CONNECTING THE DOTS FOR DETROIT ARTS SCENE
IVY HUGHES
THURSDAY, MAY 31, 2012

Dominic Arellano says his organization, Forward Arts, is unoriginal because it builds off other people’s ideas, but he might be one of the most innovative people in Detroit.

Launched in 2010, Forward Arts assists other organizations and artists by helping with communication, administration, promotion, event development and fundraising. Think of Forward Arts as a manager/agent for Detroit artists, musicians and public art projects.

“One of the biggest strengths our organization has is being able to connect the dots,” Arellano said. “We’re right in the middle of the graffiti artists and DIA (Detroit Institute of Art) and we understand how to work with both sides. We understand how to connect them and when not to connect them.”

Sometimes Arellano approaches artists and organizers, sometimes they approach him, but every Forward Arts project develops through connection. One of Arellano’s first partnerships was with Access Arts, which is now under the Forward Arts umbrella. The Belle Isle Art exhibit, which is managed by Access Arts, caught Arellano’s attention. Now Forward Arts helps Access Arts raise funds for projects and artists.

Last year, Forward Arts also partnered with Woodbridge Neighborhood Development (WNDC) Corporation President Brian Shellabarger, on the Scripps Park Project.

“There are three sides to this,” Arellano said. “To help artists get opportunities, help arts organizations with development and resource development and helping creators — someone who has a great idea and wants to scale it up.”

Movement through Music
Arellano loves music and he loves to organize, but he’s not a musician. He managed bands in high school and didn’t learn to play an instrument until he was forced to take piano lessons as part of his bachelor’s in Music Business Management from Wayne State.

While in school, he worked at the Detroit record store, Harmony House, a position that led to an internship with Universal Music and Video Distribution.

In 2002, he joined Transmat Records & Movement Electronic Music Festival and in 2007, he joined the Detroit Symphony.

“No genres, just good music,” Arellano said about his diverse resume. “If it’s good music it’s good music.”

Nowhere is this more evident than in The Few Records, a record label Arellano started in 2005 that supports artists such as Will Sessions, New Music Detroit and Adieu.

“The reason I moved to Detroit and the reason I feel a lot of people are Detroit curious is because of music,” Arellano said. “I’m not going to say it’s going to bring back the city — there’s no silver bullet — but when you talk about getting that initial momentum going, in Detroit, it was music.”

Detroit’s Sound Stage
“Forward Arts is really an extension of what we did at the record label,” Arellano said. “I had all these ideas that were outside of music and more geared towards art or non-profit work.”

Forward Arts’ broad mission to help Detroit artists have left it open to some pretty incredible projects.

In 2010, Arellano connected with world-renowned artist Matthew Barney through New Music Detroit. Barney needed musicians for the film and performance, KHU, which he was producing in Detroit. Through his network, Arellano and Forward Arts connected Barney to 50 artists.

“We want to create an infrastructure specifically so we can be giving more opportunity to artists,” Arellano said.

PASSIONATE BUSINESS
MARY KATHERINE QUASARANO
THURSDAY, MAY 31, 2012

If you question whether or not an experience with the arts can change your life, just ask Marissa Kurtzhals, a senior Arts Management student at Eastern Michigan University. “I saw Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Fox Theatre when I was six and I have never been the same.” Kurtzhals and her peers in the field and study of Arts Management are dedicated to sustaining those moments of inspiration for others, and for years to come. Her road to the Arts Management program began at the Fox Theatre and continued through Woodhaven High School. “I discovered my true passion for theatre with the help of my drama teacher Mr. Clemmons. He worked so hard for our program [and played] an integral role in my receipt of an EMU Theatre Scholarship.”  

While looking for a way to combine her passion for theatre with practical business skills, a friend suggested that Kurtzhals explore EMU’s Arts Management program. “One meeting with Susan Booth and I was a convert! She talked about the ‘creative economy,’ the serious market for the arts, and gave me numerous articles to read. Arts Management is the business side of the arts and EMU’s program can be customized to your education and your specific interest.”

Professor Ken Stevens is the founder of both the graduate and undergraduate Arts Management & Administration programs at EMU. As described by Booth, “Eastern Michigan University’s Arts Management and Administration Program was one of the first undergraduate programs in the United States…created in 1975, the program was in direct response to a need for well-schooled arts administrators to usher in a growing number of regional arts and cultural institutions.”  

