Community Art Projects

Current Community Art Projects

Fire Hydrant Art Project The Fire Hydrant Art Project is a street level cultural movement created to highlight the talents of Ann Arbor's student artists and ignite economic vibrancy downtown. Students painting fire hydrants throughout the downtown area bring art and community together.

Past Community Art Projects

ArtRide Arts at Michigan and the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA) are teaming up to bring you ArtRide. ArtRide consists of a series of five exhibitions of U-M student artwork onboard AATA buses running from February 2004 to September 2004. Each on-board bus exhibition will feature work by four (4) student-artists selected through a jury process and run for six (6) weeks.

Arts at Michigan's Downtown Mural Project In November of 2005, Arts at Michigan completed a mural project in downtown Ann Arbor. This collaboration between the Main Street Area Association and Arts at Michigan provided University of Michigan art, engineering, and music students with the opportunity to create wall murals. The goal of this project was to expose the work of U-M students in collaboration with the community and to beautify Ann Arbor.

Green Fair Sculpture Exhibition The Green Fair took place on June 15th, 2007, and featured live music, activities, demonstrations, informational non-profit environmental exhibits, and more! Arts at Michigan's Call for Art asked participants to create a tree sculpture using biodegradable materials, recyclable materials, or garbage that would have otherwise been sent to a landfill. Participants could also construct a tree at the fair. Over 20 trees were submitted, and two won the grand prize!

Katrina in Our Lives The University of Michigan's Edward Ginsberg Center for Community Service and Learning (Division of Student Affairs), in partnership with Arts at Michigan, invites original poster submissions that bridge art and social awareness. This year's theme is "Katrina in Our Lives." We invite art that challenges apathy and will not allow the physical and community devastation and weak governmental response to Hurricane Katrina fade from our memories. We seek art that communicates a sense of urgency about the inequities that seethe below the surface of America's prosperity. We call for art that puts a new face on our outrage, raises our expectations that existing injustices are not only sad but unacceptable, and moves us to action.

Pigskins on Parade Art takes inspiration from many sources and locally, artists are taking inspiration from the Super Bowl to create a whimsical homage to America's favorite sport. Pigskins on Parade combines public art with fundraising and testosterone with culture to enliven the streets of downtown Ann Arbor with giant, artist-enhanced, fiberglass footballs.

Save Our Brass! Arts at Michigan is proud to present a unique concert, benefit, and educational residency featuring New Orleans brass band The Hot 8 to respond to the threats now posed to preserving and continuing the musical and cultural heritage of New Orleans.

Shakespearean Sonnet Slam The Royal Shakespeare Company, University Musical Society, and Arts at Michigan presented the first-ever Shakespearean Sonnet Slam! Individuals or groups of rappers, rhymers, beat-boxers, spoken word artists, musicians, DJs, dancers, theater students, performed original interpretation of Shakespeare's sonnets. RSC performers and Performance Network judged and provided immediate feedback. The winners took home a BIG PRIZE!

The Walking Project The Walking Project is an interdisciplinary performance, mapping and cultural exchange project collaboratively developed with U.S. and South Africa-based artists during a series of residencies in Detroit and KwaZulu-Natal from 2003 through 2006. Arts at Michigan is pleased to bring this project to the U-M campus in collaboration with the Walk and Squawk Performance Project, the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP), and various UM departments, faculty, staff, and students.