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Michigan Humanities
Council has received notice of the following humanities and Touring Programs
activities scheduled at educational and cultural institutions in Michigan
for the dates shown. Readers are encouraged to contact sponsors to confirm
dates, times and locations. (** denotes Michigan Humanities Council-funded
projects; ++ denotes Touring Programs funded in part by the Michigan Council
for Arts and Cultural Affairs and Michigan Humanities Council)
March
31-April 1:
Michigan Council for the Social Studies State Conference, Amway Grand
Plaza, Grand Rapids
Arts Management Institite
2000/Great Lakes Community Arts Awards, Radisson Hotel/Kalamazoo Valley
Community College, Kalamazoo
April 1:
"Literacy, Technology, Equity: Challenges for the English Language Arts,"
Union, Michigan State University, East Lansing
April 7-8:
"Michigan In Perspective" Local History Conference, Wayne State University,
Detroit
April
8:
Arts & Humanities Touring Program: The Merling Trio, 8 p.m., Opera House,
Cheboygan++
April 9:
Arts & Humanities Touring Program: Neil Woodward, 2 p.m., Orion Township
Public Library, Lake Orion++
Sunday Stroll: Corktown
Walking Tour, 2 p.m., Corktown Neighborhood, Detroit
April
14:
Contemporary American Authors Lecture Series: Lucille Clifton, Alumnae
Hall, Marygrove College, Detroit
April
15:
Collaborative Projects in Communities Grant Deadline Workshop: Documenting
an Historical Vessel, Michigan Maritime Museum, South Haven
April
25:
Arts & Humanities Touring Program: "American Short & Tall Tales," 2:30
p.m., Baldwin Public Library, Birmingham++
Health Care and the
Humanities Lecture Series, noon, Lawrence Education Center, Borgess Medical
Center, Kalamazoo
April
27:
Arts & Humanities Touring Program: Marc Thomas, 2:30 p.m., Baldwin Public
Library, Birmingham++
May
1:
Law Day, Statewide
May
4-6:
"Lasting Value: Historic Preservation Moves into the 21st Century," Michigan
Historic Preservation Conference, Amway Grand Plaza, Grand Rapids
May
6:
Michigan Social Studies Olympiad 2000, Everett High School, Lansing
Jackson Storyfest,
Michigan Theater, Jackson
May
7:
Sunday Stroll: Mt. Elliot Cemetery Walking Tour, 2 p.m., Detroit
May 14-May 20:
Preservation Week 2000, Statewide
May 14:
Arts & Humanities Touring Program: White Water, 1:30 and 3 p.m., Michigan
Iron Industry Museum, Negaunee++
May
18-19:
Volunteerism SuperConference 2000, Lansing Center, Lansing
May
20-29:
Michigan Week, Statewide
May
20:
Arts & Humanities Touring Program: Song of the Lakes, Veterans Park, Boyne
City++
Lecture: "Maritime
Mail," 11 a.m., Dossin Great Lakes Museum, Detroit
May
21:
Arts & Humanities Touring Program: The Merling Trio, Birmingham Temple,
Farmington Hills++
Sunday Stroll: Hamtramck
Walking Tour, 2 p.m., Hamtramck
May 21-27:
Fundamentals of Boatbuilding Workshop, Michigan Maritime Museum, South
Haven
May
30:
Health Care and the Humanities Lecture Series: "Creative Arts in Health
Care," Lawrence Education Center, Borgess Medical Center, Kalamazoo
June
2:
Arts & Humanities Touring Program: Music by Robert Jones, Center Street
Park, Milford++
June
2-3:
"Facing East/Facing West" Conference on North American-Asian/Pacific Relations,
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo
June
8:
"Landscapes of Community Identity" Symposium, Traverse City**
Michigan Museums Association
"The ABCs of Museum Exhibits" Workshop, Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum,
Whitefish Point
The Michigan Humanities Council has received notice of the following
exhibits scheduled at cultural institutions in Michigan for the dates
shown. We encourage you to contact specific institutions to confirm these
dates and exhibit hours. (SITES exhibits are part of the Smithsonian Institution
Traveling Exhibition Service. NEH designation refers to exhibits supported
by the National Endowment for the Humanities. ** denotes Council-funded
projects.)
