University of Michigan student Allison Wei didn’t come to Michigan intending to study the arts. That all changed when she took a class her freshman year with poet, author, and professor Carlina Duan.

The University of Michigan’s Symphony Band will embark on a 2025 State of the Arts: Symphony Band Tour, bringing the transformative power of music to communities across Michigan.

The University of Michigan’s Arts Initiative has announced the 2025 cohort of its Creative Careers Residency — a pioneering transitional program designed to support emerging creatives as they move from academic study into full-time, professional creative practice.

As a doctoral student at the University of Michigan’s School of Kinesiology and its Concussion Center, Allyssa Memmini identified a critical need in concussion management.

One of the world’s largest and longest-running exhibitions of incarcerated artists is back with new programming designed to foster connection and deepen public understanding of incarceration in Michigan.

President Santa J. Ono has committed $5 million from central University of Michigan funding to further develop U-M’s public art collection over the next five years, in support of the university’s Vision 2034 goals.

Rhiannon Giddens, the Grammy-, Pulitzer Prize- and MacArthur “genius” grant-winning musical artist and composer, has been appointed as the inaugural University of Michigan Artist-in-Residence.

The University of Michigan’s Arts Initiative wrapped up 2024 with yet another transformative year of programming, engaging the U-M community in new and meaningful ways, illuminating the human experience, sparking joy through shared wonder, and creating space for critical conversations. Here's a look back at some of the highlights from this past year

American culture graduate student and stand-up comedian Julianna Loera-Wiggins is workshopping some new material about getting into her first fistfight on the rugby field. 

The Concussion Center at the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology is using visual art to capture the experiences of concussion patients.

Uncovering the Financial Realities of Artists: The Artist Pay Project. The University of Michigan's Arts Initiative, along with the Ross Impact Studio, is proud to announce “The Artist Pay Project”: an immersive exhibition led by journalist and 2022-2023 Knight-Wallace Fellow, Makeda Easter.

The University of Michigan’s Arts Initiative has announced musician, composer and scholar Rhiannon Giddens will be its inaugural U-M Artist-in-Residence.

The new program aims to bring extraordinary, innovative artists to campus in order to create, grow and impact the world while engaging the university community in the transformative power of the arts.

The University of Michigan’s Gershwin Initiative is turning back the clock to showcase a pioneering work of American political satire that proves the more things change, the more they stay the same.

From the moment you walk into the gorgeous space Philippa Pham Hughes has created at the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) the vibes are immaculate. Think anthropology meets your grandmother‘s kitchen. Visiting Artist for Art & Civic Engagement at UMMA, Hughes has curated the “Hey, We Need to Talk!” exhibition with extreme intentionality. Every artwork, furniture piece, and even the wallpaper has been thoughtfully selected, each element carrying its own significance. 

The Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design is presenting a semester-long celebration featuring queer artists and artmaking around the theme of “Gender Euphoria.”

These performances, exhibitions, conversations and provocations explore how to make art and find queer joy in a state of emergency.

The University of Michigan has incorporated design thinking informed by behavioral insights to develop voting spaces for students — aimed at creating lifelong voters.

In addition to a history of democracy-focused initiatives on campus, this year marks the third election in which the Creative Campus Voting Project has partnered with the Ann Arbor city clerk’s office, U-M Museum of Art and the Duderstadt Center Gallery to design voting hubs on campus.

The CCVP is a nonpartisan initiative based at the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design, and a partner in the UMICH Votes campus coalition.

The University Musical Society (UMS) is set to challenge audiences once again with the return of its provocative No Safety Net series in the 2024-25 season. This cutting-edge program, known for presenting works that tackle contemporary issues head-on, will feature three interactive theatrical experiences that promise to spark dialogue and push the boundaries of traditional performance.

With students back on campus, the University of Michigan’s Arts Initiative and the Creative Campus Voting Project have ramped up efforts to encourage students to vote in the 2024 presidential election.

The University of Michigan’s Arts Initiative, Wolverine Wellness and other campus partners have joined forces to center personal and community well-being in the 2024-25 academic year with a focus on the theme Take Care.

The University of Michigan Arts Initiative’s Projects in Partnership program has awarded funding to four arts-based teams representing more than 18 units, schools and colleges across U-M’s Ann Arbor and Dearborn campuses and in Detroit.

PiP projects are large-scale projects that activate the campus and community, increase arts engagement for students, faculty, staff and the region, and leverage interdisciplinary partnerships for impact that could not be achieved effectively by one partner alone.