For three days in early May, participants from more than 50 universities, news media organizations, foundations and acclaimed scholars from around the country met at the University of Michigan. The task: To find ways to further integrate the arts as a vital component of higher education.

Six months after that gathering — known as the “Michigan Meeting” — has come an unprecedented nationally-coordinated effort to elevate the role and purpose of the arts and teaching the creative process.

Through a website coordinated by ArtsEngine — presenters of the Michigan Meeting — an array of research, case studies, theoretical models and ongoing strategic conversations among meeting participants is now available to the public.

To visit the website, please go to ART MAKING IN RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES

The collection of information offers an in-depth examination of a range of critical issues facing educators as they grapple with ways to demonstrate the impact and urgent need to broaden conventional thinking of the role of the arts and creative process at research universities.

“We need to recognize creativity is the gateway to innovation in all disciplines — from the visual arts to business, engineering, law, medicine to the natural and physical sciences,” said Theresa Reid (photo below), executive director of ArtsEngine, which fosters collaborations among the professional arts, architecture, and engineering units on University of Michigan’s North Campus. The consortium aims to integrate “arts making” into the traditional curriculum, and produces symposiums, exhibits and events.

For more information, please visit ARTSENGINE

NOTE: The University of Michigan Office of the President, Office of the Provost, Office of the Vice President for Communications, and Office of University Development were actively involved in ensuring the success of Michigan Meeting. The Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies provided funding, logistical support, and expertise. And arts leaders across campus participated in planning, including the University Musical Society, the University of Michigan Museum of Art, the Program in Screen Arts and Cultures, the MFA Writing Program, the Residential College, the Department of the History of Art, and others.

The meeting was made possible by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.