Kurtzhals’ educational experience included a six-month internship at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Arts under Marketing Director Katherine Myers. “She [Myers] encouraged me to develop my voice on social media and provided great direction on writing effective communications.”

Last month, eleven students (including Kurtzhals) from AMPlifying the Arts (AMP), an organization of EMU Arts Management students, traveled to Washington D.C. to advocate on behalf of the arts. They met with Michigan legislators Senator Debbie Stabenow, Congressman Hansen Clarke and Representative John Dingell on National Arts Advocacy Day. Kurtzhals shares, “Asking your representatives for $155 million for the National Endowments of the Arts and $30 million for arts education is not an easy task. However, AMP students were pretty fearless. We’re a group of passionate young professionals. And many of us recently completed a course, taught by Professor Stevens, in which we studied techniques in addressing Congress to support the arts.”

Kurtzhals will be graduating in Fall/Winter 2012 with a degree in Arts Management and currently serves as the EMU Theatre Department’s Social Media Specialist.  Her blog marissakurtzhals.blogspot.com chronicles her life as an artist and arts advocate. As its Social Media Specialist, the EMU Theatre’s Facebook page has increased its ‘Likes’ by 44% and Twitter followers and responses have increased steadily.

She shares the following from her trip to DC: “Alec Baldwin delivered a speech at the Kennedy Performing Arts Center to inspire the advocates. He mentioned his love for ‘gangster’ dancing after watching West Side Story and convinced us it was an integral part of his early days of inspiration.”  Kurtzhals, a huge 30 Rock fan, had found a kindred spirit.

If you question whether or not an experience with the arts can change your life, just ask Marissa Kurtzhals…or Alec Baldwin.

DEVELOPING WITH HEART
KATIE DONOVAN
THURSDAY, MAY 31, 2012

“For the first ten years we were a suburban sprawl developer,” confessed Lansing area real estate developer Pat Gillespie. He admits that although it was quality work, it lacked creativity and that is when he had a change of heart. Gillespie took an aerial photo of the State Capitol and drew a one mile radius around the Capitol and proclaimed that this is where the focus of the company’s work would occur – within that circle. 

Since then the Gillespie Group completed projects include the Stadium district housing and retail development across from the Downtown Lansing baseball stadium; Prudden Place a housing development adjacent to the Motor Wheel factory site; the downtown riverside City Market project (the housing phase breaks ground this year); and the historic renovation of the Marshall Street Armory building. True to his word, every one of the projects is in his focused target area. “Our passion is here, we’ve always been here, and we’re never leaving,” proclaimed Gillespie.  When he says, we’ve always been here – he means it. He went to grade school at the Church of the Resurrection, high school at Lansing Catholic Central, and college at Michigan State University – all in his proclaimed target development area.

The Marshall Street Armory building (directly across the street from Lansing Catholic Central) is where the offices of the Gillespie Group are now located, along with a cadre of nonprofit organizations. The tenants of this unique office building are enjoying the benefits of an office environment that offers private offices and collaborative work spaces, as well as economies of scale for vital business services such as technical support, a copy center, and meeting spaces (there are seven conference rooms).  The building has just received the 2012 Governor’s Award for Historic Preservation and a Building Award from the Michigan Historic Preservation Network.

“I bought this building at auction, after it had been de-commissioned. It had been sitting vacant for several years and was quickly deteriorating. At the time I did not know what the new purpose of the building would be,” said Gillespie.  “After we got the building nobody thought that the building would lend itself to an office space, but I had this crazy idea.”

Gillespie has put history front and center in the re-design and repurposing of this cavernous building that has soaring ceilings, a gymnasium and a commercial kitchen.  The gymnasium now hosts two major office spaces with vibrant colored partition walls that provide a dramatic panoramic photo mural of the building’s former tenants, the Michigan National Guard 119th Field Artillery Headquarters.  The gymnasium wood floors and wood ceilings have been preserved, and an updated 119th Artillery logo has become part of the design and color story for the building.  Gillespie tells the story of how he chose the colors for the project. Frustrated with the colors being offered by the interior designer, he went to his favorite men’s clothing store, Kositchek’s, and asked for a dozen of the hottest new neckties. The colors for The Armory project were selected from those ties.  

