"Furniture City," Public Museum of Grand Rapids, Grad Rapids (NEH)

"Made in American: The History of the American Industrial System," Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn (NEH)

"Travel 'On the Road' with Charles Kuralt," Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn

"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

"Collecting A-Z: 'A' Is for Autos," Public Museum of Grand Rapids, Grand Rapids

"Motor City Exhibition," Detroit Historical Museum & Greenfield Village, Dearborn

"Henry's Story: The Making of an Innovator," Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village, Dearborn

"Selling the Automobile," "Building a Name: The Beginning of Chevrolet" and "Flint and the American Dream," Alfred P. Sloan Museum, Flint

"Saved By the Light: Michigan's Magnificent Lighthouses," Michigan's Maritime Museum, South Haven

"The Story of the People Who Built and Used Boats on the Great Lakes," Michigan Maritime Museum, South Haven

THROUGH JAN. 25
"Little Gems of American Painting," Port Huron Museum, Port Huron

"Cultural Reflections: Contemporary Inuit Art From the Dennos Museum," Art Center of Battle Creek, Battle Creek *

THROUGH FEB. 1
"Perugino: Master of the Italian Renaissance," Grand Rapids Art Museum, Grand Rapids *

THROUGH MARCH 29
"Caught on the Fly: Fly Fishing Traditions in Michigan," Michigan State University Museum, East Lansing

THROUGH JUNE 14
"Lansing 1897," Michigan Historical Museum, Lansing

THROUGH FALL 1998
"Nda Maamawigaami: Together We Dance," Contemporary Great Lakes Pow Wow Regalia, Nokomis Learning Center, Okemos

JAN. 5-JAN. 31
"Produce for Victory: Posters on the American Home Front, 1941-45," Alpena County Library, Alpena *

JAN.25-MARCH 15
"Monet at Vetheuil: The Turing Point," Museum of Art, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

JAN. 25-April 5
"A Celebration of Lithography: 19th Century Invention and Innovation." Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit

JAN. 31-March 15
"Divine Death: Photographs of 19th Century Funerary Sculpture," Kresge Art Museum, Michigan State University, East Lansing

FEB. 3-27
"Produce for Victory: Posters on the American Home Front, 1941-45," Otsego County Library, Gaylord *

MARCH 8-APRIL 25
"Produce for Victory: Posters on the American Home Front, 1941-45," Carnegie Center Council for the Arts, Three Rivers *

OPENING IN APRIL
"Arab Americans in Greater Detroit: A Community Between Two Worlds," Detroit Historical Museum, Detroit *

OPEN APRIL 19
"To Honor and Comfort: Native Quilting Traditions," MSU Museum, Michigan State University, East Lansing

The Michigan Humanities Council has received notice of the following humanities activities scheduled at educational and cultural institutions in Michigan for the dates shown. Readers are encouraged to confirm dates, times and locations. (* denotes Council-funded projects.)

JANUARY

Applications for "Collaborative Projects in Communities" grants are reviewed twice annually; deadlines are April 15 and September 1. The next Mini Grant deadline is January 15 for funding of up to $3,000.

From Our Website: Scholars, Links, Calendar

Need an academic speaker for a live program or a resource person from a humanities discipline to assist a project? Check the listings in nearly four dozen humanities topic categories in the Scholar's Directory now available on-line at the Michigan Humanities Council website. Disciplines range from comparative religions to Michigan history and linguistics and language to ethnic and gender studies.

Are you a scholar interested in connecting with community organizations and projects and sharing your expertise? Submit your credentials on-line for inclusion in the Scholar's Directory or contact Suzanne Kyes, program officer, in the Lansing office for more information.

Some Electronic Links: Organizations seeking ideas for celebrating Women's History Month in March can check out resources offered through the website of the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame http://atl46.atl.msu.edu/mwsa/.

Another source for Michigan history is the website of the Clarke Historical Library at Central Michigan University http://www.lib.cmich.edu/clarke, which last fall began scanning documents about Michigan's past for distribution as part of a special Internet project to make available county histories and to create historical lesson materials for K-12 students.

Lawrence Technological University in Southfield has put its "Diversity in the New Urban Landscape" program on-line at http://www.ltu.edu/hosted_sites/diversity/index.htm to share some of the rich cultural material from its 13-lecture series with Internet users.

Interested in the dates of humanities and arts events in your region or in getting the word out about your own organization's cultural activities? Get on-line and consult the Humanities and Arts Calendar on the Council's website. You'll find it at http://mihumanities.h-net.msu.edu/mhawww.html -- and when you do, you'll have an opportunity to submit your organization's calendar dates for use in the listing for your area of the state. It's an easy process, too.