Continuing Exhibits:
"Furniture City," Public Museum of Grand Rapids, Grand Rapids (NEH)
"Made in America: The History of the American Industrial System," Henry
Ford Museum, Dearborn (NEH)
"Hitsville USA and The Motown Sound: The Music and the Story," Motown
Historical Museum, Detroit (NEH)
"Michigan in the Twentieth Century," Michigan Historical Museum, Lansing
"Anishinabek: People of This Place." Public Museum of Grand Rapids,
Grand Rapids (NEH)**
"The Ancient Near East and Egypt," Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, University
of Michigan, Ann Arbor
"Frontiers to Factories: Detroiters at Work 1701-1901," Detroit Historical
Museum, Detroit (Through Jan. 1, 2001)
Through March 26:
"Mysteries of Egypt," Public Museum of Grand Rapids, Grand Rapids
"The Orchid Pavilion Gathering: Chinese Painting from the Museum of
Art," University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Through April 1:
"On the Air! Michigan Radio and Television Broadcasting 1920-2000," Detroit
Historical Museum, Detroit
Through April 15:
"Barn Again! - Celebrating an American Icon," Rawson Memorial Library,
Cass City (SITES)**
Through April 23:
"Vision Latina: Latin Artists of the New Millennium," Holland Area Arts
Council Gallery/Grand Rapids Art Museum, Holland and Grand Rapids
Through April 30:
"When the Spirit Moves: The Africanization of American Movement," Detroit
Historical Museum/Museum of African American History, Detroit (NEH)
Through May 31:
"Your Place in Time: 20th-Century America," Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield
Village, Dearborn
"Correspondence(s)" Exhibit, Institute for the Humanities, University
of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Through June 11:
"Love of the Land: Stories of Life, the Land and Environment," MSU Museum,
Michigan State University, East Lansing
Through June:
"Nda Maamawigaami: Together We Dance" Contemporary Great Lakes Pow Wow
Regalia, Nokomis Learning Center, Okemos
Through June 4:
"Altered States: Alcohol and Other Drugs in America," Kalamazoo Valley
Museum, Kalamazoo
"Van Gogh: Face to Face," Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit
Through Aug. 31:
Jerome P. Cavanaugh Exhibit, Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University,
Detroit
March 21-April 23:
"Vision Latina: Latin Artists of the New Millennium," Holland Area Arts
Council Gallery, Holland, and Grand Rapids Art Museum, Grand Rapids
April 8-June 24:
"On Miniature Wings," Detroit Historical Museum, Detroit
April 9-Sept. 3:
"Fascination with Lace," MSU Museum, Michigan State University, East Lansing
Opens
May 20:
"Paint by Number," Detroit Historical Museum, Detroit Opens
June 2:
"Portraits of Woodward," Detroit Historical Museum, Detroit
Opens June 23:
"The Detroit Publishing Company: Looking at the World," Detroit Historical
Museum, Detroit (Through Jan. 7, 2001)
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Nominations Sought
for Council Membership
The Council seeks
both public and academic representatives to serve four-year terms. Members'
responsibilities include participation in four meetings of the Council
at locations around Michigan, program and proposal review, planning, fundraising,
advocacy for the public humanities, liaison to projects and other representation
of the Council. Members will be selected to fit Council program and advancement
needs and overall demographic balance.
Nominations of self
or others should be forwarded to Search Committee, Michigan Humanities
Council, 119 Pere Marquette Dr., Suite 3-B, Lansing MI 48912-1270 or by
fax to 517/372-0027
Five
Sites to Host 'Yesterday's Tomorrows' in 2001-2002
Five communities will
host the "Yesterday's Tomorrows: Past Visions of an American Future" exhibition
in 2001-2002, a traveling exhibit co-sponsored by Michigan Humanities
Council and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Services
(SITES).
Hosts for this intriguing
examination of late 19th to late 20th century visions of what the future
would hold are:
March-April 2001
Flat River Historical Society, Greenville
May-June, 2001 Tecumseh Area Historical Society,Tecumseh
July-Aug 2001 Ironwood Theatre, Ironwood
September-October 2001 Presque Isle County Historical Museum, Rogers
City
November, 2001-January 2002 Leelanau Historical Museum, Leland
Applications from
18 museums and libraries across Michigan interested in hosting the exhibit
were reviewed and selections made based on geographic distribution and
identification of rural audiences and small institutions that typically
do not have access to traveling exhibitions due to space and cost limitations.