“As a developer, you go into buildings looking for a heartbeat. Starting from nothing, it is hard to create that heartbeat.  This building has so much passion from its previous life, it has a heartbeat and a life that needs to be kept alive,” shared Gillespie. This June, there will be a grand opening celebration of military proportions.  The Armory celebration will include the usual local dignitaries and construction partners, but also will welcome all those that called the building home base for their military service.  Festivities will include a military band, a howitzer cannon salute, and a military fly-over.

Pat Gillespie has more plans in the works for developments within his target area, but it looks like The Armory project will always hold a special place in his heart.

SAGINAW ARTIST SEES HIMSELF IN PICTURES
MARK BOYD
THURSDAY, MAY 31, 2012

Recently I went to my mailbox, hoping to find a check, misplaced valuable, or at least a note from a secret admirer. But I had no such luck. Not only was my mailbox completely empty of any valuables or correspondence, as I opened the door, a lone moth fluttered out. Suddenly I felt as though I had become a cartoon. I was a little concerned that a cat might drop an anvil on my head.

Then I met someone whose life actually has become a cartoon. Sean Mack is a young man who says he has been drawing pretty much as long as he could hold a pencil, drawing on paper, the walls – whatever was available. “My parents are still trying to figure out where this ability came from. Neither of them are really artistic,” said Sean. I’m guessing his parents were happy to provide paper, and spare the walls.

Sean, along with his friend of several years, Brandon Howard, created the serial comic strip, The Revolutionary Times. As Sean explains it, the basic storyline of the strip started off with two kids who run an activist newspaper. However, it expanded as the years went by and the newspaper aspect has faded into the background. The characters are based upon Sean and Brandon and basically reflect their personalities. “Brandon is more so the leader, head strong type whereas my character is more laid back, somewhat lazy, not really one to take any situation really seriously,” said Sean. The other characters in the comic are Sebastian, Brandon’s baby cousin, Jesus (pronounced HAY-zeus), a tech guy who works at Best Buy who basically looks like Jesus (yeah, the original one), and one of their enemies named Agent Diggs, a FBI "cleaner" type of agent that basically looks like the actor Taye Diggs. 

Interestingly, even though Sean and Brandon both lived in Saginaw, Brandon had moved to North Carolina before the strip was created. He called Sean to discuss it originally in 2008. They now collaborate long distance, with Brandon writing the strip, and Sean illustrating. Before that time, Sean had been creating a comic strip of his own, called The Smack Chronicles, which was more autobiographic and not as political and pop culture based as The Revolutionary Times.

One of the things apparent from the illustrations is the influence of Japanese anime on Sean’s work. However, he has combined those techniques with other more traditional forms of illustration, and created a distinct look of his own. Sean expresses an appreciation of Japanese anime, but was also influenced by The Iron Giant, the comic strip The Boondocks, and more directly for this strip, Calvin and Hobbes. Sean said, “I really liked the message between the lines (for Calvin and Hobbes). I got the laugh but it still made you think.” That is the type of thing Sean and Brandon hope to do with The Revolutionary Times. They want to have a mixture of fun and a message. “The main point is to expand minds and see a topic in a new light,” said Sean.

While Sean has been drawing his whole life, he did find use for some formal training in this talent. He attended Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy, and “really got serious then” as he explained. From there, he explored the option of multiple colleges, and eventually settled upon the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. “CCS gave me good basics for proceeding in my career,” said Sean. “They still help me a lot.”

Besides the comic strip, Sean has expanded his illustration work into quite a few areas. Among other things, he provides art for a line of clothing called Identical Variant Clothing, and has designed several album covers and logos. He even finds time to teach art at New Millennium Academy in Saginaw. “I enjoy teaching kids a lot,” he said. “We focused on basics at first, then technical things like perspective, and how to draw people. I’m teaching them how to draw their own strip.”

You can follow The Revolutionary Times on Facebook or on Twitter. With all that he does, Sean is making a difference in the world, by creating thoughtful and entertaining comics, as well as having a positive influence on the kids he is teaching. It’s good to see a young Michigan man being able to use his talent and do what he loves, and to the benefit of those around him. May his mailbox always be void of moths.

