Frank Uhle Talks to Dallas Kenny about Campus Cinema and the Matrix Theatre

Fri, 10/10/2025 - 8:54am

Dallas Kenny currently runs a global education consulting business. But back in the 1970s, he was committed to Ann Arbor's cinema culture. Kenny helped found the non-profit New World Media Project, the umbrella organization for the New World Film Cooperative, which showed film on and around the University of Michigan campus. It oversaw Venus Productions, its printing and promotional arm, and the Matrix Theatre at 605 E. William Street, where New York Pizza Depot is located today. Frank Uhle, author of Cinema Ann Arbor: How Campus Rebels Forged a Singular Film Culture, talks with Kenny about his unique role in Ann Arbor's cinema culture, from his collaboration with other campus groups to promote community programming, to the rise and fall of the Matrix Theatre. 
 

Check out the Dallas Kenny Collection of historical film posters, schedules, and other documents. 

Read Frank's book here or check it out from our collection.

AADL Talks To: arwulf arwulf

Tue, 02/18/2025 - 2:22pm

In this wide-ranging conversation, local radio personality and cultural historian, arwulf, recalls the many Ann Arbor institutions, icons, and events that shaped his life. He discusses the impact of Ann Arbor’s counterculture during his youth in the late 1960s, from an early introduction to 1950s-1960s blues, rock, and jazz; psychedelia in its many forms; and Ann Arbor's anti-war movement, to his artistic awakening through film, theater, art, and radio. He also shares memories of his interactions with members of the Rainbow People's Party, his work as a Psychedelic Ranger during the legendary Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festivals, and Ann Arbor’s experimental alternative education movement. 

AADL Talks To: Peter Yates, Photographer

Tue, 04/09/2024 - 2:54pm

Peter is a professional photographer who started as a street photographer in New York and went on to work for national magazines and newspapers shortly after moving to Ann Arbor in 1969.

Peter reminisces about some of his memorable photography assignments; the restaurants and music venues he misses; the friends and colleagues who helped him; and his time working in Ann Arbor -- at Mark's Coffeehouse, the Blind Pig, and the Ann Arbor Observer.

Browse our Peter Yates Collection