Valerie Mann has been showing her work professionally throughout the US and in Canada and Germany for 23 years. She grew up on a large family farm in Indiana, went to University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana to earn a BFA in painting, then to MSU to earn an MFA in sculpture. Now working and teaching in Ann Arbor, Mann’s use and study of tools inspired this body of work. Used every day and sometimes taken for granted, tools are indispensable in the making of art. These favorite tools are beautifully designed and well-thought out for their specific job.

By day, Jean-Marc Fontaine is a molecular biologist, and by night and weekend, he is an artist. He spent his childhood and youth in Normandy, France, and his dream of becoming a scientist grew together with his imagination and passion for oil painting and drawing. After moving to the US in 1998, Fontaine became fascinated with sculpting. This self-taught artist explores funny and familiar subjects, with close attention to details in human anatomy. Viewers will meet French, Belgian, British and American characters. Fontaine hopes that “…these cartoon characters will bring a smile to patients (children and adults, alike).”

A driving force in Monte Nagler’s artist quest is to have others see the world in a finer light and to appreciate life a little more. He has the ability to make visible what others can only sense, sharing with viewers the emotional beauty he experiences. Nagler’s photographs, which have won numerous awards, are found in many private and public collections, including the Detroit Institute of Art, the U-M Museum of Art and the Grand Rapids Art Museum. He is also a noted writer, lecturer and teacher of photography and the author of six highly successful photography books.

By day, Jean-Marc Fontaine is a molecular biologist, and by night and weekend, he is an artist. He spent his childhood and youth in Normandy, France, and his dream of becoming a scientist grew together with his imagination and passion for oil painting and drawing. After moving to the US in 1998, Fontaine became fascinated with sculpting. This self-taught artist explores funny and familiar subjects, with close attention to details in human anatomy. Viewers will meet French, Belgian, British and American characters. Fontaine hopes that “…these cartoon characters will bring a smile to patients (children and adults, alike).”

Elizabeth Busey has been inspired by global travel to explore the forces that shape our world – growth, pressure, erosion and decay. Through this exploration, she highlights patterns from many disparate perspectives in order to celebrate their universality in the natural world. Her work is created by printing multiple layers of ink onto cotton rag paper, where a single linoleum block is gradually reduced with each color layer. Busey is a primarily self-taught printmaker who produces her work in Bloomington, Indiana on a press made of recycled steel.

Traditional kunqu, a genre of classical Chinese theatre, comes alive in the large scale photographs of Xu, Zengquan. The viewer experiences the personalities of the characters and the spirit of the dance, opening a window into traditional Chinese culture and history. Now a local practicing engineer, Xu was born into a family of 10 brothers and sisters, in Jiangsu, China, and discovered his passion for photography in his teens. His work has been published by the Smithsonian Institution. Gifts of Art is pleased to present this exhibition in partnership with the U-M Confucius Institute.

Darryl Baird is Associate Professor of Art at U-M Flint in graphic design and photography. This body of photographic work is a series of highly magnified plant sections offered as homage to natural life cycles and the inherent potential for beauty in mature forms. These images are a means to explore the cycles of all living things and a way to find understanding through the process. For this series, Baird used antique lenses and the now discontinued Polaroid Positive/Negative 55 film. His work is included in the collections of the Detroit Institute of Art, Museum of Fine Art in Houston, Texas and U-M Museum of Art in Ann Arbor.

This year, Gifts of Art celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Employee Art Exhibition! This eagerly anticipated annual event showcases the exceptional talent and creativity of the people who work at the University of Michigan Health System, and for the first time this year, family members too! There are ribbon awards for Best in Category and Best in Show, and a People's Choice award will be determined by the votes of visitors to the exhibit. Winners will be announced at the Artist Reception and Award Ceremony on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012 from 11:45 a.m.-1:00 p.m. in the exhibition gallery, which will be hosted by Dr. Ora H. Pescovitz, Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs.

To celebrate Jack Kalbfleisch’s numerous accomplishments and services to the profession, the University of Michigan Department of Biostatistics is proud to host the conference, “Methodologic Advances in the Analysis of Outcomes Data.”

Featured speakers include: Jerry Lawless (University of Waterloo) Richard Cook (University of Waterloo) Bin Nan (University of Michigan) John Neuhaus (UCSF) Ross Prentice (University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center) Nancy Reid (University of Toronto) Douglas Schaubel (University of Michigan) Peter Song (University of Michigan) Edward Susko (Dalhousie University) Tony Sun (University of Missouri) Jeremy Taylor (University of Michigan) Mary Thompson (University of Waterloo) Chris Wild (University of Auckland)

A contributed poster session will be held during the Opening Reception (Friday September 28, 5:30-7:00 p.m.).