Simply go to the site's address and follow the directions on the opening page to "Submit" materials. Once on the "submit" page, you'll find an easy-to-use template which requests the information needed for a calendar listing: the name of the event, date(s), location, times, admission fees (if any), a brief description of activities and the contact name and telephone number where additional information is available. If you have a website, please include that address as well.

If you're not on-line but want your group's events listed on the statewide web calendar, please send the same information to the Council's Lansing office (119 Pere Marquette Dr. #3B, Lansing 48912-1270). For more information on calendar submissions, contact Nancy Mathews, public affairs officer, at 906/789-9471 or by e-mail at paomihum@voyager.net.

New Booklet Offers Program Planning Tips

The experiences of two regional humanities councils in Michigan in developing public humanities programs in urban and rural communities has been captured in a new publication, Developing Humanities Programs for Your Community, which is now available from the Council's office. Copies will also be distributed at the Feb. 5 grant writing workshop in Flint.

The free booklet, written and produced by the Council in partnership with the Grand Rapids Council for the Humanities and the Humanities Council of West Central Michigan, based in Big Rapids, offers suggestions, resources, examples and how-to advice for carrying out high-quality humanities activities and getting the public involved.

Grant Workshop in Flint Feb. 5

The annual winter Grant Writing Workshop has been scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 5, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Flint Public Library in the Flint Cultural Center. The workshop will take place in conjunction with the winter planning meeting of the Michigan Humanities Council in Flint.

The workshop for potential Mini Grant and "Collaborative Projects in Communities" funding applicants outlines the Council's current program focus and guidelines for grant support and acquaints them with the application process. Mini Grants offer up to $3,000 for organizations seeking to develop humanities programs on miscellaneous topics; "Collaborative Projects" grants of up to $12,000 support partnership projects that explore community issues and concerns through the disciplines of the humanities. Deadlines for these grantlines are: Jan. 15 and June 15 for Mini Grants and April 15 and Sept. 1 for "Collaborative Projects" grants.

For applications and to reserve a spot at the Feb. 5 workshop, contact the Council's Lansing office at 800/837-4532 or by e-mail at mihum@voyager.net and provide your name and your organization's name, address, telephone number and the number and names of persons planning to attend the workshop.

'Native Peoples' Culture Kits Ready Soon

An early spring debut is expected for the latest of the Council's popular Culture Kits -- "Native Peoples: Indians of the Great Lakes." A core team of six teachers and resource persons led by Assistant Director LuAnn Kern and an advisory committee of 19 special consultants from throughout the state have been involved in developing and researching the Native American cultures of the region for the past 12 months to produce the kits.

The kits' curricular materials for use in K-6 classrooms and with grades 7-12 include information on the history, geography, language, literature, family life and customs, art, music, dance and food traditions of the Ojibway, Ottawa and Potowatomi peoples who live in the region. Following the introduction of the new kits, a series of regional teacher training workshops will be developed to promote awareness and proper use of the kit materials.

Core team members include Frank Ettawageshik of Harbor Springs, Patrick LeBeau of Michigan State University, Pamela Martell of East Lansing, Patti Graves Wesolosky of Rochester Hills Public Schools and Cindy Scarlett of Okemos Public Schools.

The four existing culture kit units for African, African-American, Hispanic and Middle Eastern cultures have been displayed at the National Council for the Social Studies annual conference in Cincinnati as well as for local school groups in Michigan. Upcoming education conferences where the kits will be available for viewing include the Michigan Council for the Social Studies session Feb. 26-27 in Grand Rapids and the Michigan Association of Middle School Educators meeting March 12-13 in Clinton Township.

Another SITES Exhibit to Tour in 1999

The Michigan Humanities Council is one of three state councils selected to host a Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) exhibit, "Barn Again: Celebrating an American Icon" in 1999. The exhibit is a smaller version of a SITES "Barn Again" traveling display which explores the barn as both a cultural and agricultural entity, highlighting its roles as a functional architectural structure, community symbol and template of rural traditions.

Similar in nature to SITES' "Produce for Victory: Posters on the American Home Front, 1941-45" which is now circulating among six communities in Michigan with Council support, "Barn Again" will travel in the state to select sites during 1999. Accompanying the display panels and original objects will be educational materials which help interpret the special values which these monuments on the American landscape represent.

For more information on the process the Council will use to determine sites on the Michigan tour of "Barn Again," contact Assistant Director LuAnn Kern in the Lansing office.

Home Front Poster Exhibit Continues at Four Sites

Two of six selected communities have hosted exhibit runs and created programming as part of the 1997-98 tour of "Produce for Victory: Posters on the American Home Front, 1945-41," sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and the Michigan Humanities Council.

The William Bonifas Fine Arts Center in Escanaba and the Tri-Cities Museum of Grand Haven hosted the exhibit last fall and developed school and community activities about their local regions' wartime contributions in support of the exhibit's visit. Both communities tapped the archives of local businesses and industries to show their efforts to retool to produce armaments and other war-related products; youngsters in area schools also were given insights into World War II activities on the home front with special curriculum lessons on the war years.

