2013-2014
OPERA
SEASON
SING L ON SAE TICKETS LE NO W!
Richard Wagner
Giuseppe Verdi
William Bolcom
Giacomo Puccini
October 19-27, 2013
November 16-24, 2013
April 5-13, 2014
May 10-18, 2014
Free Opera Talk, featuring Dr. Wallace Peace, one hour prior to performance
TICKETS AND PRE-PAID PARKING CALL 313.237.SING or visit michiganopera.org
The 2013 Fall Opera Season is made possible by Ford Motor Company
General Motors Foundation supports Michigan Opera Theatre
Michigan Opera Theatre presents The 26th annual Opera Ball A Fantastic Voyage Saturday October 12, 2013 For reservations and sponsorship opportunities: 313.237.3425 or hhamilton@motopera.org
FALL 2013
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MICHIGAN FALL ARTS PREVIEW
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ARTWALK ANN ARBOR INVITES ART LOVERS TO FALL OUTING
CONTENTS
Our 50+ picks for this fall’s high-quality exhibitions, installments, plays, musical performances and more!
Artwalk Ann Arbor is back! Saturday, October 26 from Noon to 6pm.
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MICHIGAN MUSEUMS CARVING OUT A NICHE
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EDGEFEST 2013: KEYS TO THE EDGEDOM
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FALL FOLIAGE AT ITS FINEST
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VELLUM RESTAURANT
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ART NEWS
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Some of the best, small, “niche” museums are right here in southeastern Michigan.
KCH presents its 17th annual avant-garde jazz and creative new music festival.
Stunning fall hikes in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
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Ann Arbor’s answer to the “big city” restaurant - a classic culinary and modern visual experience. What’s new on the scene. Your comprehensive guide to this fall’s Visual Arts, rts, and
ON THE COVER
Male/Female, 2001, Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Gifts of Fred and Lena Meijer © Jonathan Borofsky. Photo by William J. Hebert.
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ART SHOWCASE MAGAZINE • FALL 2013
a japanese restaurant
PUBLISHER Jonathan E. Himlin
Liberty near Main 734-929-2271 www.kuroshiorestaurant.com
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Rory Russell CONTRIBUTORS Nicole Rupersburg Sandra Xenakis, Writer ADVERTISING 734.904.5904 Rory@ArtShowcaseMagazine.com CALENDAR SUBMISSIONS Calendar@ArtShowcaseMagazine.com WEBSITE www.ArtShowcaseMagazine.com SOCIAL MEDIA www.facebook.com/ArtShowcaseMag
Art Showcase Magazine is Southeastern Michigan’s premier print resource for fine entertainment in the arts. Our mission is to cultivate among our readers enhanced support, awareness and accessibility to local high art and culture. We help our readers to maximize the enjoyment they find in the arts, and we assist them in pairing their lifestyle interests with local arts opportunities. Opinions of contributors are not necessarily those of the publisher. Reproduction in whole or in part of any text, photographs, or illustrations without written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited.
ART SHOWCASE MAGAZINE is published by: Vanilla Roasted Gnocchi with Fried Kabocha, Sage + Candied Bacon
Lion Tree Communications Printed in the U.S.A. Copyright 2013, Art Showcase Magazine All rights reserved. PLEASE RECYCLE
“This dish is a very simple expression of what autumn means to our kitchen. Simple, warming, aromatic, and honest. Kabocha squash is the true focus of the dishes’ flavor and the rest of the ingredients are more of a supporting cast, and the gnocchi is more of the stage. The colors of the dish are all very fall and natural, no bright oils or purees, nature has done all the work for us. Fall is our favorite time to cook, because there is a perfect marriage of technique driven dishes and naturally occuring beautiful dishes. The work between the chef and the ingredient is completely 50/50 which allows for the best possible outcome.” FranK FeJeran - execuTive cheF www.theravensclub.com | 734.214.0400 | 207 S. Main Street Ann Arbor -- Open for Dinner Monday-Sunday
FALL 2013 • ART SHOWCASE MAGAZINE
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MICHIGAN FALL ARTS PREVIEW
50+ THINGS
YOU SHOULDN’T MISS THIS FALL Fall in Michigan--for many of us this is our favorite time of year. The summer heat has given way to sweater weather; green leaves are now painted with fiery yellows, oranges and reds; the kids are finally back in school, and holiday planning is afoot. In the midst of all this, the fall arts season is just starting to heat up, offering an abundance of highquality exhibitions, installments, plays and musical performances that will please your artistic palate. And while we may not have the pages necessary to adorn with each and every one of these entertaining occasions, we have collected our selections for 50 such events that we think you will enjoy.
Male/Female, 2001, Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Gifts of Fred and Lena Meijer © Jonathan Borofsky. Photo by William J. Hebert.
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VISUAL ARTS
DIA | Oct 6 -Jan 5 WATCH ME MOVE: THE ANIMATION SHOW Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Ave., Detroit www.dia.org The most extensive animation show ever mounted, featuring both iconic moments and lesser-known masterpieces from the last 150 years. ELI AND EDYTHE BROAD ART MUSEUM | Thru Dec 1 THE GENRES: PORTRAITURE, FEATURING HOPE GANGLOFF E Circle Dr., East Lansing (517) 884-3900 www.broadmuseum.msu.edu Hope Gangloff’s paintings of Brooklyn bohemians, primarily her friends caught seemingly unaware in moments of leisure, borrow heavily from late 19th- and early 20th-century expressionists – Van Gogh, Egon Schiele, Gustave Klimt, Suzanne Valadon – creating a sympathetic link between the historic avant-garde and postpostmodern hipsterism. FLINT INSTITUTE OF ARTS | Oct 12 - Dec 30 TOULOUSE-LAUTREC & HIS WORLD Flint Institute of Arts, 120 East Kearsley St., Flint 810.234.1695 www.flintarts.org Curated at the Herakleidon Museum, in Athens, Greece, this exhibition showcases works rarely seen outside of Europe, with the Flint Institute of Arts being the only Midwestern venue to present this collection. The exhibition features a rare collection of 150 original works on paper, including a number of Toulouse-Lautrec’s posters and sketches of famous actors and singers, as well as his friends and working-class Parisians. FREDERIK MEIJER GARDENS AND SCULPTURE PARK “CHRYSANTHEMUMS AND MORE!” | Thru Oct 27 This exhibition, the largest of its kind in Michigan, features expansive displays of chrysanthemums, fall foliage and family-friendly activities. ADOLPH GOTTLIEB: SCULPTOR | Thru Jan 5 525 S. State St., Ann Arbor 734-764-0395 www.umma.umich. edu One of the founding members of the Abstract Expressionists, Adolph Gottlieb was an important presence in the artistic life of New York from the 1930s until his death in 1974. His paintings, consisting of large images that evoke a universal language of symbols, have become icons in America painting.