AMP is a proud member of the Detroit Digital Justice Coalition (DDJC) and co-implementor of the Detroit Future initiative, with East Michigan Environmental Action Council. Members of the AMC, DDJC and Detroit Future networks contributed footage to this video.

While ’legacy’ refers to anything that can be handed down, in Michigan Legacy Art Park , ‘legacy’ refers to all that has gone before in the rich history, nature and art of the State of Michigan.  It was this legacy that inspired David Barr, sculptor, artist and writer to establish the Michigan Legacy Art Park in 1995. Located in Benzie County, the park is situated on 30 acres of land owned by Crystal Mountain and leased to the Legacy Art Park for $1 per year. What a gift!

To raise operating funds for the park, and more important, acknowledge individuals that have made a significant contribution to the arts and culture of the State of Michigan, there is an annual Legacy Gala. Last August in his remarks to honor Governor and Mrs. William Milliken and their legacy to Michigan’s culture, park founder David Barr said “I feel enormous gratitude to the Milliken’s for their accomplishments especially in encouraging the flowering of cultural life in Michigan. Their lives have enriched the lives of many.” Seizing this opportunity to speak to a significant audience attending the gala, Barr inspired the audience with a rich history of the arts and its importance to society.

Illustrating a point he shared the following quotes:
The Nazi Herman Goering said, “Whenever I hear the word ‘culture,’ I reach for my gun.”
The writer, Malcolm Muggeridge said, “Whenever I hear the word ‘gun,’ I reach for my culture.” 

Throughout his comments Barr talked candidly about the “state of the arts in Michigan” – present in the audience was Governor Rick Snyder.  Barr’s comments in his speech were so powerful that the folks at Michigan Legacy Art Park posted the entire speech on their website and encourage people to read it and support the arts in their own community. Read the speech here.  Now, less than a year later, a dramatic proposed budget increase in arts funding has been announced for Michigan.

“Our mission is to inspire awareness, appreciation and passion for Michigan’s history, culture, and environment, through the arts,” said the park’s Executive Director, Renee Hintz.  “We encourage our visitors to explore the people, places and events that have shaped Michigan by hiking the trails in our park.  Each sculpture tells a story about a part of Michigan or Michigan’s history.

Michigan Legacy Art Park is a park for all seasons. Spring brings outdoor art experiences and environmental projects for dozens of groups of school kids from across Northern Michigan. Summer includes a musical concert series to celebrate Michigan’s musical diversity. Autumn is a beautiful time to experience the sculptures against a colorful backdrop of Michigan’s turning leaves. And, in winter, hard core outdoor lovers experience the displays by snowshoe or cross country ski.

Michael McGillis, one of the first sculptors to install a piece in the park, paid homage to the history of the White Pine in Michigan. His piece has become an iconic representation of the park.  To read more about his pieces in the park and all of the other works of art, visit the website.

“Our kick-off for Summer 2012 is slated for May 20 and it is a family-oriented event.  We are also installing our newest sculpture simply titled Michigan. It is a topographical map of Lake Michigan by Brian Ferriby,” shared Hintz.

The gift of a financial legacy, thanks to Crystal Mountain and many funding organizations and sponsors; an artistic legacy thanks to the many contributing artists; a cultural legacy, thanks in part to William and Helen Milliken; and a continuing celebration of Michigan’s legacy, thanks to you.

COMEDY TROUPE ‘NOBODY GETS US’ HOPES EVERYBODY DOES
LISA SMITH
THURSDAY, MAY 10th, 2012

Joe Officeworker is in serious trouble. He is a ticking bomb. He is angry… about everything. He’s angry about having to get up early to go to work. He’s angry about someone taking his parking place. He’s angry at the co-worker who won’t stop clicking her pen. Joe Officeworker is headed for the breakdown of his life. What can save him? A good dose of the giggles – of course. After all, laughter is the best medicine, as they say.

That’s where the good people of Nobody Gets Us come in. The comedy troupe, based in Western Michigan came together just to save Joe Officeworker, and thousands like him, from themselves.