"Yesterday's Tomorrows"
is the third exhibition of its kind to tour Michigan under the Museum
on Mainstreet partnership between SITES and the Council; "Produce for
Victory: Posters on the American Homefront, 1941-1945" toured the state
in 1997-98, and "Barn Again! Celebrating an American Icon" concludes its
10-month tour of the state at the Rawson Memorial Library in Cass City
April 15.
Michigan joins humanities
councils in Utah, Florida, Georgia and Missouri as the first states to
tour the exhibit.
Council funding will
enable host communities to conduct ancillary public programs ranging from
small-town time capsules to historic preservation projects to school design
and invention centers. The exhibition also will be an effective springboard
for serious future-planning initiatives in rural communities.
The council is developing
a speakers and consultants directory in support of the project. Persons
interested in the study of the future or with special interest, collections
or expertise in science fiction, futurists, visionaries or historical
views of the future will find a form to register to participate on the
council's web site at the "Yesterday's Tomorrows"
page. For more information, contact LuAnn Kern, director of grants and
education, at 517/372-7770 or by e-mail.
Mark
an Occasion: Rent a Resource!
Upcoming observances
marking Law Day (May 1), Michigan Week (May 20-29), Preservation Week
(May 14-20) and the arrival of spring and summer offer unlimited opportunities
to gather an audience for an educational program around one of these Council
Resource Center monthly themes using center resource materials:
April - "Reflecting
on Language & Literature"
May - "Impression of Michigan & the Great Lakes" and "Preservation
I: Architecture & Land Use Studies"
June - "Preservation II: Conserving Our Cultural Heritage"
July - "The American Experience"
Most resources are
rented for up to 14 days, exhibits and video series for up to one month.
Fees are $5 for audio-cassettes, print materials, slide-tape programs,
16 mm films and videocassettes; $15 for video series; $25 for exhibits,
and $50 for Culture Kits (plus $25 deposit). Free or reduced rates apply
if resources are picked up from the Lansing office; users are responsible
for return shipping or delivery.
For a full list of
Resource Center materials, visit our on-line
Media Guide where you can browse through some
500 different offerings and then request rentals via e-mail. Reserve low-cost,
high-quality educational resources now for Michigan Week activities by
calling 517/372-7770 or by e-mail.
Mini
Grants Fund Heritage Projects; June Deadline Suspended
Six Mini Grant awards
by the Council in March will assist community organizations and institutions
throughout Michigan in pursuing a range of heritage, preservation and
history of the arts projects.
Mini Grant awards
have been made to:
- The Land Information
Access Association of Traverse City for "Landscapes of Community Identity:
Exploring the Relationship Between Heritage, Arts and the Environment."
The grant will assist a June 8 public symposium focused on these aspects
of community development in the Grand Traverse region.
- Detroit Public
Television for pre-production research and scripting for a video documentary,
"Ode to Joy 2000: The Story of the Score," on the history and orchestration
of Beethoven's choral Symphony No. 9.
- Downtown Development
Authority of the City of Albion to launch a "Multigenerational Preservation
Initiative" involving public activities and information gathering about
the evolution of the community's downtown.
- A Central Michigan
University video project to document the history, status and potential
future of "Little Palaces: Michigan's Historic Small-Town Movie Theaters."
- The Iron County
Museum of Caspian to produce a video about contributions of community
leaders of Iron River and Stambaugh as "A Look at Change in the Past
Millennium."
- The manuscript
phase of the German American Heritage Foundation International project,
"A Writers Workshop to Publish a Commemorative History of the Germans
in Greater Detroit, 1776-2000."
These will be the
last Mini Grants awarded in fiscal 2000 since funds in that category have
been exhausted and the regular June 15 Mini Grant deadline has been cancelled.
However, potential applicants are encouraged to consider applying by the
April 15 deadine for consideration under the Collaborative Projects in
Communities grantline for this fiscal year. For more information, contact
LuAnn Kern, director of grants and education, at 800/837-4532 or by e-mail.
Mini Grants award
up to $3,000 per project, while Collaborative Projects in Communities
grants offer up to $12,000. The regular schedule resumes with the Sept.