BERNAR VENET | Thru Oct 2014 1000 East Beltline Ave., NE, Grand Rapids 888-957-1580 www.meijergardens.org Demonstrating his iconic work in steel, five of revolutionary sculptor Venet’s larg tures are installed outdoors. GRAND RAPIDS ART MUSEUM | Oct 20-Jan 12 MASTERPIECES OF AMERICAN LANDSCAPE PAINTING 1820-1950 101 Monroe Center Albert Bierstadt, The Buffalo Trail, about 1867. Oil on canvas. NW, Grand Rapids Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Gift of Martha C. Karolik for the M. and M. Karolik Collection of American Paintings, 1815616-831-1000 1865, 47.1268. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. www.artmuseumgr.org This major exhibition from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is a rare opportunity to see how America’s vast natural beauty and landmarks have inspired some of the nation’s most admired artists, from Winslow Homer to Georgia O’Keeffe. This extraordinary collection of 48 paintings, spanning the Romanticism of the early 1800s to the Modernism of the 1940s, traces how great artists have used landscape imagery to celebrate the beauty of nature and capture its essential role in the American experience. THE TOLEDO MUSEUM OF ART | Thru Jan 1 FRESH IMPRESSIONS: EARLY MODERN JAPANESE PRINTS 2445 Monroe St., one block off I-75, Toledo 419.255.8000 www.toledomuseum.org In 1930, the Toledo Museum of Art held an exhibition considered to be a touchstone of the early-20th century Japanese shin hanga movement, which revived the traditional woodblock print for the modern era. The historic exhibition has Kawase Hasui (Japanese, 1883–1957), Kamino Hashi, Bridge Over the Fukagawa (Fukagawa been reassembled for a Kamino Hashi), from the series Twelve Subjects rare opportunity to view 343 of Tokyo (Tokyo, Ju-ni Dai), Summer 1920. Color woodblock print. Gift of Hubert D. Bennett, 1939.113 landmark prints in full color. Canady Gallery. Free admission. U-M MUSEUM OF ART (UMMA) | Thru Dec 1 BRETT WESTON LANDSCAPES 525 S. State St., Ann Arbor 734-764-0395 www.umma.umich.edu Brett Weston (1911–1993) is one of the iconic photographers of the 20th century. The son of pioneer photographer, Edward Weston, he received his first camera as a teenager and began photographing in Mexico, where he was traveling with his father. He created a body of work that does not stand in the shadow of his famous father but asserts its own dynamic aesthetic.
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MICHIGAN FALL ARTS PREVIEW
GALLERIES/EVENTS GRACEANN WARN | Oct 12 - Dec 1 Reception: Sat Oct 12, 5-8pm Artist talk: Sat Nov 16, 2pm River Gallery Fine Art, 120 S. Main St., Chelsea. 734.433.0826 www.chelsearivergallery.com New body of work from Ann Arbor’s nationally recognized painter and assemblage artist. PEWABIC POTTERY: EARTHLY TREASURES | Nov 8-Dec 30 Special Preview Party: Thurs. Nov 7, 6-8pm 10125 E Jefferson, Detroit 313.626.2000 www.pewabic.org Unique holiday gifts by over 100 ceramic artists at the historic pottery. MARY SIBANDE | Thru Nov 8 UM Institute for the Humanities Gallery, 202 S. Thayer, Ann Arbor 734.936.3518 www.lsa. umich.edu/humanities Rising young South African artist Mary Sibande constructs elaborate visual narratives to consider race, gender, and class in post-colonial South Africa. Rooted in her own family’s history of three generations of women as domestic servants, Sibande’s larger-than-life figures clothed in yards of fabric confront the viewer with the stark limits of cultural heritage as well as the possibility of transformation. EMBED: SHIRLEY WHITE-BLACK | Thru Nov 16 Clay Gallery, 335 Main Street, Ann Arbor 734.662.7927 www.claygallery.org This exhibition references forms, images, ideas and inspirations imbedded in the artist’s aesthetic memory by combining new ceramic forms with pre-used manufactured fragments, images from graffiti, photo shoots and earlier work. ANNUAL ALL-MEDIA EXHIBITION | Thru Nov 17 The Ann Arbor Art Center, 117 W. Liberty St., Ann Arbor 734.994.8004 www.annarborartcenter.org. The 91st juried exhibition showcasing new and emerging artists throughout Michigan. 25th ANNUAL HANDSPINNERS’ HOLIDAY FAIR | Nov 30 Matthaei Botanical Gardens, 1800 North Dixboro Road, Ann Arbor Info: Carol Knox, 734.475.7922 The Spinner’s Flock Handspinning Guild offers demonstrations and a sale of handspun yarns, knitted, woven and felted garments, hats, purses, jewelry, toys, dolls, ornaments and felted wall hangings. Free admission. Sat. 10-4. Wheelchair accessible.
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DANCING DOG GALLERY: MOLLY INDURA | Thru Nov 30 302 E. Liberty, Ann Arbor 734.417.8317 www.DancingDogGallery.biz. The recently opened Dancing Dog Gallery features contemporary, fine art by local award winning artists, it offers a pleasant mix of mediums and styles from paintings, photography, mixed media and collage to sculpture and hand made jewelry. Molly Indura, president of Ann Arbor Women Artists is the current featured artist. She has a sense that life is magical and enjoys exploring and expressing this in her work. ARTWALK ANN ARBOR | Oct 26 | SEE PAGE 15 Saturday, Noon-6 p.m. www.artwalkannarbor.com Experience the diverse artistic offerings downtown Ann Arbor, from the Kerrytown area to Main Street. Art Showcase Magazine presents the Fall Artwalk, a self-guided walking tour featuring art demonstrations and refreshments at over 10 locations. See map in the centerfold of this issue for complete details. GREAT LAKES, SMALL WORKS | Thru Oct 26 Riverside Arts Center, 76 N Huron, Ypsilanti www.riversidearts.org Awards will be given during the reception. All eight Great Lakes states are represented in this year’s exhibit with over 100 pieces of artwork. The exhibit is free and open to the public. VALERIE MANN: THE REAL CINDERELLA DRESS AND OTHER RECENT WORK | Oct 27- Dec 1 Reception: Nov 1, 7-10pm Accomplished work from recycled/repurposed materials. Dec 3-Dec 31 HOLIDAY SHOW Festive collection of large and small artworks. WSG Gallery, 306 S. Main St., Ann Arbor 734.761.2287 www.wsg-art.com ART ON THE FARM | Oct 28 Sun 10-4pm, Lakeview Farm, 12075 Island Lake Rd., Dexter 734.424.4822 www.artonthefarmdexter.com Country setting in and around two majestic barns with more than 30 artists participating. Works in every media from landscape painting to stained glass, from soap and book arts, clothes to jewelry. Food by Pilar’s Tamales and live music in the afternoon. Free admission. No dogs, please.
PERFORMANCE ARTS THE VAST DIFFERENCE | Now thru Dec 14 The Purple Rose Theatre, 137 Park St., Chelsea 734.433.7673 www.purplerosetheatre.org Jeff Daniel’s comedy about a man’s mid-life crisis. Directed by Guy Sanville. A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC | Oct 10-13 & 17 -20 Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre, 911 N University, Ann Arbor. Tickets: 734.764.2538 www.tickets.music.umich.edu A musical by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler. A weekend in the country awakens old and new passions. Presented by UM School of Musical Theatre. FIDDLER ON THE ROOF | Oct 18-20 & 24-27 EMU Quirk Theatre, Ford St. (off Lowell & Jarvis), Ypsilanti. Tickets in advance at emutix.com or 734.487.2282 www.emich,edu/emutheatre The heartwarming 1964 musical, based on Yiddish stories about life in a small Russian Jewish community around 1900. THE FLYING DUTCHMAN | Oct 19-27 Detroit Opera House, 1526 Broadway, Detroit Tickets: 313.237-SING or Ticketmaster www.MichiganOpera.org Michigan Opera Theatre’s 43rd fall season opens with Richard Wagner’s ghostly German opera. The Norwegian coast is the setting for this saga of an ancient sea captain condemned to sail his phantom ship throughout eternity, unless he finds a faithful wife to release the curse. THE UFO SHOW (Unidentified Funny Objects: Scary Clowns) Oct 24 Mix Studio Theatre, 130 W. Michigan Ave., Ypsilanti. 734.985.0875 www.emergentarts.com A variety show that features storytelling, songs, and standup comedy. Prizes for those who come in Halloween costume. Not suitable for children. Thurs at 8pm. MACBETH | Oct 27 Michigan Theater, 603 E. Liberty, Ann Arbor Tickets: 734.764.2538, at the Michigan League, or www.ums.org Taped broadcast of the Manchester’s International Festival’s live production of Shakespeare’s classic tale of a Scottish lord and his ambitious wife. Kenneth Branagh stars in this exceptional offering. Presented by National Theatre Live and UMS. Sun at 7pm.
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MICHIGAN FALL ARTS PREVIEW BLIND SUMMIT | Oct 29-Nov 3 120 E Huron Street, Ann Arbor Tickets: 734.764.2538 www.ums.org. A cantankerous puppet with a cardboard head is having an existential crisis on a table. Epic hilarious puppetry inspired by Beckett, the Bible, and Ikea. Ages 14+ Presented by UMS at the Performance Network.
