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.”

Friday Five highlights music by Washtenaw County-associated artists and labels.

This edition features R&B from Vonsiwel, electronica from DJ Renovation, rap by Big Planet, hip-hop soul blues by Fearless Amaretto, and industrial ambient by Wolf Named Sköll.

Friday Five highlights music by Washtenaw County-associated artists and labels.

This edition features psychedelic pop by George Mashour and psych-rap with side-project VaporDaze, jazz by Rick Roe, indie pop by Toadally, trippy improvisations by Cats Jams, and noise rock by Horse Bomb.

Friday Five highlights music by Washtenaw County-associated artists and labels.

This edition features emo-punk by The Great Homesickness, experimental jazz by Marc Hannaford, electronica by Catspangold, cloud rap by Nem?, and hip-hop by Gostbustaz.

Friday Five highlights music by Washtenaw County-associated artists and labels.

This edition features hyperpop by GVMMY, hip-hop by Dastardly Kids, country by Kandy Fredrick, electronica by Kaito Ian, and jazz by Eric Nachtrab.

It’s been a nerve-wracking year.

The country is divided. Americans say they’re pessimistic about the future, even those who voted for a change in the White House.

Could a little girl be just what we need to make us more optimistic about our future and see that we always have tomorrow?

The Encore Theatre seems to think so and is offering the perfect Christmas musical that just might provide a little lift in our spirits, Annie.  Director Daniel Cooney draws together an excellent cast, combining seasoned stage veterans to young performers giving seasoned performances.

Friday Five highlights music by Washtenaw County-associated artists and labels.

This all-singles edition features indie rock from The Nuts, a remixed Michael Skib sci-fi excursion, electronic folk-pop by Rabbitology, techno by Zagc, and fuzz rock from Mazinga.

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.

Friday Five highlights music by Washtenaw County-associated artists and labels.

This edition features the many guises of rock from Mother Night, Younger Dryas, and Cracked & Hooked, drum 'n' bass by Aikanã, and emo-indie chiptunes from the Battle of the Bits forum.

Friday Five highlights music by Washtenaw County-associated artists and labels.

This edition features lo-fi chill by Whimsical Beats, hyperpop from The Cicada, rampant eclecticism via Isolation Sundaze, modular synths by Luminous Fridge, and political grunge by History History.