In Escanaba, activities ranged from a 1940s fashion show and recreation of a USO dance to presentations on the Upper Peninsula's regional contributions to the war effort and an oral history process that school teachers could use to help their students learn more about the war era. In Grand Haven, writing and poster contests were tied to the appearance of the exhibit and WW II period artifacts and posters were displayed in public buildings around the community.

"Produce for Victory" is at the Alpena County Library in Alpena Jan. 5-31 before moving on to the Otsego County Library in Gaylord for a Feb. 3-27 showing. From there, it will be on display March 8-April 25 at the Carnegie Center Council for the Arts in Three Rivers before its concluding stop in Port Huron at the Port Huron Museum May 2-June 28.

News From Our Projects:

Two Council-funded lecture series on ethnic culture wrap up this season in metropolitan Detroit.

As part of "Diversity in the New Urban Landscape" lectures at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, the last four of 13 noon-hour lecture programs will take place Jan. 20 and 27 on "Ikebana and Japanese Culture" and "Lao-Hmong People in the U.S.," respectively, and Feb. 3 and 10 on "Diversity in the Public Schools" and "The Holocaust: A Human Experience." For more information about the free lectures, contact project directors John Recchiuti or William Sverdlik at 248/204-3500.

At the Museum of African American History, Plowshares Theatre Company will present the last two of five programs in its "The African American Image: Lessons for the Next Millennium" series. On Feb. 14, the topic will be "Sankofa: The Significant Bond between African Americans and Their Ancestral Traditions." The concluding lecture on March 28 will be "Family Ties: An Afrocentric View of the Family." Both programs begin at 10 a.m.; registration fee is $5 per lecture. Contact the museum at 313/494-5800 for more information.

Now available: cassette recordings from half-hour dramatizations that received Council funding and first aired on National Public Radio in the "Scribbling Women" series that highlight women writers' contributions to the American literary scene. Five double-sided cassettes with radio plays of works by 10 women authors are part of a multi-media education kit for student audiences now available through the Public Media Foundation for $125 per kit. A study guide includes ideas for classroom discussion activities as well as historical and literary background about each writer and her work. For more information, contact the PMF at 100 Boylston St., Suite 230, Boston MA 02116 or call 617/357-5835. Kits are also available for loan from the Council's Resource Center.

"The Birth of A Dance" -- a documentary look at the creation and performance of a new dance work -- aired in November on WGVU-TV 35 and WGUK-TV 52 public television stations in west Michigan, featuring Wellspring/Cori Terry and Dancers of Kalamazoo. The project was funded by the Council last June.

A community-wide celebration has been underway in Grand Rapids as cultural and educational institutions welcome the exhibit of the works of "Perugino: Master of the Italian Renaissance," which is on display at the Grand Rapids Art Museum through Feb. 1. Under the banner of "The Grand Renaissance: Celebration of Art, Culture, Growth," these organizations have organized three months of lectures, musical programs, displays and other events to examine all things Italian through the community's ties to its sister city and the artist's birthplace, Perugia, Italy. They have joined with the Grand Rapids/Kent County Convention and Visitors Bureau to promote the package to the broader community outside Grand Rapids. The exhibit at the center of the celebration features the unprecedented loan of nine works from the Galleria Nazionale dell' Umbria in Perugia; Grand Rapids is the only United States venue for the exhibit.

Conference to Link Culture, Tourism Efforts

The Michigan Museums Association will host a one-day conference April 23 in the Flint Cultural Center to bring together representatives of the state's cultural and tourism communities to think creatively about cultural tourism initiatives for Michigan.

The conference and a series of regional follow-up meetings are a part of a package of activities, funded with an Institute for Museum and Library Services grant, that includes establishing of a statewide cultural tourism informational network and creating a "how-to" manual to assist community collaborations between cultural and tourism partners. Action agendas developed at the conference will be tracked as part of the ongoing project.

For more information about the MMA cultural tourism conference, contact project director Tamara Real at 734/677-8288 or by e-mail at getreal@pobox.com.

On the Cover A special Michigan preview screening of "Porgy and Bess: An American Voice," a documentary examination of the American opera, will take place Jan. 25 at 7 p.m. in the Michigan Theatre in Ann Arbor. A question and answer session will follow with the film's producer, James A. Standifer, professor of music at the University of Michigan. The 90-minute program airs nationally Feb. 4 as part of the Public Broadcasting Service "Great Performances Series." The November-December issue of Humanities magazine features a cultural and historical examination of the opera and the controversy that has surrounded this contemporary work on the American music scene. The PBS documentary was funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Michigan Humanities Council and Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs as well as The Ford Foundation.

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