Program Assistant
dleslied@umich.edu

Currently I am studying Art & Design at The University of Michigan, and am working toward an environmental minor. I am most interested in the creative expression of attempts to make sense of life from a range of perspectives and fields. Often times this interest gets me into strange projects and situations. My passion is creating work that challenges ways of seeing, heightens awareness, wakes people up, and inspires the imagination. In whatever medium, my work is prompted by questions that many times have difficult or no answers and seeks a truth. I don't like to sit down, and when I'm not working on something or in class I enjoy the company of my family and friends, being outdoors, cooking, and writing.

Program Specialist
jrfrye@umich.edu

I earned my BFA in Studio Art with concentrations in graphic design and sculpture, and my MA in Student Affairs Administration, both from Michigan State University. Although it's taken some time for my eyes to adjust to all of this maize and blue, I love working with students at Michigan. In my spare time I can usually be found knitting, crafting, running, or reading. I'm also a shopaholic and I absolutely could not live in this world without tea or kitties!

Program Assistant
chippler@umich.edu

Caroline, born and raised in Ann Arbor, is a senior in the Residential College at the University of Michigan. She is majoring in Women’s Studies with a minor in French. She also enjoys acting. Previous plays she has been in include "A Thousand Clowns", "The Laramie Project", and was a fairy in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" performed in the Arb. Other things she does in her spare time include drinking coffee, sitting in coffee shops with her friends and just generally thinking about coffee. Oh yeah, and she likes to read (especially political books and John Irving). As far as her job goes, she feels that it is a really wonderful place to work and has great colleagues. As co-coordinator of the Culture Bus program she gets to help plan some amazing trips. She also keeps the office in line.

Website Designer
lichte@umich.edu

I am an Honors History major in the class of 2008 and an Ann Arbor native. I transferred to U-M in Winter 2006 from Barnard College of Columbia University. I love to read and I have written two (very very very bad) novels as part of National Novel Writing Month. I am pretty much addicted to the internet, which is where my love of web design comes from. In addition to working for Arts at Michigan, where I maintain the website and compose the Arts Info e-Newsletter, I am the volunteer Web Designer for the Women's Center of Southeastern Michigan. I dabble in sewing, cross-stitch, and scrapbooking, and I am obsessed with showtunes.

Assistant Director, ONSP
Director, Arts at Michigan
dlmexico@umich.edu

I have been with the University off and on since 1997, and have been a variety of things within the Division of Student Affairs. These include being Facilities Coordinator at the Student theatre Arts Complex, Director of Michigan Union Arts and Programs, Coordinator for the 2001 Dance for Mother Earth - Ann Arbor Pow Wow, and Manager for the Office of Student Activities and Leadership. I got my undergraduate B.F.A. in Theatre at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and my M.A. in Scene and Costume Design at the University of Michigan. I worked as a Scenic Painter for several years, both locally and at such far-flown locales as the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, before the onset of parenthood brought me back home to look for more "stable" employment. I have three children—Olivia, Fletcher, and Elinor—and have been active in public education advocacy—both for special needs students and, more globally, as a current member of the Ann Arbor Board of Education (complaints and kudos always welcome!). I look forward to this new position at Arts at Michigan (on the Academic Affairs side of things) with great enthusiasm. What could be better than working with this great staff (pictured here on this page!) around the integration of undergraduate learning through the arts! I'll tell you what – nothing!

Program Assistant
tawr@umich.edu

Tara is a senior at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan (yes, it was necessary to spell out the school's entire name). She is also pursuing a second degree in History of Art and French. Her involvement with the arts stems back to the first time she witnessed the Nutcracker in second grade. That oh so powerful moment inspired her to join her local youth company, where she spent the majority of the next ten years of her life. Tara still dances, but now her relationship with the arts is more focused on visual culture and coordinating grants for Arts at Michigan. One day Tara hopes to work as a philanthropic advisor for a private bank, helping rich people give back to their communities (a modern day Robin Hood of sorts). In her spare time Tara also enjoys traveling and speaking French - two years ago she spent six months in Aix-en-Provence experiencing the wonderful joys of the French grève against the CPE.