Announcing: UMS Wallace Blogging Fellowships

Applications were due July 18, 2016. We’ll announce the fellows this fall.

UMS is pleased to announce a new blogging fellowship program.

In an effort to elevate great cultural happenings in Southeast Michigan, we’ve created two new blogging fellow positions geared towards exposing UMS audiences to adventurous arts and cultural opportunities in the area.

Fellows will serve as curators who make monthly recommendations about events throughout Southeast Michigan, whether presented by UMS or by other organizations. Recommendations will be shared via UMS Lobby (our blog), email, and social media campaigns. Fellows will also be asked to participate in select UMS education and community engagement activities with university and community. The fellowship period takes place from September 2016 to April 2017.

Fellows will receive $1,000 and opportunities for special behind-the-scenes access to UMS and artists, based on fellow and artist availability and interest.

Who should apply

Are you passionate and knowledgeable about arts and culture happenings in Southeast Michigan? Do you like to share that passion? If so, you’re on the right track.

We’re looking for two fellows to participate in this program. Fellows can come from any background, but should be at least 21 years of age and should be based in Southeast Michigan.

How to apply

Submit the following materials using the form below by July 18.

• Short statement. In 500 words, tell us why you’d make a good blogging fellow. What’s your experience with arts and culture in Southeast Michigan? Which events and performances have you attended in the past year? Which one was most memorable? Most surprising?
• CV. 1-2 page CV highlighting experiences that you think are relevant to the position.
• Clips. 2-3 samples of your writing. Links or clips. If your clips are not accessible online, send them to us via email attachment or link to Dropbox to ums-lobby@umich.edu. Please use subject line “Wallace Fellows Application: [Your Name].
• Links to social media accounts. Part of the goal of this program is to build community around cultural happenings. To that end, please send us links your social media accounts as applicable (personal accounts or accounts related to arts & culture that you manage).

Apply

Questions? Ask them in the comments below or email ums-lobby@umich.edu. This program is new to us! We welcome your feedback.

Applications are now closed. We’ll announce artists in August 2016.

2016-17 UMS Artists in Residence Program

UMS is pleased to announce the third installment of our artists in “residence” program. Why “residence” in quotes? Because instead of a traditional artist residence, during which artists quite literally live and work at the place where the artist residency is located, we’re asking area artists to take residence at our performances.

Five artists (including visual, literary, and performing artists) will be selected to take “residence” at UMS performances, using these experiences as a resource to support the creation of new work or to fuel an artistic journey.  

In 2016-17 season, our residency’s theme is renegade art-making and art-makers. Artists in residence can choose performances from our Renegade events.

Who should apply

We’re looking for five residents to participate in this program. We welcome artists from across disciplines including visual arts, literary arts, and performing arts. Applicants should be at least 18 years of age and should be based regionally to be able to attend performances.

Residents will receive

• Complimentary UMS performance tickets to
  • Two to three 2016-17 Renegade performances of their choosing
  • One performance that’s not a Renegade series performance of their choosing (choose from rest of season)
  • Two “required” performances that all UMS artists in residence will attend together: a special kick-off performance on Sunday, September 11 (details to be announced) and Igor and Moreno’s Idiot-Syncrasy (January 12-14, date to be determined).
  • Performances should support an artistic journey (more on that in the application guidelines section below). Some ticket restrictions may apply.
• Opportunities for special behind-the-scenes access to UMS and artists, based on artist availability and interest.
• Access to gatherings with other residents and visiting artists throughout the course of the season and opportunities to share thoughts, experiences, and process.
• $500 stipend

UMS will

• Interview artists prior to the program’s start and at the end of the program to document residents’ journeys. Interviews and other documentation of the residency experience will appear here on our blog.
• Ask artists to submit two short posts over the course of the year for our blog; the content of these posts is open-ended and will be determined by UMS and artists together.
• Engage residents in selected education and community engagement activities with university and community.
• Offer opportunities to showcase creative work in conjunction with UMS events when possible. Rights to the work remain wholly with the residents; UMS simply requests permission to share work in a manner agreed-upon with the residents.

How to apply

Submit the following materials by Friday, June 17.