BALLET PRELJOCAJ: AND THEN ONE THOUSAND YEARS OF PEACE | Nov 1 & 2 Power Center for the Performing Arts, 121 Fletcher St., Ann Arbor Tickets: 734.764.2538 www.ums.org Set to a pulsating soundtrack, the piece combines intricate, edgy action with slow, graceful movement in an ever-evolving dance that reveals our innermost hopes, desires and fears. Fri & Sat, 8pm. DIAVOLO | Nov 2 & 3 Detroit Opera House, 1526 Broadway, Detroit Tickets: 313.237-SING or Ticketmaster www.MichiganOpera.org Internationally renowned for its stunning acrobatics and surrealistic sets, the Los Angeles- based Diavolo has been pushing the boundaries of dance since 1992. Sat at 7:30, Sun at 2:30.
JERRY’S GIRLS | Nov 14-Jan 5 Performance Network Theatre, 120 East Huron St., Ann Arbor 734.663.0681 www.performancenetwork.org The larger than life musical revue of Jerry Herman. Winner of four Tony Awards, Jerry’s music is synonymous with some of Broadway’s biggest hits. Complete with large scale production numbers, tap dancing, and a little bit of drag. Starring Naz Edwards. LA TRAVIATA | Nov 16-24 Detroit Opera House, 1526 Broadway, Detroit. Tickets: 313.237-SING or Ticketmaster. www.MichiganOpera.org By Giuseppe Verdi. Frail Violetta, afflicted with consumption but consumed by love, abandons her life as a courtesan and begins a new one with young Alfredo. Her racy reputation follows her, however, and threatens to ruin the reputation of the nobleman’s family. Will their new love blossom or wilt? La Traviata is the most-performed opera in the world. THREE SISTERS | Nov 21-24 Arthur Miller Theatre, 1226 Murfin Ave., North Campus, Ann Arbor 734.764.2538 www.tickets.music.umich.edu Drama by Anton Chekhov, presented by UM School of Theatre. Three young women yearn to break free from their country life in this wonderful new adaptation by U-M alumna Libby Appel. Thurs 7:30, Fri & Sat at 8, Sun at 2.
MUSIC
MOONGLOW | Nov 7-10 Arthur Miller Theatre, 1226 Murfin Ave., North Campus, Ann Arbor Tickets: 734.971.2228 www.a2ct.org Local playwright Kim Carney’s story about a woman with Alzheimer’s who must navigate her life, as her past becomes more real than the present. A celebration of life and love. Presented by the Ann Arbor Civic Theatre. Directed by Cassie Mann. THE BARBER OF SEVILLE | Nov 14-17 Power Center for the Performing Arts, 121 Fletcher St., Ann Arbor Tickets: 734.764.2538 www.tickets.music.umich.edu. Desperate to be loved for who he is, not what he has, the conniving Count Almaviva is forced to devise disguises and tricks to woo the beautiful Rosina, enlisting the help of a local barber named Figaro. Rossini’s comic masterpiece. Thurs at 8:30, Fri & Sat at 9 & Sun at 2.
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CHRIS THILE | Oct 18 Rackham Auditorium, 915 E Washington St., Ann Arbor Tickets: 734.764.2538 www.ums.org The Grammy-award winning mandolin virtuoso, composer and vocalist encompasses progressive bluegrass, classical, rock, and jazz. Fri 8pm.
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Fall/Winter 2013-2014 Season Presented at the Michigan theater in PartnershiP with
University MUsical society
Shakespeare’s
Othello Oct. 13
Helen Mirren in
The Audience Sept. 8 & 10
Shakespeare’s
Coriolanus Feb. 9
Over 500 events each year - most are free! From orchestras to jazz, solo recitals to lectures, opera, theater, dance, and everything in between. Performances by the students, faculty and guests of the U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance feature something for everyone.
Events hotline 734.764.0583 League Ticket Office 734.764.2538 music.umich.edu
Kenneth Branagh in Shakespeare’s
Macbeth Oct. 27
Advance tickets at UMs.org and at the Michigan League Box Office. For more info, call 734-764-2538.
Ann ArBOr’S dOWntOWn center FOr Fine FilM & perFOrMing ArtS 603 e. liberty • 734-668-time • michtheater.org
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MICHIGAN FALL ARTS PREVIEW
SEE PAGE 22
AUTUMN CELLOBRATION | Oct 19 Michigan Theater, 603 E. Liberty, Ann Arbor Tickets 734.994.4801 or online at www.a2so.com Special guests Julie Albers and Aaron Berofsky join the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra in a lush autumn program featuring Dvorak’s Symphony #7, Bartok’s Two Portraits, and Prokofiev’s Sinfonia concertante. Sat 8pm.
BAND-O-RAMA: THIS IS MICHIGAN | Oct 26 Hill Auditorium, 825 N. University, Ann Arbor Tickets: 734.764.2538 www.music.umich.edu The Concert Band, Symphony Band, and the Michigan Marching Band join to showcase the inspiring tradition of U-M’s band program and our support for Coach Hoke. Don’t miss this “Go Blue!” tradition. Sat 7:30.
EDGEFEST: KEYS TO THE EDGEDOM | Oct 22-26
Kerrytown Concert House, 415 N. 4th Ave., Ann Arbor Tickets: 734.769.2999 www.kerrytownconcerthouse.com The 17th Annual Jazz extravaganza returns. Please check website for line-up and special events. Discover “Fringe at the Edge”, a series of free public performances. ANDRAS SCHIFF: BACH GOLDBERG VARIATIONS | Oct 25 Hill Auditorium, 825 N. University, Ann Arbor Tickets: 734.764.2538 www.ums.org A rare opportunity to journey with one of the great musical artists of our age into the mind of one of history’s most influential and beloved composers. Not to be missed! Fri at 8pm.
THE MANGANIYAR SEDUCTION | Oct 26 & 27 Power Center for the Performing Arts, 121 Fletcher, Ann Arbor Tickets: 734.764.2538 www.ums.org The Manganiyars are desert musicians from Rajasthan. In this bold experiential journey, director Roysten Abel and Can and Abel Theaters of New Delhi create a dazzling union between traditional folk music and the cosmopolitan visual seduction of Amsterdam’s red light district. Arranged in four horizontal rows, one on top of the other, 43 musicians are seated in 36 seated cubicles awash in color and light. A roller coaster that will transport listeners to an unknown world. Sat 8pm, Sun 4pm.
One of the
PREMIER UNIVERSITY ART MUSEUMS
ANNUAL HALLOWEEN CONCERT | Oct 27 Hill Auditorium, 825 N. University, Ann Arbor Reserved Seating $12/$8 Tickets available at the League Ticket Office 734.764.2538 www.music. umich.edu. The University Orchestras come together for this holiday favorite, full of tricks and treats. The concert includes an array of spooky classical music combined with popular Halloween favorites. Get out your scariest costume or come dressed as you are to enjoy this delightful event for the child in all of us. Sun 4 & 7:30pm. NEW COMMA BAROQUE | Nov 2 St Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 306 N Division, Ann Arbor. Tickets: www.academyofearlymusic.org The Academy of Early Music presents this Chicagobased early music ensemble in their “Niech Zyje Polska” ~ Long Live Poland” concert. Sat 8pm.
Visit the UMMA Store! Hours: Mon-Sat,11AM-5PM; Sun, 12-5 PM
university of michigan museum of art 525 South State Street, free admission www.umma.umich.edu
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Visit Ann Arbor’s Shopping District in Kerrytown! vintage • artisan • eco-funky Annual O
of vintagect&o b e r S a le old stuff
Cl o se d N ov em b er
for Holiday 4 & 5 Prep
FOUND
407 N. FIFTH AVE • KERRYTOWN • ANN ARBOR 7 3 4 . 3 0 2 . 3 0 6 0 • F O U N D G A L L E R Y. C O M
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MICHIGAN FALL ARTS PREVIEW APOLLO’S FIRE | Nov 3 Hill Auditorium, 825 N. University, Ann Arbor Tickets: 734.764.2538 www.ums.org Founded in 1992 by harpsicordist and conductor, Jeannette Sorrell, this acclaimed ensemble returns to Hill to perform 5 of the 6 Brandenburg concertos by Bach. “A brilliant and swaggering performance” (The London Times). Sun 4pm.
