Exhibition:Materials On Hand: The Art of Ellen Wilt
2018-06-23 11:00 - 17:00 (America/Detroit) | Off Campus Location
Curated by Srimoyee Mitra with the assistance of James Barker and Jennifer Junkermeier, Materials On Hand: The Art of Ellen Wilt is a retrospective exhibition that pays homage to and celebrates fifty years of Ellen Wilt’s expansive art practice. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Wilt has lived and worked in Ann Arbor since 1949 and completed two degrees (BFA, ‘69 and MA, ‘70) at the University of Michigan. She is an important figure in Ann Arbor’s art community, who has consistently worked at fostering a vibrant arts community as an artist and educator in the Academy and beyond. She was an art professor for 17 years (1969-85) at the Eastern Michigan University. During this time she also organized and facilitated numerous community-engaged projects that empowered first-time and emerging artists to show their work. It was not until she retired and was well into her 70s that she turned her focus to her own art practice. Her work was duly recognized with numerous awards from the Michigan Water Color Society, Washtenaw Council for the Arts, and the Holland Friends of Art between 1984 and 1993.

For the first time in the last three decades, Materials On Hand: The Art of Ellen Wilt brings together over 40 carefully selected works from personal and private collections that highlight Wilt’s artistic contributions in Southeastern Michigan. Her intuitive and playful bricolage way of working reveals the scope of her achievement and her specific interest in the Michigan region and its landscape. She has developed multiple bodies of work that feature domestic objects from teapots to chairs while also reckoning with iconic architectural tropes of bridges and tunnels which are ongoing motifs in her work. Wilt continually experiments and explores new ways of working in a variety of two dimensional mediums including, oil, acrylic and watercolor. Since the 1970s she has incorporated collage into her practice using whatever materials she has available to her. These range from butcher paper, aluminum foil, and tissue to balsa wood, toothpicks and other found objects. She creates mixed media paintings, cut outs, rubbings and installations that reimagine the agency of mundane objects and invite viewers to look again.

Exhibition Dates: Thursday, May 31 - Sunday, September 9, 2018
Exhibition Reception: Thursday, May 31, 2018 from 6-8 pm
A conversation with Ellen Wilt: June 9, 2018 from 2-3 pm

Exhibition:New at UMMA: Illuminated Manuscript
2018-06-23 11:00 - 17:00 | Museum of Art - The Connector
Books of hours—custom-made for private devotion in the Christian faith—were a bestseller in medieval Europe. These manuscripts incorporated prayers, hymns, biblical stories, and monthly calendars featuring religious feast days, which were often supplemented by images painted in exquisite detail. Today, books of hours are a testament to the visually rich material culture of the Middle Ages. UMMA was recently gifted a bejeweled double-sided calendar leaf for January. Executed on parchment, the page highlights the material opulence and artistry involved in manuscript illumination. Accompanying the calendar are painted images or miniatures of the labor and characteristic activity of the month, and Aquarius, the zodiac sign for January, embodied by a man collecting water from a stream. The folio’s luminous, gilded surface, accentuated by the use of bright colors, was meant to transport the medieval viewer into a state of spiritual transcendence.

This work was recently gifted to UMMA by Mrs. Carrol Robertsen.

Exhibition:See Through: Windows and Mirrors in Twentieth-Century Photography
2018-06-23 11:00 - 17:00 | Museum of Art - Photography Gallery
See Through: Mirrors and Windows in Twentieth-Century Photography brings together a group of images that are doubly framed—once by the camera lens and again by the border of a mirror or window. By refracting and distorting, revealing and concealing, these reflective and transparent surfaces both draw attention to the photographer’s efforts to frame the world and expose the contingent nature of reality. Highlights from the exhibition include works by Eugène Atget, Robert Doisneau, Elliott Erwitt, Walker Evans, André Kertész, Joanne Leonard, Danny Lyon, and Joel Meyerowitz. By extending the limits of perception, these witty and provocative works invite us to see [through to] new visual possibilities.