1 deadline for Collaborative Projects in Communities grants.
For assistance in
planning a grant proposal, attend this summer's Grant Writing Workshop
Aug. 8. It will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Michigan Library and
Historical Center in Lansing.
Grant
Opportunities for 'Imagining America,' Rural Arts & Culture
The Woodrow Wilson
National Fellowship Foundation (WWNFF) is partnering in the national "Imagining
America" initiative to further ways in which university-based artists
and humanists contribute to our civic heritage and civic future. In July
1999, the foundation awarded its first seven Public Scholarship Grants.
Support of the Rockefeller
Foundation will make possible another seven competitive $5,000 grants
in 2000 to support projects by university-based artists and humanists
working in collaboration with community partners that link excellent research
or creative activity to the practice of civic engagement. These partners
will define projects that focus on issues of cultural or social significance
at the local, regional or national level. The goal: developing a collaboration
of civic importance.
Preference will be
given to projects crossing disciplines or encouraging collaboration between
or among universities and colleges. Application materials are available
at the foundation's web
site; applications are due May 5, 2000.
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Rural arts and culture
in 39 eligible Michigan counties are the focus of a new Rural Arts & Culture
grant program of the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA).
Grants of $3,000-7,000
for a broad range of arts and cultural activities are available to initiatives
in Alcona, Antrim, Baraga, Barry, Benzie, Branch, Charlevoix, Clare, Dickinson,
Eaton, Gladwin, Hillsdale, Huron, Ionia, Keweenaw, Lapeer, Lake, Leelanau,
Livingston, Luce, Mackinac, Mason, Mecosta, Menominee, Missaukee, Monroe,
Montcalm, Montmorency, Newaygo, Oceana, Ogemaw, Osceola, Oscoda, Otsego,
Sanilac, Schoolcraft, Tuscola, Van Buren and Wexford counties. A goal
of the pilot period (2000-2001) will be to fund at least one grant in
each county.
Grants will support
artists and humanities scholars as community mentors. Community-based
collaborations strengthening programs and expanding audiences are being
encouraged, as are projects which increase understanding of traditional
arts and cultural expression. Funded project will also also strengthen
local cultural grant-making skills and opportunities in counties with
limited grant application experience and success.
Proposals for the
first year of the pilot program are due March 30 for projects implemented
between May and September. The timeline for the second pilot year will
be announced in March. For further information and guidelines, contact
Julie Avery, coordinator of the Rural Arts & Culture Program at the Michigan
State University Museum, at 517/432-3358 or by e-mail.
Information is also available on the MSU
Museum's web site.
'Barn Again!' Leaving
a Legacy in Michigan
Michigan's 10-month
tour of the "Barn Again! Celebrating an American Icon" exhibit from the
Smithsonian Institution's Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) concludes
April 15 at Rawson Memorial Library in Cass City, where it opened March
6. Council Executive Director Rick Knupfer and State Rep. Mike Green were
among about 150 persons who attended the opening.
The Michigan Thumb
region's rich agricultural heritage and barns are being showcased in local
programming there. Three barn/farm tours (including a visit to the historic
Octagon Barn at Gagetown) and timely spring programs on maple syrup production
and operation of a Belgian horse farm are scheduled in late March and
early April.
For more information
on Rawson's scheduled activities, consult its web site (http://www.rawson.lib.mi.us)
or contact librarian Barbara Hutchinson at 517/872-2856. They've already
completed a barn photography contest with the winning entries displayed
on their web site and hosted several educational programs on barns, the
future of agriculture and an area barn survey.
At its previous Michigan
stops, "Barn Again!" activities have met with equally enthusiastic audiences
and community participation. At Lake City, the Missaukee District Library
featured a barn theme for a family reading program, "Red Barns, Read Books,"
and their Jan. 17-Feb. 26 exhibit visit culminated in "barn raising" activities
that drew more than 300 for square dancing; old-time games and corncob
doll making; carving, rug-making, quilting and wool spinning, and an auction.
Lake City Librarian
Dorothy Everett notes that the activities and exhibit touched visitors'
hearts and recalled fond memories. "The visit from some of McBain's nursing
home residents was emotional. They enjoyed every second of their visit
and did they have stories to share! This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
once again demonstrated that we must constantly reach out and attempt
to touch more lives."