JAMES BLAKE | Nov 11 Michigan Theater, 603 E. Liberty, Ann Arbor Tickets: 734.764.2538 www.ums.org The London-based electronic musician, singer-songwriter, and producer is a leading figure in the dubstep electronic dance music community. Blake performs music from his critically-acclaimed 2013 album “Overgrown” in his UMS debut. Mon 7:30. UKULELE ORCHESTRA OF GREAT BRITAIN | Nov 12 Michigan Theater, 603 E. Liberty, Ann Arbor Tickets: 734.764.2538 www.ums.org For over 20 years this ensemble has performed to sold-out audiences all over the world. Offers a funny, virtuosic, twanging eclectic musical adventure. Tues 7:30.
BROOKLYN RIDER QUARTET WITH BELA FLECK | Nov 24 Rackham Auditorium, 915 E Washington St., Ann Arbor Tickets: 734.764.2538 www.ums.org A brilliant collaboration with the intrepid, wild repertoire of the string quartet with the legendary banjo virtuoso Fleck. Sun 4pm.
MEASURE FOR MEASURE | Dec 6 St Francis of Assisi Church, 2250 East Stadium Blvd., Ann Arbor Tickets: 734.649-SONG (7664) or www.Measure-for-Measure.org Holiday concert featuring The Singing Men of Ohio University. Fri 7:30pm.
OTHER EVENTS NOSFERATU | Oct 30 Michigan Theater, 603 E. Liberty, Ann Arbor www.michtheater.org. One of the silent era’s most influential masterpieces, Nosferatu‘s eerie, gothic feel — and a chilling performance from Max Shrek as the vampire — set the template for the horror films that followed. With live organ accompaniment! Wed 7pm.
LEON RUSSELL | Nov 19 The Ark, 36 S Main St., Ann Arbor 734.763.8587 www.theark.org Music legend Russell teams up with musician and songwriter David Blake Lynn from Paducah, Kentucky, whose songs highlight his love for country, gospel, bluegrass, oldtime and rockabilly music. Tues 8pm.
KINDLEFEST MARKET & MIDNIGHT MADNESS | Dec 6 Kerrytown Market & Shops, 407 N Fifth Ave., Ann Arbor 734.662.5008 www.kerrytown.com Featuring artisans, farmers and retailers selling their holiday wares plus traditional food, mulled wine and beer. Kerrytown area retail businesses will be open late on this evening as they participate in the festivities, offering special holiday bargains. Fri 6:00-10:00.
WINTER DREAMS | Nov 23 Michigan Theater, 603 E. Liberty, Ann Arbor Tickets 734.994.4801 or online at www.a2so.com The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra performs Tchaikovsky’s seldomheard masterpiece, Symphony No. 1, “Winter Dreams.” Other highlights include Glazunov’s brilliant Violin Concerto and Arvo Pärt’s wintry description of icy woods and coastline in his Fratres. Sat. 8pm.
D.I. YPSI INDIE ART FAIR | Dec 14 & 15 The Corner Brewery, 720 Norris St. Ypsilanti http://diypsiartfair.weebly.com DIYpsi (dip-see)– a handmade art fair featuring the best indie artists our region has to offer. Bring your appetite, and get ready for some incredible food and craft beer while you shop.
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EVENTS
Artwalk Ann Arbor Invites Art Lovers to Fall Outing
Saturday, October 26 from Noon to 6 p.m. Artwalk Ann Arbor invites all art lovers to enjoy a beautiful fall day filled with fine arts and crafts. Artwalk Ann Arbor spans a variety of downtown area art galleries, shops and studios from Kerrytown to Main Street that will welcome all art walkers on Saturday, October 26 from noon to 6 p.m. Art Showcase Magazine and Ann Arbor State Bank have once again teamed up to bring a quality art walk back to the downtown Ann Arbor area. The event hopes to attract art lovers of all ages to enjoy, browse and perhaps purchase art from the participating venues in town, many of which are offering special promotions, sales, refreshments and entertainment to art walkers that day. The inaugural Artwalk Ann Arbor happened in June earlier this year. Organizers hope to hold as many as six such events in 2014. “The fall is a great time to get out and about in beautiful downtown Ann Arbor and shop for art,” says Art Showcase Magazine Publisher Jonathan Himlin, who is helping to organize the event. “It’s also a good time to get a jump on the holiday shopping. And you won’t have to worry about football traffic. We’ve intentionally selected a Saturday afternoon in October without a U of M football game, home or away.” All venues from the last Artwalk Ann Arbor event are participating again, and there will be one new stop–Dancing Dog Gallery at 302 E. Liberty Street.
Top: The Tree of Life at Dancing Dog Gallery Middle: The Clay Gallery Bottom: Tintype portraits at METAL
The recently-opened Dancing Dog Gallery encourages you to “discover art unleashed” and features contemporary, fine art by local, award-winning artists. It offers a pleasant mix of mediums and styles from paintings, photography, mixed media and collage to sculpture and hand-made jewelry. The gallery is owned and managed by eight partners who have
made it their mission to enhance the Ann Arbor art scene while uplifting the community with art and art related events at the gallery. Visit their website at: dancingdoggallery.biz. METAL, at 220 Felch Street, was of the best stops on the artwalk during the summer. Be sure to stop by between noon and 5 p.m. (they close an hour early) to witness the return of Mary Whalen and Robert Shimmin for a little Tintype Portraiture (Halloween style). Portraits will be for sale. Masks or costumes are welcomed. Visit Metal online at: www.metaloffmain.com. Also, Clay Gallery will be in the middle of its wonderful exhibit, EMBED, which runs through November 16. Featuring the art of Shirley WhiteBlack, this exhibition addresses visual story telling with the use of various media. The title EMBED references forms, images, ideas and inspirations embedded in the artist’s aesthetic memory. The resulting work creates fresh allegorical content by combining new ceramic forms with perused manufactured fragments, images from graffiti, photo shoots and more. Visit Clay Gallery online at: www.claygallery. org. Be sure to check pages 16-17 for the official Artwalk Ann Arbor map containing a complete listing of participating artwalk venues and their locations, and visit the online resources at www. artwalkannarbor.com or www.facebook.com/ artwalkannarbor.
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9 8
P
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6 7
P
P
P
P
N WE S artwalk venue 1 METAL | 220 Felch St. | (800) 613-6385 | 12 to 5 p.m.
7 Clay Gallery | 335 S Main St. | (734) 662-7927
2 FOUND | 407 N 5th Ave | (734) 302-3060
8 WSG Gallery | 306 S Main St. | (734) 761-2287
3 16 Hands | 410 N. 4th Ave, 2nd floor | (734) 761-1110
9 Ann Arbor Art Center | 117 W Liberty St. | (734) 994-8004
4 Heavenly Metal | 207 E. Ann St. | (734) 663-4247
10 Margaret Parker Studio | 210 South Ashley St. | (734) 663-1276
5 Selo/Shevel Gallery | 301 S Main St. | (734) 761-6263
11 Dancing Dog Gallery | 302 E. Liberty Street | (734) 531-6565
6 Carol Roeda Studio | 319 S Main St. | (734) 994-3389
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VISUAL ART
MICHIGAN MUSEUMS CARVING OUT A NICHE
Some of the best, small, “niche” museums are right here in Southeastern Michigan by Sandra Xenakis
Joshua Nowicki ©2013
In 1924, Professor Kelsey commissioned Italian artist Maria Barroso to create a replica of the “Villa of the Mysteries.”