Lead support for See Through: Windows and Mirrors in Twentieth-Century Photography is provided by the Herbert W. and Susan L. Johe Endowment.

Exhibition:Unrecorded: Reimagining Artist Identities in Africa
2018-06-23 11:00 - 17:00 | Museum of Art - The Jan and David Brandon Family Bridge
Historical collecting practices have had a lasting impact on representations of Africa, its history, culture, and life today. Labeled as ‘unknown’ or ‘anonymous,’ African artists became associated with broad cultural styles and collective identities rather than personal creativity and individual agency. The exhibition Unrecorded: Reimagining Artist Identities in Africa includes artworks from both named and unrecorded, contemporary and historic artists to tell an alternative story. It explores how the changing attributes of an ‘African’ artist’s identity, and constructions of African identity more broadly, have shaped perceptions of Africa outside of the continent.

Lead support for Unrecorded: Reimagining Artist Identities in Africa is provided by the University of Michigan Office of the Provost and the African Studies Center. Additional generous support is provided by the University of Michigan Department of Afroamerican and African Studies and Susan Ullrich.

Performance:Ann Arbor Japan Week | Storytime at the Museum
2018-06-23 11:15 - 12:30 | Museum of Art - Meet in front of the UMMA store
Storytime at the Museum: Japanese Art, University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA). Meet in front of the UMMA store, 11:15am-12:30pm. Ages 3-6. Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. No registration required.

Please see the complete Ann Arbor Japan Week Schedule here: https://ii.umich.edu/cjs/news-events/events/ann-arbor-japan-week.html

Social / Informal Gathering:Storytime at the Museum: Ann Arbor Japan Week
2018-06-23 11:15 - 12:00 | Museum of Art - Forum
Japan Week, sponsored by the U-M Center for Japanese Studies, is a week of Japan-related programming for youth and families. Storytime at the Museum, which promotes art enjoyment for our youngest patrons, will feature a story about Japan this week, and a hands-on activity related to it. Children ages three to six are invited to join Storytime. Parents must accompany children. Siblings are welcome to join the group. Meet in front of the UMMA Store.

This program is offered in conjunction with U-M Center for Japanese Studies’ Ann Arbor Japan Week, June 17-23. Japan Week events at UMMA are generously sponsored by AISIN.

Storytime is generously supported by the University of Michigan Credit Union Arts Adventures Program, UMMA's Lead Sponsor for Student and Family Engagement.

Other:Saturday Sampler Tour | The Archaeology of Birth and Childhood
2018-06-23 14:00 - 15:00 | Kelsey Museum of Archaeology
Until relatively recently in human history, pregnancy, birth, and early childhood were dangerous times for women and children. On this tour, we will explore artifacts related to the protection of woman and children like amulets of Tawaret (the ferocious Egyptian hippo deity who protected pregnant mothers) or the bronze bulla worn by Roman children. Archaeology can also give us insight into the lives of children through their toys, games, and schoolwork.

Saturday Sampler tours are free and open to all visitors. If you are a person with a disability who requires an accommodation to attend this tour, please contact the education office (734-647-4167) at least two weeks in advance. We ask for advance notice as some accommodations may require more time for the University to arrange.

Performance:Shakespeare in the Arb - Romeo and Juliet
2018-06-23 18:30 - 21:00 | Nichols Arboretum
A first-ever performance in the 18-year history of Shakespeare in the Arb of Romeo and Juliet. Directed by Kate Mendeloff of the U-M Residential College and performed by U-M students and community players. Box office, located at the visitor center at the 1610 Washington Hts. entrance to Nichols Arboretum, open at 5:30 pm each day of performance.

Performance:Center Stage Strings Saturday Night Student Recital Series *CANCELED*
2018-06-23 19:00 | Off Campus Location - Britton Recital Hall
Biweekly performance series featuring the finest among our outstanding CSS string students. Soloists and chamber music groups will be selected by the faculty to perform on this prestigious event.

Performance:22nd Fall Fundraiser: An Evening with The Taj Mahal Trio
2018-06-23 19:30 | Off Campus Location
Presented by The Ark