The exhibit "Translating Homer: from Papyri to Alexander Pope" includes papyri and early printed books illustrating how the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems originally composed in the oral tradition, were first written down, edited, and eventually translated into the main European languages. This journey of transmission and interpretation throughout the centuries ends with the first editions of Alexander Pope’s renderings of the poems.

Visitors to the exhibit will hear a series of readings from the poems in the original Greek and in several other languages, including Latin, English, Dutch, and Spanish.

The exhibit is part of the LSA Fall 2012 theme semester, Translation.

All invited to this 5K family run through the Nichols Arboretum trails. Run for the Arb is a fundraiser to benefit the University of Michigan Matthaei Botanical Gardens & Nichols Arboretum. All proceeds support the Arb & Gardens. $25 registration fee includes t-shirt. Space is limited for this event so register early! Matthaei-Nichols members receive a $5 discount on registration. Volunteer opportunities available. To register and for more information visit mbgna.umich.edu.

Call 734-764-0352 for exhibit availability.

Visit the Michigan Union Art Lounge to see this art exhibit featuring landscape oil on canvas paintings from some of the most beautiful places in Michigan.

Exhibit: “Beautiful Michigan” - Landscape Paintings, Oil on Canvas

Artist: Anil Dhir

Artist Statement: For a painter, Michigan offers one of the most beautiful landscapes, whether here in Ann Arbor, up-north or anywhere else. These paintings are my attempt to capture some of the Michigan beauty. I believe that a great painting is a like a beautifully composed piece of music. My wish is to create a painting with a simple aim of honestly capturing the very essence of what I saw, and be able to make the viewer feel what I felt. (To read the full artist statement, please visit campusinvolvement.umich.edu, it is also posted with the exhibit.)

The exhibit will be displayed until Friday, October 5th.

All pieces in the exhibit are for sale. Please contact the Center for Campus Involvement (uminvolvement@umich.edu) if you are interested in purchasing art from this exhibit.

Please note: The Center for Campus Involvement (CCI) provides opportunities for student and professional artists to display work suitable for a general audience. CCI hosting an artist’s work does not mean we endorse the artist’s point of view; we recognize the free speech rights of our exhibitors.

Travel, an essential activity of human societies, has evolved into an industry with social, economic and environmental impacts. From pilgrimage and exploration to trade and tourism, advances in transportation have enabled new types of travel and created new places, some existing solely for the vacationer. This exhibition highlights changes in travel including information on early pilgrimages, exploration narratives, the grand tour of Europe, women travellers, World’s Fairs, the birth of the family vacation and specialized tourism using maps and narratives from the Library collections.

Canan Tolon’s paintings and installations serve as visual records of the passing of time. Each swipe captures the gesture as well as the memory of the gesture, now already in the past. Each panel appears to duplicate itself beyond any final tally, proliferating in the room.

Upon first glance, Tolon’s constructs evoke a sense of freedom in their repetition. They appear infinite, suggestive of vast open spaces, like the modern landscapes viewed out of a train window, or the documentary film reels from the mid- twentieth century. They draw us in, inviting our dreams and interpretations. In this momentary introspection, we contemplate our own histories.

Then, like the first day of any highly anticipated tomorrow, after the proverbial summer full of expectation…expecting things to change, to be different, to be new again, we are struck with a profound disillusionment, stranded in a place full of promise that never delivers. In a turn, the world of photographic familiarity Tolon has created collapses in on itself. — Amanda Krugliak, arts curator

This Institute for the Humanities original installation was made possible by the generosity of the 2012 Kidder Residency in the Arts. The installation is based on Canan Tolon’s observations and experiences during her time in Ann Arbor, and many of the materials used are salvage materials from her visits to Detroit architectural yards.

Thurnau Prof. of Dance Peter Sparling’s screendance installation, Clonal Renderings will be shown as part of: I know you’re there, but who am I?: Explorations of Identity and Place. This juried exhibition explores the intersection of identity and place. How does place shape identity? How does identity shape the places we choose to inhabit? Gallery hours 12PM-7PM

Join the University of Michigan Detroit Center and Semester in Detroit Program on Saturday, September 29 from 12 p.m. – 5 p.m. for the 2nd Annual Midtown Challenge. This team building exercise is open to the public (must at least high school age to participate) and offers participants an opportunity to immerse themselves in Detroit’s Art & Culture District of Midtown. A $5 registration fee covers round trip transportation from Ann Arbor (bus departs at 11 a.m.) to the U-M Detroit Center and lunch from Detroit’s famous Slows BBQ.