When a museum does its job really well, it’s able to connect us to another time, place and people in a very powerful way. We can suddenly walk in our ancestors’ footsteps, hear the sounds they heard, see the world as they saw it. We start to recognize their concerns as our own, showing us the humanity we all share. Some of the best, small, “niche” museums that connect us to the past are right here in Southeastern Michigan. One example is the University of Michigan’s Kelsey Museum of Archaeology (www.lsa.umich.edu/kelsey), which houses a world-famous collection of ancient artifacts from the Mediterranean and Near East. The museum is named for Francis Kelsey, UM professor of Latin from 1889-1927 and an extraordinary collector, archaeologist, and humanitarian. Almost half of the museum’s 100,000 artifacts are objects of daily life excavated by UM archaeologists, at Kelsey’s instigation, in the 1920s and 1930s. The Graeco-Roman site of Karanis, Egypt was occupied between Ptolemaic and Christian times, but a palm fiber sandal from Karanis looks so much like sandals we wear today it’s hard to believe it was created 1,600 years ago. Enoch Peterson, director of the Karanis excavation from 1926-35, wrote: “We have seen the letters these people wrote to one another, the accounts they kept in business transactions, the kinds of food they ate, the grain they planted in their irrigated plots of land, the cloth they wove to make their garments, the wooden boxes in which they stored their treasures, the glass that must have been highly cherished, the pottery that served as common household ware, the toys that delighted the hearts of their children, the lamps that gave such feeble light and so much smoke. . . [They are] revealed to us as a living people in a living town.”
In an adjoining gallery is the Dynastic Egyptian collection, including painted mummy cases and masks, plus the complete mummy of a child from the Roman period in the 1st Century AD. A CT scan of the mummy at the UM Hospital in 2002 revealed a wooden framework used to stabilize the body during embalming, and the fact that the child had six fingers on one hand. Images from the scan were used to construct a virtual 3D image of the body and polymer resin model of the skull. On the second floor of the museum you’ll find the Villa of the Mysteries, magnificent watercolor reproductions of frescoes that adorned the walls of a room in a villa near Pompeii. Covered by several feet of ash during the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD, the frescoes were discovered in 1909 largely undamaged. In 1924, Professor Kelsey commissioned Italian artist Maria Barroso to produce 5/6-size replicas so that Americans could study them. While scholars have hotly debated the meaning of the murals, they are widely thought to depict women engaged in various mystical rites. Other “don’t miss” Kelsey exhibits are a beautiful collection of glass fragments and vessels, early Byzantine and Islamic textiles, a French stone hand axe from 1.5 million to 300,000 BC, and one of the largest collections of Parthian pottery outside of Iraq. In the section of items excavated from Parthian Seleucia is a small collection of gold jewelry showing a blend of Greek and Near Eastern artistry. One gold
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MICHIGAN NICHE MUSEUMS GUIDE A.E. SEAMAN MINERAL MUSEUM > HOUGHTON
1404 E. Sharon Avenue • 906.487.2572 Since its inception in 1902, the A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum has housed one of the premiere crystal collections in North America. www.museum.mtu.edu
AMERICAN MUSEUM OF MAGIC > MARSHALL
107 East Michigan • 269-781-7570 Founded in 1978, the museum contains two floors of artifacts of all the great magicians of the 19th and 20th centuries. www.americanmuseumofmagic.org
ANN ARBOR HANDS-ON MUSEUM > ANN ARBOR
220 East Ann St. • 734-995-5439 Museum for children of all ages, presenting interactive exhibits and education programs to bring science, math and music to life. www.aahom.org
ARAB AMERICAN NATIONAL MUSEUM > DEARBORN
13624 Michigan Avenue • 313-582-2266 The Arab American National Museum documents, preserves and presents the history, culture and contributions of Arab Americans. Art exhibitions, lectures and global music Fridays. An affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. www.arabamericanmuseum.org
CHARLES H. WRIGHT MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY > DETROIT
315 E. Warren Avenue • 313-494-5800 Founded in 1965 and housing over 35,000 artifacts, this 125,000 square foot museum is located in the heart of Midtown Detroit’s Cultural Center. Key to the experience is “And Still We Rise: Our Journey Through African American History and Culture,” the Museum’s 22,000 square foot, interactive core exhibit. www.thewright.org
COBBLESTONE FARM > ANN ARBOR
2781 Packard • 734-994-2928 Mid 19th-century period farm and house. Guided tours, country Christmas, organic farm market. www.cobblestonefarm.org
GREAT LAKES SHIP WRECK MUSEUM > PARADISE
18335 North Whitefish Point Road • 906-635-1742 The museum features top quality exhibits of shipwreck artifacts, artwork, shipwreck models, new exhibits and lifelike mannequins.
HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL CENTER > FARMINGTON HILLS
28123 Orchard Lake Rd. • 248.553.2400 Dedicated to using the lessons of The Holocaust to teach ethical conduct and responsible decision-making. Permanent galleries, lectures, special exhibitions and the new Anne Frank tree exhibit and garden. www.holocaustcenter.org
KELSEY MUSEUM OF ARCHAEOLOGY > ANN ARBOR
434 South State St. • 734.764.9304 The Kelsey’s permanent exhibition includes an Egyptian mummy coffin, magical amulets from the ancient Near East, an array of glass vessels, Greek pottery, Roman sculptures, and a unique large-scale watercolor representation of the famous Villa of the Mysteries murals from ancient Pompeii. Free Admission. www.lsa.umich.edu/kelsey
KEMPF HOUSE MUSEUM > ANN ARBOR
312 South Division Street • 734-994-4898 Trained guides lead you through restored rooms of this historic home built in 1853, including the music studio where the 1877 Steinway Concert Grand Piano remains as it has for over 100 years. www.kempfhousemuseum.org
YPSILANTI AUTOMOTIVE HERITAGE MUSEUM > YPSILANTI
100 E. Cross Street • 734-482-5200 This museum, housed in the last operating Hudson dealership in the world, takes you through the roles that Ypsilanti played in the development of the automobile industry. www.ypsiautoheritage.org
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bracelet (141 BC-226 AD)— a finely crafted mesh of looped chains and transverse bands with terminals set with malachite and garnet— looks so contemporary it could be sold today at Tiffany & Company. Throughout the Kelsey Museum are large pull-out drawers where you can view items up close, under glass. The museum offers special exhibits and activities, including semiannual “Behind the Scenes” events for members. UM archaeologists continue their excavations today in Italy, the Middle East, and Republic of Georgia. Visiting the Holocaust Memorial Center, Zekelman Family Campus (www.holocaustcenter.org) in Farmington Hills engages the imagination in a much different way. Here we are asked to examine the dark side of human events from the past and to ponder how we want to live in the future.
