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AADL Talks To: Earl Jackson
In this episode, AADL Talks To Earl Jackson. Earl talks about his time growing up in Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor, from his early years to his work at Borders Books and Music where he worked as a framer to the evolution of his career in the visual arts. He also discusses some of the organizations and people who inspired and mentored him, and reflects on the changes in themes and style in his work.
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AADL Talks To: Margaret Parker
In this episode, AADL Talks to Margaret Parker. Margaret has been working as an artist for seven decades. She talks about her parents’ influence on her desire to become an artist and the evolution of her artistic development, from working in different mediums to confronting social justice issues in her work. Margaret talks about her time with the Michigan chapter of the Women's Caucus for Art and her commitment to bring public to Ann Arbor through her work on the Ann Arbor Public Art Commission.
For more information, see our digital collections related to Margaret Parker, or visit the artist's website.
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Friends of the Sixties: Interview with Rock Poster Artist Gary Grimshaw
An interview by archivist of popular culture Michael Erlewine of rock-poster artist Gary Grimshaw, along with samples from various periods of Grimshaw's work. Erlewine also tells how he got into making posters himself in the 1960s for his band the Prime Movers Blues Band.
This video originally appeared here.
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AACHM Oral History: Leah Bass-Baylis
Leah Bass-Baylis was born in 1954 in Ypsilanti. Her parents Thomas and Louise Bass–a doctor and teacher–were influential members of Ypsilanti’s Black community. She studied dance at Ypsilanti’s Randazzo Dance Theater and graduated from Spelman College in Atlanta in 1976. She also holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership and Organizational Change from the University of Southern California. Bass-Baylis was a dancer and choreographer for many Broadway shows, including performing in The Tap Dance Kid. In her later career as an administrator, she developed arts education programs in Los Angeles. She and her husband Doug Baylis have four children.
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Nerd Nite #71 - How to Avoid Making Art While Still Being an Artist
While drawing in public, I have had countless conversations with random strangers about Art and being an artist, and mostly about how almost everybody thinks they aren’t one and can’t make any. I will endeavor to prove that everyone in the room was or is an artist, I will explain how my father’s desire for peace & quiet in restaurants defused my own Fear of the Blank Canvas, and I will answer the eternal question asked of every sidewalk artist: “But won’t you be sad when it rains?”
About David Zinn: David Zinn is a life-long A2 townie, an alumnus of the U-M Residential College, and a former freelance commercial artist who currently makes his living by drawing on sidewalks with chalk. He is as surprised by this as you are. Follow him on Twitter @davidzinn_art.
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Bunraku-Style Puppetry with Tom Lee
U-M Center for World Performance Studies visiting puppet artist Tom Lee presents a special workshop exploring Japanese traditional puppetry techniques that have had an enormous influence on world puppetry performance. Following a short talk on bunraku-style puppetry, participants had a hands-on opportunity to handle traditional Japanese puppets and draw back the curtain on how these beautiful puppets are brought to life through skillful puppetry technique.
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Ann Arbor Wayzgoose & Printing Festival | Voices in Print Speaker Series
The Voices in Print Speaker Series features three printmakers working in the field today. Each speak for 20-30 minutes on how they are involved in printmaking & related topics.
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Author Event | Linda Solomon: The Queen Next Door: Aretha Franklin, An Intimate Portrait
The Queen Next Door: Aretha Franklin, An Intimate Portrait is a book full of firsts, as photojournalist Linda Solomon was invited not only to capture historical events in Aretha’s music career showcasing Detroit, but to join in with the Franklin family’s most intimate and cherished moments in her beloved hometown. In this talk she reflects on this book which documents Aretha's life and career.
Linda Solomon met Aretha in 1983 when Linda was beginning her career as a photojournalist and newspaper columnist and was hired to capture the singer’s major career events, and to also document everything else. What developed over these years of photographing birthday and Christmas parties, annual celebrity galas, private backstage moments, photo shoots with the iconic pink Cadillac, and more, was a friendship between two women who grew to enjoy and respect one another.
Martin Bandyke, morning drive host on Ann Arbor's 107one, hosted this event.
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A2CAF 2019 - Kids' Comics Awards
Which comic in 2018 had the most epic adventure? Which comic had the best friends? Kids voted in these and other categories, including their favorite characters and graphic novels! Help us celebrate the seventh annual Kids’ Comics Awards! With puppets, cartoonists, and lots of laughs!
This event was part of A2CAF 2019, an annual all-ages Comic Arts Festival!
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A2CAF 2019 - Author Discussion: Raina Telgemeier and Jerry Craft
Join Jerry Craft and Raina Telgemeier for a discussion on Jerry's graphic novel, New Kid. Together they'll explore Jerry's journey as a young artist to a published graphic novelist, and how young people might find their own path into comics.
This event was part of A2CAF, an annual all-ages Comic Arts Festival!