In November 2011, Saugatuck-based actor Melissa Anschutz met with her agent, Malinda Petersen of MP Talent in Grand Rapids. They were discussing the upcoming LaughFest comedy festival, which is held annually in Grand Rapids. Every year, all the proceeds of LaughFest benefit the cancer, grief and support programs offered through Gilda’s Club Grand Rapids. When they talked of the need for a sketch comedy troupe, Melissa said, “Hey, I’m funny! I know funny people! Let’s do this!” And then she ran from the restaurant, leaving Malinda to pay for lunch. Melissa then started contacting the funny people she knew, and the troupe was born.

Melissa contacted Rockford resident and comedic blogger Leslie Bosscher, as the two had worked together on a comedy show in the past. Also in the group is Sarah Cavanaugh, a part-time stand-up comic and TV personality from Grand Rapids station WZZM-TV’s Take Five & Company, as well as actors Ralph Lister and David Gries, and actor/comedian Mark Boyd. Tying the group together is sound and light technician Steve Nardin. “Without Steve, we’d just be a half dozen idiots doing skits for our friends. The sound and lights turn it into a show,” said Boyd. “Just don’t tell him he gets paid less than the rest of us.”

Within a very short time, their first show, in March 2012, was SOLD OUT. The people of greater Grand Rapids were in obvious need of some healing laughter. And when the group performed at LaughFest, Nobody Gets Us didn’t let them down.

It’s said many lives were saved that day. “Without us providing laughter and good times, the ER’s would be packed,” said troupe member Mark Boyd, sympathetically. “I remember seeing this guy who was choking on something.” said Leslie, “But we said something really funny, and it was even more effective than the Heimlich.” Melissa added, “When I think of all the good we’ve done for people…” and her voice trailed off as emotion choked back the words. It’s clear what making people laugh means to these blessed souls.

David and Ralph would have also provided quotes for this article, but they were just too busy to be bothered. No, really, they are quite the busy actors. Among other things, when David isn’t working on sketch comedy, he is a serious movie actor. Ralph holds an acting class on Mondays in Grand Rapids, and is a narrator and director for Brilliance Audio Books in Grand Haven. He is even up for an Audie Award (think “Oscars” for audio books).

So maybe laughter isn’t really the best medicine. But what if it is? Should you risk it? If you’d like the chance to be miraculously healed from what ails you, make sure to catch their next live performance provided there are any tickets left. If not, please see your physician about your anger issues.

IWBC: WE CAN DO IT
VIKI LORRAINE
THURSDAY, MAY 10th, 2012

Rosie the Riveter inspired a social movement that increased the number of working American women by 57%, proving to women (and the country) that they could do a “man’s job” and do it well.

Today, women brass musicians have their own version of Rosie the Riveter. In 1973 Susan Slaughter became the worlds first principal trumpet player with a major symphony orchestra. In 1990 she created the International Women’s Brass Conference (IWBC), designed to celebrate, inspire, support, develop and educate women brass players pursuing professional careers in music.

“It was the energy I got from that first conference I attended,” said Lin Foulk, an Assistant Professor of Music at WMU and the co-host of the conference. “I wanted to create that energy here in Michigan.”

As a grad student, Foulk, a French horn player, realized that in five years of training she hadn’t played a single piece by a female composer. She asked a fellow musician why and he replied ‘because they are not good, they can’t do it.’ “It hit me like a brick,” said Foulk. “I knew that couldn’t be the answer.”

Foulk attended her first IWBC in 1993. “It was so powerful to see an entire ensemble of female performers, to see them really nail it.”  It was also transformational for Kelly Watkins, IWBC’s current President. Watkins was a freshman in college when she attended her first IWBC in 1996. “I was blown away by it,” said Watkins. “Being able to see women I had heard of, but never seen perform live.” The conference solidified her future path.  Watkins has been a professional trumpeter for the Unites States Coast Guard Band since 2003.

Now a doctoral student at Michigan State University (MSU), former IWBC President and euphonium player Gail Robertson also credits the IWBC with making the connections that led to her fellowship at MSU. “The friendships and associations I’ve made at IWBC have been invaluable.”

Foulk, Watkins and Robertson all spoke about their indebtedness to Slaughter.  “It was her vision that started all of this,” said Robertson.

“That first conference was like a revival experience,” said Slaughter, now retired from the St. Louis Symphony.  “Before the conference there was no one to talk to.  You couldn’t talk to the guys. Finally there was a place where we could talk to each other. Women left feeling like they had been reborn.”

