.