Many of the museums, galleries, and performance venues at the University of Michigan remain closed due to COVID-19 restrictions; however, there will still be plenty of online events, exhibitions, performances, and films that you can experience from home. The following is a curated list of events and exhibitions occurring this week, along with some recurring series events.

U-M HUMANITIES INSTITUTE PRESENTS: 2021 POETRY BLAST!

April is National Poetry Month, the largest literary celebration in the world. This year the U-M Humanities Institute will be joining the tens of millions of readers, students, teachers, librarians, booksellers, publishers, families, and, of course, poets, in marking poetry’s important place in our lives. Every weekday at noon in April, their YouTube channel will feature a U-M faculty member reading one of their poems. There will also be a daily April poetry challenge and “pop-up poems” across campus.

TAUBMAN COLLEGE PRESENTS: DEANNA VAN BUREN, DESIGNING JUSTICE + DESIGNING SPACES

Deanna Van Buren is the Executive Director, Design Director, and Co-Founder of Designing Justice + Designing Spaces (DJDS), an architecture and real estate development non-profit building infrastructure to end mass incarceration. As one of only 500 licensed Black female architects in the U.S, Deanna is committed to racial equity in the built environment and is a national thought leader in advocating for alternative spaces for justice, including restorative justice centers and mobile resource villages.

When: Tuesday, Apr. 6, 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m. EST

U-M SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK PRESENTS: SOCIAL JUSTICE CHANGEMAKER LECTURE, SPIKE LEE AND TERENCE BLANCHARD

As part of the U-M School of Social Work’s Centennial Celebration, they’re introducing the Social Justice Changemaker Lecture series, established by a generous gift from Neil and Annemarie Hawkins. This week, they present Spike Lee, a premier African-American filmmaker and forerunner in the “do it yourself” school of independent film, and Terence Blanchard, an American jazz trumpeter, composer and music educator. 

When: Wednesday, Apr. 7, 4–5:30 p.m. EDT

ARTS AT MICHIGAN PRESENTS: A VERY SILLY TEA-TASTING AND PAINT-BY-NUMBERS NIGHT

Arts Engage!, a group of staff and faculty at U-M dedicated to student engagement in the arts, is organizing two virtual student events that will combine the arts and humor for two evenings of creativity and laughter! The first event will be hosted by UMMA’s Student Engagement Council and will feature a comical tea-tasting along with a paint-by-number activity based on works from the UMMA collection.

When: Thursday, Apr. 8, 8–9:30 p.m. EDT

THE SCHOOL OF MUSIC, THEATRE, & DANCE PRESENTS: SYMPHONY BAND

The Symphony Band conducted by Michael Haithcock presents a virtual concert featuring music from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Antoine Bonelli, Samuel Scheidt, David Gillingham, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Rob Smith, and a premiere performance of Evan Chambers’ “Crazed for the Flame,” chamber winds version.

When: Thursday, Apr. 8, 8 p.m. EDT

LOVING OUR PLANET LIKE WE SHOULD LOVE EACH OTHER: DISABILITY IN THE TIME OF CLIMATE CRISIS

A student-organized symposium to help our community learn about how climate change impacts people with disabilities, featuring Sarah Young Bear-Brown (Meskwaki Nation), Izzy Laderman (Disability Awareness Around Climate Change), Rafi Darrow (Sins Invalid), and Teddy Dorsette III (Detroit Disability Power). This event is being organized by first year students in Linguistics 102 Deafness & Disability v. Climate, Contagion, and Capital.

When: Friday, Apr. 9. 6:30–8:30 p.m. EDT

FOOLMOON: DOWNTOWN + AT HOME + VIRTUAL

It’s time to dust off those luminaries, get busy making crazy costumes, light up your masks, dress up the dog, turn on the holiday lights, and make FoolMoon magic!  This year’s theme–Shine Your Light A2–affirms that our commUNITY shines brightest together, especially when times are tough. This year’s festival can be enjoyed downtown, at home, and online!

When: Friday, Apr. 9. 6–10 p.m. EDT

Recurring Series Events

PERFORMING THE MOMENT | PERFORMING THE MOVEMENT SERIES: RAMÓN H. RIVERA-SERVERA

In this virtual series, Center for World Performance Studies invites performers and scholars from diverse disciplines to reflect on how performance is being used to respond to the political, social, health and environmental crises that we face at this moment. For this session, Dr. Ramón H. Rivera-Servera will discuss his recent research in Puerto Rico, including an innovative outreach initiative to assist Puerto Rican artists in the aftermath of hurricanes Maria and Irma.

When: Tuesday, Apr. 6, 6–7 p.m. EDT

UMS DIGITAL PRESENTATION: SIR ANDRÁS SCHIFF, PIANO

Schiff recorded this multi-camera program for just a few US presenters in the iconic Church of St. Peter in Zurich, Switzerland’s old town. One of music’s most revered pianists, he was originally scheduled for an in-person recital this month, five years after his last UMS appearance.

When: Thursday, Apr. 8–Sunday, Apr. 18

MILLER-CONVERSE LECTURE SERIES: CAN DEMOCRACY SURVIVE? THE 2021 MILLER-CONVERSE ROUNDTABLE

Join faculty members from the Center for Political Studies for a roundtable discussion of current challenges to democracy. Panelists include: Ken Kollman: Moderate and Extreme Swings in American Party Politics, Pauline Jones: Democratic Survival, Using Lessons from the Muslim World, and Robert Franzese: What Causes People to Become Political Extremists?

When: Thursday, Apr. 8, 4–5:30 p.m. EDT

PENNY STAMPS SPEAKERS SERIES: KEN FISCHER AND WYNTON MARSALIS

Exploring community connection through the performing arts, UMS President Emeritus Ken Fischer and jazz musician Wynton Marsalis come together in a conversation moderated by Lisa Richards Toney, president and CEO of the Association of Performing Arts Professionals. 

When: Friday, Apr. 9, 8 p.m. EDT

NAM CENTER PRESENTS: KOREAN CINEMA NOW, “KIM JI-YOUNG: BORN 1982”

All films are available through our Michigan Theater Foundation–Vimeo streaming platform. You will have 72 hours to watch after you press play. Based on the million-seller novel of the same name by Cho Nam-joo, Kim Ji-young, an ordinary woman in her 30s, suddenly shows signs of being inhabited by others such as her late mother and older sister, and the stories of the people connected to her.

When: Friday, Apr. 9–Sunday, Apr. 11

 

If you would like your event to be included in next week’s “Attend at Home” series, email arts-culture@umich.edu.