Yet some may ask – “Does the organization still have a place in a world where women have made great strides?”  According to the IWBC 2012 website, women trumpet, trombone, and tuba players make up fewer than 3% of the top 25 orchestras by budget size.

The IWBC will continue to be an important organization for women brass musicians. “Our collective energy, our personal stories, that is our distinction,” said Foulk. IWBC 2012 also brings a level of distinction to WMU.  With the IWBC under its belt, WMU will have hosted most of the country’s other brass conferences. “That makes us pretty unique,” said Foulk.

Trail blazing since its inception, this year’s IWBC will offer another first. It will be the first time the Monarch Brass, a nationally recognized all-women brass ensemble, whose members are outstanding players from North America’s top symphony orchestras and universities, will feature all Michigan women players.  “It’s amazing. You have so much talent in one state,” said Slaughter.

What Rosie the Riveter represented to women in the 30’s and 40’s – the IWBC represents to today’s women of brass.  How ironic that the real life model and inspiration for the World War II We Can Do It poster, later dubbed Rosie the Riveter, was an orchestra musician from Inkster, MI!

You can celebrate this unique moment in Michigan’s musical heritage at a free Monarch Brass concert on Sunday, June 10th from 4 – 5pm in downtown Kalamazoo.

TECHSHOP DETROIT: ‘MAKERS’ OF DREAMS
KATIE DONOVAN
THURSDAY APRIL 26th, 2012

If you count yourself among the many who dream about making something – a work of art, a gizmo or gadget, a better mousetrap, or even something more complex – you are a Maker.  If you like to tinker, take things apart and figure out how things work – you are a Maker.  If you are crafty, have an eye for design, or like working with textiles – you are a Maker.  If you have these ‘maker’ impulses but have always been thwarted because you didn’t have the tools or know-how, great potential awaits you at TechShop, a new national workshop model opening its newest location right here in Metro Detroit’s Allen Park. TechShop provides Makers and Makers-to-be with the tools, space and assistance needed to ‘make’ dreams into reality.

Chairman and Founder, Jim Newton, explains how TechShop came to be – “I live and work in California and had been working on the popular TV show MythBusters and was also teaching a class on combat robotics – through those two projects I had access to all sorts of great tools and resources. When those gigs ended, the most painful part was the loss of access to those tools and resources.  I started thinking about how to build a business model that would support the cost of assembling all those great tools and a facility to house them. The idea of a gym membership model came to me in 2005 and in 2006 the first TechShop opened in Menlo Park, California.”

Ford was instrumental in bringing TechShop to Detroit. Bill Coughlin, CEO of Ford Global Technologies Licensing, first became aware of TechShop in 2010, connections were made and the Detroit-area store was put on the fast track.  “Our partnership with TechShop will connect Ford to the community of local innovators, and spark imagination that could be the solution to problems that we couldn’t solve before, or develop all new ideas that are answers to questions we weren’t even asking. In the future open innovation will play an incredibly important role in the progression of our company,” said Coughlin.

TechShop Detroit is the latest location to open, and since December’s soft opening the Allen Park TechShop team has already signed up 600 members – their goal is 1000 in order to keep the workshop open 24/7.  The tool array and workspace is impressive; there are tools to help you create almost anything. Members are using machining tools, woodworking, plasma cutters, welding equipment, electronics, laser etching tools to create in 2-d or 3-d, heavy duty textiles machines, plastic molding machines, and high-tech painting equipment. Members also enjoy a workshop that offers state-of-the-art safety gear and procedures, training on all the machines and a space plan and employee culture that encourages collaboration among members.  Essentially, a Maker’s dreams come true.

“One of the biggest surprises for me is the number of new companies that have been incubated in our TechShop locations,” said Jim Newton, Founder. “One of the great Tech Shop success stories is the guy that had an idea for a case for the iPad. He took a couple of classes and began to fabricate his design for the DoDo case.”  This Tech-Shop member is now the owner of a multi-million dollar company.

Karen Corbeill is the Education and Events Coordinator at TechShop’s new Metro Detroit location and has been there from the beginning. She says there are 15 employees and they are all creative types: ‘DIY-ers’, ‘hackers’ and ‘Makers’ that are driven to help the members. “This is what Detroit is all about…we have so many people that are part of this community with loads of talent and experiences but not necessarily with the resources. We have the resources here to feed that talent and ingenuity,” said Corbeill.

