Spartan Newsroom (https://news.jrn.msu.edu/category/news/arts-entertainment/)
Center City Art is a new event to the NAMI Lansing organization and allows local artists in Michigan to show and sell their artwork, in hopes that it will become a NAMI Lansing fundraiser to support the organization. NAMI Lansing gets a percentage of the earnings that an artist makes on all exhibition sales.
COUNTY FAIRS: After a devastating 2020, county fair officials are planning to resume at least some activities this year, but don’t expect the usual array of crowded grandstand shows. We talk to officials of the Cass County and Ingham County fairs. By Kirsten Rintelmann. FOR LANSING CITY PULSE, FOWLERVILLE, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, SURGIS, THREE RIVERS AND ALL POINTS.
ESPORTS: With interest buoyed during the pandemic, a growing number of high schools are getting in on the fun of esports, giving more legitimacy to video games. More than 50 are registered with the Michigan High School Esports Federation, joining over 170 U.S. colleges and universities with varsity esports programs – including 18 in the state. We talk to leaders from the Great Lakes Bay Regional Alliance in Freeland, Lawrence Tech and Detroit Catholic Central High School. By Nora Mougharbel. FOR DETROIT AND ALL POINTS.
MOUNTAIN BIKING: West Michigan mountain biking groups are seeing interest from new riders skyrocket, leading to shortages of bikes. More trails have opened as well. We talk to a new Rockford Rider, the coach of the West Michigan Coyotes youth biking team in Grand Rapids and the Ada-based West Michigan Mountain Biking Alliance, an Ada- said By Lindsay McCoy. FOR KUDINGTON, MANISTEE, HOLLAND, OCEANA, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, GREENVILLE AND ALL POINTS.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a new set of challenges for the performing arts. In mid-Michigan, K-12 school districts have adapted their fine arts extracurricular programs through virtual performances and rehearsals to slow the spread of COVID-19.
MUSIC FESTIVALS: The pandemic decimated Michigan’s music festival theme last summer, and many organizers have pulled the plug again for this year. However, plans are underway for some others to continue, at least for now, including the Unity Christian Music Festival in Muskegon and Faster Horses Music Festival in Brooklyn. Hiawatha Traditional Music Festival in Marquette explains why it’s been cancelled this year. Among the other cancellations: Detroit’s Movement Electronic Music Festival. For news and entertainment sections. By Elaine Mallon. FOR LUDINGTON, DETROIT, HOLLAND, OCEANA, MARQUETTE, SAULT STE. MARIE, LANSING CITY PULSE AND ALL POINTS.
BEYOND: Why is a game warden from the western Upper Peninsula traipsing through the wilds of Siberia and Northern Russia during World War I on a secret mission to rescue doomed Tsar Nicholas II. And who would send a Michigan game warden into the chaos of the Russian Civil War? The answers come from writer Joseph Heywood of Portage and Baraga County in his latest novel about a UP game warden. For news and features sections. By Eric Freedman. FOR MARQUETTE, BAY MILLS, SAULT STE. MARIE, ST. IGNACE AND ALL POINTS.
UNHOLY: The content and timing of a new film released on Good Friday is upsetting some people of faith in Michigan. The trailer for “Unholy” shows at statue of the Virgin Mary bleeding from her eyes, the main character of the movie performing a miracle by healing a parapalegic and a crucifix burning on the altar of a Roman Catholic church. The director says the film is respectful of religion. Two Catholic priests from East Lansing and the director of MSU’s Muslim Studies Program comment. For news and religion/faith sections. By Elaine Mallon. FOR ALL POINTS.
ARTS PROGRAMS: What’s happening with small performing arts programs hammered — and shuttered — by the pandemic? We talk to Michigan Humanities, the City Opera House in Traverse City and Detroit’s Ploughshares Theatre Co. For news and features sections. By Sophia Lada. FOR TRAVERSE CITY, LEELANAU, DETROIT, LANSING CITY PULSE AND ALL POINTS.
The old Lansing Mall theater is getting a makeover as plans for a new production studio and summer drive-in spot are underway.
The Theatre Department at Michigan State has allowed classes to return to in-person learning with COVID-19 safety measures in place. Theatre isn’t the only department to bring students back into classrooms, but with acting, singing and dance classes, it makes sense that it would be one of the first departments to do this. Normally, drama and singing classes would take place in the MSU Auditorium, but the Wharton Center for Performing Arts is allowing students to do their theatrics in its various theaters and spaces this semester. While the Wharton isn’t the typical classroom for the students, they were excited to be able to practice on stages that professional actors normally use. Students with in-person classes are required to participate in the Michigan State “COVID-19 Early Detection Program” and fill out a health screening prior to vising campus.