Joshua Nowicki ©2013
The Center building is starkly modern, a soaring structure of metal and glass designed by Neumann Smith & Associates of Southfield. When you enter, the first thing you notice is the wooden boxcar, sitting in an empty room on train tracks over a cobblestone floor. Acquired from the Deutsche Bahn at public auction in 2011, it is one of the few World War II-era boxcars like those that transported Holocaust victims still in existence. The place where it sits, the Henrietta and Alvin Weisberg Gallery, is reminiscent of the Hamburg/Hannover terminal where Henrietta and her sister, Rachel Schwartz, last saw their parents and brothers before being shipped to concentration camps. This is the start of your tour, reflecting the attention to detail and authenticity you’ll find throughout the Center. While you visit the presentations that chronicle the history and culture of the Jewish people, Europe’s descent into Nazism, and the aftermath, you’ll have numerous opportunities to learn the stories of survivors, accessible in print, audio and video. Holocaust survivors are the backbone of the Center. They serve as researchers, lecturers, and docents; they help design and fund the many programs and exhibits, and their personal stories bring history to life in a way you won’t soon forget. While many exhibits are moving or disturbing, one of the most chilling is a wall-sized organization chart of the Nazi Party leadership, resembling nothing so much as a corporation focused on a singular purpose. A wall of screens in “The Abyss” section shows actual newsreels of the Allies liberating the camps, and pull-out drawers offer videos of information on Nazi medical experiments and killing methods. Not all is unrelieved gloom. In a colorful exhibit of Kindertransport Memory Quilts, you can select a quilt, press a button and hear an individual story linked to a series of efforts to transport Jewish refugee children to foster families in Great Britain from 1938-40. The Institute of the Righteous section features individuals who take responsibility by acting in a moral and ethical manner, including many who risked their lives to help save strangers during the Holocaust. As part of its educational outreach, the Center hosts 45,000 school children a year and provides resources and training for teachers. It has one of the largest Holocaust libraries and archives in the U.S., including collections of donated documents, 600 video testimonies of survivors, and more than 400 memory collections of Jewish communities that once existed in Europe, describing the families of those towns in
Free Film at
EMU Student Center Auditorium
Anne Frank Remembered
Tues., Oct. 15 • 7:00
pm
Cosponsored by EMU Jewish Studies
This award-winning documentary tells the story of the Frank family through previously unreleased archival material, contemporary interviews, and reels filmed in the actual locations from Frank’s life. The film, made in association with the Anne Frank House, includes the only known film footage taken of Anne Frank. The film won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1996. For questions, call Lawrence Willim at 248.553.2400, ext. 24
A replica boxcar at the Holocaust Memorial Center.
Did you know the Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus in Farmington Hills, Michigan was honored to have been selected as one of only eleven sites in the United States to receive a sapling from the tree that grew outside Anne Frank’s hiding place? The parent tree has reached the end of its 150-year lifespan, but will live on through saplings planted around the world. Visitors can see and experience the sapling from inside the museum as part of a new exhibit about Anne Frank. www.holocaustcenter.org 248.553.2400
The Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills.
their native tongue. A new and exciting exhibit is coming on September 22. The Holocaust Memorial Center is one of eleven sites in the U.S. selected to plant a sapling from the chestnut tree that grew outside the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. The original tree died recently after 150 years of life. Sites that received saplings had to be located in supportive geographic regions, retain arborists on contract, and promise to educate visitors about the Anne Frank House, which the Center will do through special events and video screens offering virtual tours of the house. “From my favorite spot on the floor,” Anne Frank wrote in her diary, “I look up at the blue sky and the bare chestnut tree, on whose branches little raindrops shine, appearing like silver.”
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PERFORMANCE ART
EDGEFEST 2013: KEYS TO THE EDGEDOM
17th Annual Edgefest at Kerrytown Concert House October 23-26, 2013 KCH presents its 17th annual avantgarde jazz and creative new music festival, Edgefest, with a unifying purpose: to explore new music created by keyboard artists. The piano has played a very specific role in the search for new musical horizons over the last half century, led by musicians such as Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor and Muhal Richard Abrams. Unlike mainstream jazz pianists, these players and those who came after them learned from each other, but eschewed direct imitation, exploring the full sonic and percussive possibilities of the instrument and in some cases using electronic devices and keyboards. The focus on piano also permits us to feature several leading women innovators. The KCH Hamburg Steinway is an ideal instrument for such a theme!
Kerrytown Concert House (KCH) is the house where magic happens in the arts. An intimate 110 seat venue, the historical house’s red door beckons to artists and audience members from around the globe. KCH is home to diverse offerings in every genre and the walls of the house are not only home to music and theatre but also rotating art exhibits. There is always something new to see, hear and experience at the house. Kerrytown Concert House is a non profit organization focused on community engagement and bringing fine artists and audiences together. Kerrytown Concert House is an affordable venue for use by the community, educators, students, and emerging, local, national and international artists. In addition, it is home to the internationally acclaimed festival, Edgefest, as well as a presenter of artists of the highest artistic excellence. KCH is truly the community’s concert house. For more information, please visit www.kerrytownconcerthouse.com.
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In the tradition of Edgefest the roster includes international musicians as well as performers and ensembles from our home community of Southeast Michigan and showcases some of the most celebrated and creative multi-instrumentalists on the scene today. As in past years, Edgefest reaches out beyond the concert hall with Fringe at the Edge performances, public discussions, workshops and school residencies. The community is invited to attend all educational and Fringe events free of charge.
As part of the 10th anniversary of Edgefest in 2006, KCH created a series of free public performance events that took place during the days and early evenings in restaurants, cafés and galleries in downtown Ann Arbor, featuring some of the areas most accomplished creative musicians. The Fringe project, now a festival staple, has been very successful in moving creative and imaginative music making out of the conventional concert hall venue and into public spaces such as bars, restaurants and markets.
Discover FRINGE at the EDGE Pre-Edgefest Fringe Event TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22
8pm – Parker & Thomas Duo at Encore Records - Edgefest Fringe William Parker, bass Kenn Thomas, keyboard
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23
6:30pm – Ban-Maneri Duo and Weed-Filiano Duo Lucian Ban, piano Mat Maneri, viola Tad Weed, piano Ken Filiano, bass 8:30pm Reception/Dinner for sponsors, artists and pass holders held at Fustini’s 9:30pm – William Parker’s “Raining on the Moon” Quintet Eri Yamamoto, piano William Parker, bass/compositions Hamid Drake, drums Rob Brown, alto sax Lewis Barnes, trumpet
This year, the Fringe series will surprise, delight, and educate an audience that might not otherwise have ventured into the concert hall setting of Edgefest. Details of the Fringe events will be announced soon. Past venues have included Argiero’s Restaurant, the sh’AUT space in Braun Court, and Sweetwaters Café in Kerrytown.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24
7pm – Malis-Michalowski-Filiano Trio Mike Malis, piano Piotr Michalowski, reeds Ken Filiano, bass 8pm – Lerner-Filiano-Grassi Trio Marilyn Lerner, piano Ken Filiano, bass Lou Grassi, drums 9pm – Lark Kris Davis, piano Ralph Alessi, trumpet Ingrid Laubrock, tenor saxophone/clarinet Tom Rainey, drums
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25
6pm – TBA - Edgefest Fringe 7pm – Ursel Schlicht and Robert Dick Ursel Schlicht, piano Robert Dick, flute 8pm – Gary Versace Trio Gary Versace, piano Ron Miles, trumpet Matt Wilson, drums 9pm – Connie Crothers with Northwoods Improvisers Mike Carey, tenor sax/ flute/bass clarinet Skeeter Shelton, sax/oboe/bassoon Mike Gilmore, percussion Mike Johnston, wood flute/ bass/percussion Nick Ashton, drums/percussion
Kris Davis of Lark.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26
12pm – Edgefest Parade Led by our Edgefest Artists 2pm – Thollem McDonas with Box Deserter Ensemble and Soar Trio, A Tribute to Faruq Z. Bey Thollem McDonas, piano Skeeter Shelton, saxophone Joel Peterson, bass Michael Carey, sax/flute/bass clarinet Kurt Prisbe, drums Abby Alwin, cello James Cornish, trumpet 4pm – Myra Melford Myra Melford, solo piano 7pm – The Michael Formanek Quartet Michael Formanek, bass Jacob Sacks, piano Dan Weiss, drums Ellery Eskelin, saxophone 8:30pm– Steve Rush Piano Concerto with the University of Michigan Jazz Ensemble at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church Steve Rush, pianist/composer Students from the U of M Jazz Ensemble Ellen Rowe, director 10pm – James Ilgenfritz: Mind Games James Ilgenfritz, bass Denman Maroney, piano Angelika Niescier , alto sax Andrew Drury, drums
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Sugarloaf Mountain, Hogback Mountain, Wetmore Pond & Wetmore Landing, Marquette Downtown Marquette offers the most cosmopolitan lifestyle in the Upper Peninsula with plenty of breweries, farm-to-table restaurants, independently-owned businesses, and a college town vibe. About 20 minutes from downtown Marquette is Sugarloaf Mountain, a former ski resort and now a destination for hikers, wildlife watchers, and view-seekers. There are two ways to climb the half-mile up Sugarloaf Mountain: the easy way and the hard way. The easy way is comprised of a series of wooden steps. The hard way is not. There are three different trails that intersect on Sugarloaf Mountain and lead to different sides of the mountain; if you are starting from any point other than the trailhead at the Sugarloaf parking area and opt for the “difficult” path instead of the clearly-labeled “easy” path with stairs, it is highly advisable that you bring a map and compass. The trail is marked but markers are spread wide and are often difficult to spot. The easy trail is ideal for beginners and families (just be aware there a lot of stairs to climb up and down); the difficult trail for more advanced hikers. At the peak is a large wooden deck with multiple sections for viewing the 360-degree view of Lake Superior, downtown Marquette, and the surrounding forests. The Sugarloaf Mountain parking area is also the trailhead for Wetmore Landing, which offers a relatively easy 1.6-mile trail from the beach and along the Lake Superior shoreline to Little Presque Isle. There are rocks and tree roots, but the path is very clearly marked and there are few obstructions. This is a good trail for beginners and families.