Once at the Detroit Center, you will begin a non-traditional walking tour of the cultural, historical, housing and business quarters of Midtown Detroit. Engaging clues and puzzles will lead participants on an entertaining adventure through the Midtown neighborhood. Along the way, you will visit museums, restaurants and historical buildings. Teams will be provided with all the resources needed to complete this adventure.

The ability of your team to think together as a group -- assessing skills and knowledge, making team decisions, and delegating the right challenge to the right person -- will be the key to your success.

The 2nd Annual Midtown Challenge is co-sponsored by the University of Michigan’s Semester in Detroit program.

To register, contact the Detroit Center: DetroitCenter@umich.edu or (313) 593-3584 by September 27. If you have previously participated in this event, please keep in mind that the challenge is unique to Midtown and the content does not change year to year.

The space where the divine and human intersect and intermingle is very much alive in the ritual arts of Africa. Students will explore works from the UMMA exhibition African Art and the Shape of Time and produce mixed media works based on masks, power figures, and dream images as they explore ways of engaging ritual in the creative process.

$28 UMMA and AAAC members and UM students/$35 non-members; lab fee $15, materials included. Advance registration required by Wednesday, September 26. Register online at annarborartcenter.org.

Lead support for this exhibition is provided by the University of Michigan Health System and the James L. and Vivian A. Curtis Endowment Fund. Additional generous support is provided by the CEW Frances and Sydney Lewis Visiting Leaders Fund.

Join the Nam Center for Korean Studies in a celebration of Korean culture at the Great Chuseok Party. Free and open to the public! - Live performances - Games for kids, big and small - Hands on activities - Food for all!

An event highlighting all facets of singing at SMTD, this fast-paced concert presents performances by the Chamber Choir, University Choir, Orpheus Singers, Women’s Glee Club, Men’s Glee Club, the Department of Musical Theatre, and the University Opera Theatre. League Ticket Office 734.764.2538

All Scriabin program with projected artwork. PROGRAM: Scriabin - Sonata no. 1 in F Minor, op. 6; Sonata no. 3 in F-sharp Minor, op. 23; Sonata no. 6, op. 62; Fantasie in B Minor, op. 28; Sonata no. 4 in F-sharp Major, op. 30

In 2001, UNESCO declared kunqu, the 600-year-old grand opera of China, a “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.” The declaration not only affirms the artistic and cultural distinctions of the genre, which is known for its perfect blending of dramatic literature, soulful singing, and elegant dancing, but also creates a context for its revival in contemporary and globalized China. The genre is now enjoying a revival, attracting audiences inside and outside China with performances that judiciously blend classical stories and performance practices with contemporary staging interpretations and technologies. Kunqu is recognized internationally for being both authentic and yet fresh and updated. In its own way, it is similar to the Royal Shakespeare Company’s fresh, yet authentic, interpretations of classical English plays.

To experience kunqu is to encounter artistic and classical China interpreted for the globalized present. To experience kunqu is to see Chinese characters/roles, historical and contemporary, come alive on stage, revealing their Chinese emotions and values.

Program “Qintiao” (Zither Seductions) from Jade Hairpin “Huozhuo” (Captured Alive) from All Men Are Brothers “Xiaoyan” (Garden Banquet) from Palace of Everlasting Youth

"Reflective piano-driven chamber folk packs quite the punch"—LA Weekly

The San Jose Mercury News likened Vienna Teng to "a child of Chopin and Sarah McLachlan," and she took her first name in adulthood as an homage to the city of Mozart and Beethoven. She writes songs so graceful and memorable that you realize only slowly how personal and confessional they really are. Vienna has been writing songs and playing the piano since she was six, and her silvery piano stylings seem intricately woven into her soothing vocals. A few years ago Vienna Teng came to southeastern Michigan for the first time—and we fell in love. This artist has a real bond with Michigan audiences, and now it turns out the love affair between Vienna Teng and Michigan is mutual: she recently earned her master's in sustainable enterprise at the U-M and announced plans to settle in Detroit. Her music has continued to develop during this time, and her live shows are spellbinding. Neo-soul songwriter and Ann Arbor-to-NYC transplant Theo Katzman opens the show!

Tickets for this show are only $15 with student ID at the Michigan Union Ticket Office.