Luciano Golia is a very recent transplant from Italy to Michigan, his wife is from Allen Park and the news about TechShop’s arrival influenced their decision to settle there. Golia has been a Maker of musical instruments for 24 years and recently completed a double bass at TechShop. He says his craft requires skills in carving, woodworking, music, and math. “The TechShop – it is a beautiful place and very creative,” shared Golia. “Technology and my work are not in alignment because every instrument is custom made, but the TechShop is nice because there are other people there making many different things and it is nice for a creative to be with other people working at different levels with different skills.” Golia sees the TechShop membership as a way to keep his business going while he and his wife are getting settled.  Golia’s recommendation for other artists on using TechShop: “… it’s a tool for your creativity, it should be a great help for artists because any kind of prototype or piece of art could be created there thanks to the help of a team of very experienced people and great tools.”

TechShop Detroit will be hosting a Grand Opening event May 5-6 from 10am to 6pm on Saturday and Sunday. (CLICK HERE for more details and a map) It is open to the public and there will be activities, tours and demonstrations appropriate for all ages.  Exhibitions and Presentations will be offered by TechShop partners: Autodesk, Ford Global Technologies, Instructables, The Henry Ford Museum and Etsy. “We want people in here making their dreams,” said Corbeill.
Newton has an even broader dream for TechShop. He imagines TechShop locations all over the country and has a vision of families that will see TechShop as a recreational opportunity.  “Wouldn’t it be great to have families choosing an outing to the TechShop workshop from the list of possible family activities?”

REACHING AND TEACHING AT-RISK YOUTH
KATE TYKOCKI
THURSDAY APRIL 26th, 2012

A photojournalist by training Jeana-Dee Allen Rogers left Lansing after college to work at newspapers around the state. “It was an extremely dark time in my life. I photographed a lot of crime – homicide, suicide, fire – and in that whole period of that time, I would say 80 percent of the violent crimes I documented were committed by [young people] 15- to 25-years-old,” shared Allen Rogers. “I often asked myself what if these kids had been given greater access to resources. What if they felt more connected to their community by taking pictures or creating art or just having these resources where they could come together?”

Allen Rogers is back in Lansing, but now as Outreach Coordinator at REACH Studio Art Center. Before then she was volunteering at a local middle school and was saddened by the lack of arts education for students. “They would have art class be braiding little bits of string together. That just really is a shame because the arts can teach so much,” said Allen Rogers. “There’s history involved in creating art. So it’s not just that you’re creating something with your hands. You’re looking at what you can create above and beyond yourself that can connect you as a human being to the rest of the world through your creation.”

REACH is a studio art center located in REO Town, an area of Lansing just south of Michigan’s Capital Building, where the average per capital income is $17,158 and more than 40 percent of the residents have an income at or below 2 percent of the poverty level. REACH offers art classes, workshops and day camps to local youth and creates special community art projects, such as the mural and sculpture installation directly across the street from the facility.

REACH also offers Creative Connections free art sessions where neighborhood children and teens can come together to paint, spin pottery, make music, write and perform plays and express themselves while also having a positive impact in their community. Another program helps high school drop-outs work to earn their GED through their involvement at REACH. In 2010, more than 900 youth participated in programs in REACH’s tiny 1,100 square foot studio. In 2013, the organization will move into a new space in REO Town that will give them up to 7,200 square feet to continue delivering quality arts education to local Lansing youth.

The Arts and Achievement in At-Risk Youth study released in March 2012 by the National Endowment for the Arts found teens and children of low ‘socioeconomic status’ who had a history of in-depth arts involvement showed better academic outcomes, earned better grades and demonstrated higher rates of college enrollment and attainment.

And yet, schools around the state are struggling to provide arts education to students and budgets for field trips are being slashed.  REACH is one organization trying to fill this arts gap for youth by working to improve its community while improving the lives of the young people it serves.

“We’re struggling with kids that are homeless, kids that are in foster care, kids whose parents are incarcerated. Just life. There’s a lot of ‘life’ happening. If we can be this one space that encourages them to have a better day, to get away from something, to learn to express their feelings in a different manner and to feel like someone else is struggling too, it builds community and that’s the best thing we can do,” concluded Allen Rogers.