If you’re seeking serious adventure hiking, across County Road 550 from the Sugarloaf Mountain parking area is a smaller lot for the Wetmore Pond and Hogback Mountain trailheads. This onemile trail is a difficult hike – probably the more difficult one in the U.P. – and is only recommended for experienced hikers. It features a 600-foot climb. The trail is largely unmarked and many locals don’t even know about it; follow the Wetmore Pond trail for about a mile, then climb the first large pink feldspar rock outcropping to follow the trail to the right (the Hogback trail continues for another mile). From the summit you will see views of Lake Superior, Wetmore Pond, Sugarloaf Mountain, and Presque Isle.
The Russell and Miriam Grinnell Memorial Nature Sanctuary at Bare Bluff, Keweenaw This is one of the most scenic, most remote, most difficult, and most dangerous hikes in the Upper Peninsula. Bare Bluff is located on the southern shore of the Keweenaw Peninsula near Lac La Belle, rising to a 600-foot peak above water. The Russell and Miriam Grinnell Memorial Nature Sanctuary at Bare Bluff is a three-mile trail loop that climbs up the side of the mountain, often alongside sheer cliffs hundreds of feet above the forest floor and up/down rockslides, to the summit, offering beautiful views of Bete Gris Bay and Beach and the tip of the Keweenaw. To get to the trailhead, you’ll have to drive 2.5 miles down unpaved road, then hike threequarters of a mile to the trailhead. The loop itself is equivalent to a 30-story climb. Many parts of this trail are not clearly marked. This is not recommended for beginner or solo hikers, hikers with physical limitations, or families with small children.
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TRAVEL Chapel Falls and Chapel Rock; Mosquito Falls, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore features 90 miles of trails that run through its 73,000 acres along Lake Superior’s south shoreline. Trails vary in length and difficulty; hikers can go out for a couple of hours or for days at a time with camping gear. The Chapel Basin – Mosquito Beach area of Pictured Rocks offers a number of different trails and scenic sights, among them Chapel Falls, Chapel Rock, Chapel Lake, Spray Falls, Mosquito Beach, and Mosquito Falls. Trails are clearly marked but a map and compass are recommended to navigate the different trails. To get to the trailhead, you have to drive five miles down the all-dirt Chapel Road. At the edge of the parking lot you will find the trailheads for the Mosquito Beach area on the left and the Chapel Rock area on the right. If you follow the left, you will hike through the forest .6 miles to Mosquito Falls, picturesque waterfalls that cascade over shelves of black rock (you can wade in the water). Follow the trail for another 1.6 miles to get to Mosquito Beach. If you follow the trailhead right, you will follow a wide, flat trail 1.3 miles to Chapel Falls, and can go on another 1.8 miles from there to the stunning Chapel Rock, and another 1.6 miles from that point to Spray Falls (this is a full day’s hike if you go all the way to Spray Falls and back). The trails are easy and well-marked, though long. You can also hike the 4.4-mile trail from Mosquito Beach to Chapel Beach, which runs alongside the 200-foot sandstone bluffs on Lake Superior for which Pictured Rocks was named. This is a day hike, as you must first hike to one of the beaches from the trailhead.
Brockway Mountain Audubon Sanctuary, Keweenaw The Brockway Mountain Drive is a scenic drive along the ridge of Brockway Mountain on the Keweenaw Peninsula that takes
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you up 720 feet above the surface of Lake Superior. You can hike the full mountain for a more aggressive hike, or you can drive up to the summit, enjoy the nearly 360-degree views of Lake Superior and undeveloped woodland, then drive back down to the Brockway Mountain Audubon Sanctuary trailhead, which offers a moderate hike through the woods on the mountain. There are a few steep inclines with loose footing, but it is otherwise a relatively easy and clearly-marked trail. Suitable for beginners.
The Bertha Daubendiek Memorial Trail, Keweenaw Located on the Keweenaw Peninsula just outside of Copper Harbor, the Bertha Daubendiek Memorial Trail is located in the 508-acre Estivant Pines Wilderness Nature Sanctuary. Some of these pines are over 600 years old and represent some of the last-remaining old growth virgin white pines in the Midwest. The trees are between 130 and 150 feet tall and take three people to wrap around the girth of their trunks. Two different trail loops run through this living museum: the 1.2-mile Memorial Grove trail and the one-mile Cathedral Grove trail. Both are well-marked, pleasant hikes good for beginners and children, just be sure not to trip over the tree roots (of which there are many). Much of the trails are covered in boards, creating a “foot bridge” through the forest. These trails are also home to some 85 bird species for bird-watchers.
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CULINARY ART
VELLUM
Ann Arbor’s answer to the “big city” restaurant - a classic culinary and modern visual experience By Nicole Rupersburg
You’ve heard the old adage “image is everything.” At Vellum in downtown Ann Arbor, image really is everything. From the sleek copper bar to the plush chocolate booths, the vintage typewriters and the culinary books on a bookshelf in the back, this place takes its own image very seriously. Which won’t come as any kind of surprise once you see proprietor chef Peter Roumanis. Dressed effortlessly in a fashionable blazer and jeans, Roumanis looks impeccable, perfectly reflecting the image he works so hard to achieve at Vellum in his appearance and demeanor. Vellum, which opened early 2013, is what he calls “an American restaurant.” “I wanted to do a concept that really made sense for the time and the region, the part of the world we’re in,” he says. “I’m always interested in using traditional and modern food preparations in the kitchen. Now we’re finally starting to speak with our customers and learn what they really want and what makes sense for them, [which is this] modern American style.” The menu is certainly inspired by different cuisines and preparation styles from all over the world, but doesn’t specifically identify with any particular one of them. And that is what makes it wholly American. Roumanis lived in Greece as a child and has been cooking in his family’s restaurants his whole life. (His father, John Roumanis, owns Ann Arbor’s Mediterrano and Carlyle Grill.) He attended the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University, but his focus has always been on western European food where he learned most of his craft when he was sent to Paris at the age of 16 to work under celebrated French chef Jean-Paul Vrinat. Before moving back home to Ann Arbor to work on opening Vellum, Roumanis was managing Del Posto, the renowned Mario Batali-owned Italian restaurant in Manhattan, where he had been living for six years. In 2011 he got a call from his dad telling him that there was a really nice building in downtown Ann Arbor that was vacant. Roumanis flew out, saw the building, and thought, “This would be a really great spot to do a restaurant.” A year and a half later, Vellum opened for business, a partnership between father and son. “It was a natural progression for my career,” he says. He also says that it made sense for him to open his first venture back home and close to his family. His idea with Vellum was to create a space that serves the community. “It’s a spot for people to go on a regular basis,” he says. “It might be the jewel throughout their week. At the same time we want to delight and surprise them and show them new and interesting things in the food world.”
