At the University of Michigan, October means more than just spooky season. The Michigan Arts Festival occurs all month across campuses in Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Flint, comprising arts events of every discipline. Every day, there are several events taking place, from performances to workshops to exhibitions, and many of them are free for everyone to attend.
After kicking off with the Arts Org Fair at the beginning of the month, the Arts Initiative has taken part in funding, promoting, or supporting arts events in other ways throughout the first couple of weeks of October. I was able to attend three featured Arts Initiative events in the first half of the festival that made me excited in anticipation of the latter half of the month.
I first learned about the history of beading at the “String of Stories” workshop from artist and storyteller Olayami Dabls, surrounded by the Fashion/Forward art exhibit in Thayer, where I strung together my own unique necklace out of beads that ranged from brand new to hundreds of years old. Before we got free reign to create our necklaces, Dabls explained to us how beads have been a part of every culture around the world for thousands of years and only recently became conflated with African culture in particular.
Though we now use beads and jewelry as mere adornment—Dabls himself sported a beautiful red beaded necklace at the event—he explained how in the past, communities would use beads to signify status, age, or whether or not a woman was pregnant. As I put together my necklace, I held close to my heart Dabls’s insistence that beads carry with them the energy of those who wore them before us, as they will our energy after us as well. He ended the workshop with a promise that the time we had shared together was now a part of his story, and would never be forgotten.
Later in the week, I attended Canvas of Identity, a celebration of art and culture that serves as the closing ceremony for Latin Heritage Month (LHM) at U-M. Students shared performances, artwork, and poetry in the soft, cozy lighting of the Michigan League ballroom. All around the room, student submitted photography and paintings were on display for people to take in as they enjoyed delicious food provided by M-Catering.
I spoke with Amin Saleh, program manager at Trotter Multicultural Center and Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs, who told me that the Latin Heritage Month Committee had been putting on Canvas of Identity for three years now, and was able to make it bigger and better than ever with the help of the Arts Initiative this year.
“For Canvas, the Arts Initiative served as a key partner in supporting the logistics of both the art submission form and of the event itself… We are so thankful that their team was able to lend their time, care, and expertise for this event, and could not be happier with how the collaboration turned out!” Saleh shared.
The passion and care students put into their artwork, as well as the clear effort on the LHM Committee’s part, shone through all night as attendees engaged with performances and made new connections with Latin culture and each other.
Finally, I attended the RC Players’s Evening of Scenes, an annual showcase of student written and directed short plays at the East Quad Keene Theater. Even the content warnings and theater rules at the beginning of the show, presented in a short film, were somehow hilarious. This set the tone for the rest of the night, which was filled with the perfect mix of jokes and social commentary that were doled out with impeccable comedic timing. The show was a wonderful beginning to my Fall Break.
As I made a necklace, listened to a student’s heartfelt poem, or laughed from deep within my stomach, I was reminded of the power art has to bring different groups of people together. At the “String of Stories” workshop, I ran into an old friend I hadn’t seen in a year, and we caught up as we enjoyed the event together. At the Canvas of Identity ceremony, a student told the story of her sculpted depiction of the church her parents got married in, who were smiling and cheering for her on the other side of the room. At the Evening of Scenes, I reminisced with a friend I’d spontaneously invited merely an hour before to join me about our high school theater days.
More than anything, the Michigan Arts Festival is about these moments of community building and connection. This October, and every month, take advantage of all that the U-M arts community has to offer. Make something with your hands, immerse yourself in art history, or watch something you’ll never forget. You are sure to leave any event more fulfilled and inspired than you entered.