At Charlotte's Courthouse
Square, project director Teresa Goforth commented: "...this is by far
one of the best programs we have offered to our community. Our visitation
during the exhibit increased approximately 400 percent, and our programs
left visitors asking if we were going to do them again next year. SITES'
rural initiatives program is a godsend to small museums such as ours."
Pleased to have served
as Michigan's sponsor of the exhibit tour, the Council will continue to
maintain its "Barn Again!" web page and on-line scrapbook of barn and
farm resources and project materials after the tour's conclusion to help
maintain the interest and enthusiasm generated by this successful project.
Visit it at http://mihumanities.h-net.msu.edu/barnexhibit/ -- but get
to Cass City to see the SITES exhibit before April 15!
For more information
on 'Barn Again!' and its tour of Michigan, contact LuAnn Kern, director
of grants and education, at the Council's Lansing office or by e-mail.
Culture
Tour 2000: Schedule a Vacation Stop!
Earlier scheduling
of Michigan's Great Outdoors Culture Tour programs for summer, 2000, and
on-line access to the schedule means travelers can plan their northern
Michigan vacations now with time to take in one or more of the 94 cultural
programs on this year's tour.
Tour programs, a partnership
project of the Council and Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs,
take place July 1-Aug. 14 in local, state and national parks and national
forest recreation areas as well as at rural museums and community sites
in northern Lower Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. A full tour schedule
is available on the Council's web site now,
and a tour brochure will be available in May from the Council's offices,
at Michigan Welcome Centers and at tour host sites and local communities
in the region.
Interest in the tour
generated by an article in this year's Travel Ideas, the primary promotional
publication of Travel Michigan, has brought inquiries from residents throughout
the Great Lakes region and from as far away as West Virginia.
Evening programs by
20 talented artists, musicians, storytellers and historical roleplayers
for audiences gathered around campfires, in forested settings, at historic
sites and on Great Lakes shorelines bring to life the essence of northwoods
culture and heritage. They introduce travelers and local residents, young
and old alike to the colorful legends, lore and lifestyles of the state's
woods-and-water environment in casual tourist settings. Programs are free
of charge.
New presenters for
2000 include storyteller Barbara Schutzgruber, relating "Michigan Facts
& Fables"; popular Great Lakes musicians Song of the Lakes; ethnic/folk
musician John Berquist, delving into "Roots & Branches -- The Upper Peninsula
Musical Legacy," and Native American storyteller and traditional artist
Lois Beardslee. Many familiar presenters from the past two seasons have
developed special program material based on their tour experience and
regional research.
For details, check
the schedule on the Council's web site or contact Nancy Mathews, public
affairs officer and Culture Tour coordinator, at 906/789-9471 or by e-mail.
News
You Can Use: Web Sites
Law Day 2000 -- May
1 -- focuses attention this year on "Speak Up for Democracy and Diversity."
A free Law Day Planning Guide is available from the American Bar Association
for community bar associations and related groups preparing to mark the
occasion. Find it on- line at the ABA
web site, and get your community involved in speaking up!
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Preserving our cultural
heritage is a vital task of museums, libraries, archives and historical
societies. Disaster preparedness resources offered by the Michigan Alliance
for the Conservation of Cultural Heritage are available on-line with essential
information to organizations and individuals who collect art objects,
books, papers, and other valuable cultural artifacts. The site
features a checklist for disaster planning as well as information on handling
and recovering from calamities such as fire, flood, earthquake, and mold.
It includes an extensive list of Michigan suppliers' special services.
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Have you checked out
the Council's new on-line resource with helpful
information for teachers? Teacher education opportunities, web sites of
interest to humanities educators and classroom resources are initially
included, with the offerings expected to grow. Among anticipated items
is information on a growing body of curriculum materials related to the
2002 celebration of Detroit's 300th birthday, like the offer that follows:
"Frontiers to Factories:
Detroiters at Work 1701-1901" - The Detroit Historical Museum offers free
curriculum units on the history of Detroit, targeted to fourth graders
and teachers but adaptable for teaching to any K-12 group. The units include
a video, a teacher's guide and replicable teacher's notes, maps and diagrams.
For a copy, contact Amy J. DeWys-VanHecke, Detroit Historical Museum,
at 313/833-9720 or by e-mail.
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Glancing
Backward, Looking Forward