Photo by Sarah Sherman
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He feels Vellum has helped elevate the food scene in Ann Arbor and shown other restaurants that have long played it safe that they can take more risks and customers will respond positively and appreciate it. “We’ve pushed the limits in such a way that people really feel they can push them in their own restaurants and be a bit more adventurous with their guests,” he says. “It has restored a lot of restaurateurs’ faith that they can take it farther and [customers will] delight in that. People feel they can be a bit more on the cusp of things. The goal here is not to be a replica of a restaurant in a big city, but also show them we can be kind of modern [here in Ann Arbor].”
VELLUM RESTAURANT Roumanis says that they take all of their departments very seriously, from the décor and dining to every aspect of the drinks, which contribute just as much to the eclectic character of the menu. “We have one of the biggest inventories of wine in the city,” he says. Vellum was just awarded the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for their extensively and exquisitely curated wine list – one of only two restaurants in Ann Arbor to receive the prestigious award. The bar is another highlight. Head bartender Will Fink, classically trained in the art of cocktails in Chicago, has taken the lead on the cocktail program. Roumanis sent him to London to learn from the best bartenders there and does “these beautiful kinds of riffs and versions of traditional cocktails.” During happy hour, 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. seven days a week, you can order classic cocktails that came from the cocktail menu at the Waldorff Astoria at the turn of the century for only $5. This is their nod to the history of the craft cocktails. Their standard cocktail menu features all their own creations. They also pay special attention to their coffee and tea program, which is too often an afterthought at many other restaurants. They get coffee from highly-respected American roasters like Counter Culture, Intelligentsia, Blue Bottle, even Detroit’s Anthology Coffee. “It’s something we’re really proud of,” he says. “Not many places take the time to maintain a coffee program.”
Photo by Nicole Rupersburg
The menu features items that are thoughtfully prepared and plated yet still approachable, written out deceptively simply on the menu. While they do source locally, Roumanis doesn’t broadcast this. “I believe in local, in organic, but not as a marketing tool,” he says. “That’s what happens inherently.” That being said, he gets greens from Werp Farms, pork from Gunthrope Farms, and “beautiful” Michigan lamb from Bob Sparrow of Ann Arbor’s Sparrow Meats. And, again, image is everything. At Vellum presentation, right down to the plates, is key. “The visual element is for the
aesthetic value but also so people can stop and think, ‘Wow, this person put in the effort to make this a beautiful dish.’ This is the moment in their day they can turn off their phones, enjoy good food and cocktails, and that visual element is just a reminder of that.” The concept seems to have broad appeal. At Vellum you’ll find students and older professionals, guys with tattoo sleeves sitting next to people dressed in their finest about to attend the theatre. “That’s the epitome of Ann Arbor for you,” Roumanis says. And that’s what makes Vellum an Ann Arbor restaurant.
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They are also starting to grow fresh herbs in house to serve with their tea, including 3-4 types of mints and lemon verbena snipped from the plants to order. “Every single thing we think about so intimately,” Peter says. “We only want to dig deeper. We take that idea of craftsmanship and try to translate it to every industry we can, [right down to] the types of cups we buy, to create this holistic and utterly Ann Arbor experience.”
“We only want to dig deeper. We take that idea of craftsmanship and try to translate it to every industry we can, [right down to] the types of cups we buy.” Peter Roumanis, Proprietor Chef Photo by Sarah Sherman
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ART NEWS
Introducing boundedition: ArtPrize 2013 Winners www.artprize.org Ann Loveless of Frankfort, Michigan is the 2013 Public Vote Grand Prize winner at ArtPrize, Grand Rapids’ annual open, international art competition, which features the world’s largest art prize. Loveless takes home $200,000 for the win. Her winning piece, entitled Sleeping Bear Dune Lakeshore, is a series of four individual five-by-five-foot quilt panels, which together provide a panoramic image of the beach at this most famous Western Michigan coastline. The piece was displayed inside the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum. In all, almost 50,000 people cast nearly half a million votes at the 19-day event in crowning Sleeping Bear Dune Lakeshore the winner among more than 1,500 works of art, which were all displayed in public spaces and venues throughout the Grand Rapids area. Last year the event added juried prize categories, and this year has awarded that grand prize of $100,000 to Carlos Bunga of Barcelona, Spain.
ARTPRIZE 2013 TOP 10
1. “Sleeping Bear Dune Lakeshore,” by Ann Loveless of Frankfort, Michigan. Venue: Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum. Prize: $200,000 2. “Polar Expressed,” by Anni Crouter of Flint, Michigan. Venue: Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum. Prize: $75,000 3. “UPlifting,” by Andy Sacksteder of Port Clinton, Ohio Venue: Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum. Winnings: $50,000 4. “Dancing with Mother Nature,” by Paul Baliker of Palm Coast, Florida. Venue: Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum. Prize: $5,000 5. “Botanical Exotica a Monumental Collection of the Rare and beautiful,” by Jason Gamrath of Seattle, Washington. Venue: Grand Rapids Art Museum. Prize: $5,000
6. “Earth Giant,” by Benjamin Gazsi of Morgantown, West Virginia. Venue: Grand Rapids Public Museum. Prize: $5,000 7. “Myth-or-Logic,” by Robin Protz of New Hartford, Connecticut. Venue: Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. Prize: $5,000 8. “Finding Beauty in Bad Things: Porcelain Vine,” by Fraser Smith of St. Pete Beach, Florida. Venue: DeVos Place. Prize: $5,000
Boundedition is a community book arts center offering classes in the art of bookbinding, letterpress and printmaking in a vibrant open studio environment. From letterpress to laser cutting, boundedition provides avenues for creative expression and collaboration among a rich variety of artists, printmakers, craftsmen, designers and other folks who are passionate about exploring book and paper arts and trades.
Located on the south side of Ann Arbor near the new Costco, boundedition’s letterpress studio is managed by printmaker Jim Horton, who will be on hand to train and assist members. The studio features a range of vintage letterpresses and printing equipment, as well as traditional printmaking presses and equipment. Book artist Barbara Brown will lead the boundedition bookbinding program, sharing her expertise in alternative constructions, artist’s books, and bringing in guest instructors to inspire and educate. Kerrytown bookseller Gene Alloway offers experienced perspectives on book history, collecting and all things bibliophile. Our mission is to empower the community to excel in the book, printmaking, and paper arts and trades. We are a member-based community resource for the preservation, practice and expansion of the book, printmaking, and paper arts and trades through education, collaboration and creative exploration. The boundedition Studio is located at 3765 Plaza Drive in Ann Arbor. Contact the studio at: www.boundedition.com and 734.545.8785.
Sunday Artisan Market Holiday Offerings The Sunday Artisan Market offers an abundance of items that could be perfect for holiday gift ideas. All of the items sold at The Sunday Artisan Market are handmade and designed by the artisans you see in the booths.
9. “Taking Flight,” by Michael Gard of San Francisco, California. Venue: DeVos Place. Prize: $5,000 10. “Tired Pandas,” by Nick Jakubiak of Battle Creek, Michigan. Venue: The B.O.B. Prize: $5,000
The Sunday Artisan Market takes place at the Kerrytown shopping district of Ann Arbor every Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. through the Sunday before Christmas.
WSG Gallery Artists Support Land Legacy Conservancy Artists Lynda Cole, Karin Wagner Coron, Connie Cronenwett
and Elizabeth Schwartz of WSG Gallery in downtown Ann Arbor have donated fine art pieces to the Land Legacy Conservancy exhibition, which is on display at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens through November 10, 2013. Sales for the exhibition are being handled online at http://auction.legacylandconservancy.org. The Legacy of the Land Through Art project is a mixed media juried exhibition that was open to artists in
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ART SHOWCASE MAGAZINE • FALL 2013
Washtenaw and Jackson counties—areas where Legacy Land Conservancy has protected properties. Eighty-nine artists applied for inclusion in this project and 43 were selected. The artists represent an array of media: oil, pastel, acrylic and photography. This project celebrates and explores the benefits we receive through our connection to the land around us. Land Legacy Conservancy Exhibition Matthaei Botanical Gardens, University of Michigan 1800 North Dixboro Road, Ann Arbor
SUMMER 2013 • ART SHOWCASE MAGAZINE
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