• Statement of intent. In 500 words, tell us about 3-4 UMS performances you would like to attend and explain how experiencing Renegade series performances might support your creative work. What do you hope to produce as a result of the residency?
• CV. 1-2 page CV highlighting your artistic work.
• Portfolio. Samples of your work. If your portfolio is available online, please send a link (or links) to your portfolio. Writers should submit 5-10 pages of work. Visual artists should submit 3-4 photo representations of different works. Performing artists should submit 2-3 visual representations of different works (in the case of musicians, submit 3-4 musical selections). Interdisciplinary work welcome. If your portfolio is not accessible online, send your portfolio to us via email attachment or link to Dropbox to ums-lobby@umich.edu. Please use subject line “Community AiR Application: [Your Name].

Questions? Ask them in the comments below or email ums-lobby@umich.edu. We welcome your feedback.

Apply

Find out about our growing cohort of UMS Artist in Residence alumni.

In this video, 2014-15 residents chat about what they loved about and learned through the program.

Members of the media interested in more information about the program should contact Anna Prushinskaya, manager of digital media, at annavp@umich.edu.

UMS has something to inspire everyone, from classical music, jazz, global, and indie music, to dance and theater. From left to right, artists on our 2015-2016 season: Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, to perform works of dance pioneer William Forsythe; My Brightest Diamond, who opens our season with the Detroit Party Marching Band; theater and cabaret artist Taylor Mac; violinist Gil Shaham, whose performance of Bach’s violin partitas collides with the iconic film world of David Michalek, and Antigone by Sophokles, in a new translation by Ann Arbor’s Award-winning poet Anne Carson. Photos courtesy of artists.

UMS is pleased to announce the second installment of our artists in “residence” program. Why “residence” in quotes? Because instead of a traditional artist residence, during which artists quite literally live at the place where the artist residency is located, we’re asking area artists to take residence at our performances.

We’re looking for five residents to participate in this program. We welcome artists from across disciplines including visual arts, literary arts, and performing arts. Applicants should be at least 18 years of age and should be based locally to be able to attend performances.

Residents will receive:

• Complimentary UMS performance tickets to three to four 2015-2016 season UMS performances of their choosing (in addition to two “required” performances that all UMS artists in residence will attend together). Performances should support an artistic journey (more on that in the application guidelines section below). Some ticket restrictions may apply. The “required” performances to be attended by the cohort are My Brightest Diamond (September 11) and A Christmas Carol (early December).
• Opportunities for special behind the scenes access to UMS and artists, provided artist availability and interest.
• Access to gatherings with other residents and visiting artists throughout the course of the season and opportunities to share thoughts, experiences, and process.
• $500 stipend

UMS will:

• Interview artists prior to the program’s start and at the end of the program to document residents’ journeys. Interviews and other documentation of the residency experience will appear here on our blog, umslobby.org.
• Ask artists to submit two short posts for umslobby.org; the content of these posts is open-ended and will be determined by UMS and artists together.
• Engage residents in limited education and community engagement activities with university and community.
• Offer opportunities to showcase creative work in conjunction with UMS events when possible. Rights to the work remain wholly with the residents, UMS simply requests permission to share work in a manner agreed-upon with the residents.

2014-2015 Residents on what they loved about the program:

How can I apply?

Submit the following materials using the form below by August 3.

• Statement of intent. In 250 words, tell us about 3-4 UMS performances you would like to attend and explain how experiencing these performances might support your creative work. What do you hope to produce as a result of the residency?
• CV. 1-2 page CV highlighting your artistic work.
• Portfolio. Samples of your work. If your portfolio is available online, please send a link (or links) to your portfolio. Writers should submit 5-10 pages of work. Visual artists should submit 3-4 photo representations of different works. Performing artists should submit 2-3 visual representations of different works (in the case of musicians, submit 3-4 musical selections). Interdisciplinary work welcome. If your portfolio is not accessible online, send your portfolio to us via email attachment or link to Dropbox to ums-lobby@umich.edu. Please use subject line “Community AiR Application: [Your Name].

Questions? Ask them in the comments below or email ums-lobby@umich.edu. This program is new to us! We welcome your feedback.

Thanks to all who applied! We’ve announced our 2015-2016 artists in residence.