Staff Explorer Pass - Michigan Arts Festival 2026

Join this very special U-M Staff-only guided tour!

Stamps Gallery kicks off the fall 2026 semester with an ambitious mid-career survey of interdisciplinary artist Cosmo Whyte. Born and raised in Jamaica, Whyte completed a BFA from Bennington College and earned an MFA from the University of Michigan. He is currently a faculty member at the School of the Arts and Architecture, UCLA.

This exhibition brings together two central concerns that animate Whyte’s artistic practice: the archive, both personal and public, as a site of disturbance; and migration as a lived experience of refuge, refusal, and reinvention. In Whyte’s work, the archive is never static or neutral. Rather, it is a contested space where official histories encounter memory, inheritance, and the fragments of stories carried across generations. His practice moves within this charged interstitial terrain, between what has been recorded and what has been remembered, between institutional knowledge and embodied experience. Whyte invites the viewer to consider the fluidity of geographic borders and layered cultural identities that have persisted despite societal unrest caused by racial and socio-economic hierarchies across generations. In an era of intensified border politics and renewed debates over national identity, Whyte’s work offers a timely meditation on memory, movement, and belonging.

This program is part of the Michigan Arts Festival Staff Explorer Pass. In partnership with Voices of the Staff, the U-M Arts Initiative is offering limited complimentary tickets for select campus events and extra special experiences for U-M staff members all throughout October! For a list of all Staff Explorer Pass events, visit https://sessions.studentlife.umich.edu/track/event/23512  

***Please note that complimentary Staff Explorer Pass tickets are limited to U-M staff members and limited amounts are available. Only register for yourself, and please let us know if you can no longer attend. Once registered, please plan to pick up your ticket at Will Call on performance day.  

REGISTER BY 10/2!

This registration is for complimentary U-M staff tickets. Seating is General Admission. To purchase additional tickets or for more information on this performance, visit the SMTD ticketing website here.

Born in colonized Ireland just after the turn of the twentieth century, Samuel Beckett wrote about how power works, and how it works on people -- especially the dispossessed and the destitute. His own experience hiding from the Gestapo in the French countryside surfaces in most famous play, Waiting for Godot (1953).Time Passes presents eight short plays written after Godot, from the late 1950s to the early 1980s. Showcasing Beckett's verbal play and visual precision, as well as his political imagination, they meet our own moment -- fierce, funny, uncompromising, and compassionate as ever.

This program is part of the Michigan Arts Festival Staff Explorer Pass. In partnership with Voices of the Staff, the U-M Arts Initiative is offering limited complimentary tickets for select campus events and extra special experiences for U-M staff members all throughout October! For a list of all Staff Explorer Pass events, visit https://sessions.studentlife.umich.edu/track/event/23512  

Join us for this special U-M Staff-only guided tour!

Welcome (back) to UMMA! Go behind the scenes and join a guided tour of the renovated galleries and newly-opened fall exhibitions, including Rick Lowe's Black Wall Street Journey: Re and DeImagining Black Progress and Holly Bass' We Hold These Truths. Gallery Educators will design an interactive conversation that encourages participants to learn about art and each other. 

The tour will last one hour and will begin in the UMMA lobby by the welcome desk. Look for Karen Steffes (karsteff@umich.edu) in a teal Michigan Arts Festival T-shirt in the lobby! 

Galleries and restrooms are accessible by elevator. Please no food or drink in the galleries. 

More information on UMMA and select galleries can be found at https://umma.umich.edu/

This program is part of the Michigan Arts Festival Staff Explorer Pass. In partnership with Voices of the Staff, the U-M Arts Initiative is offering limited complimentary tickets for select campus events and extra special experiences for U-M staff members all throughout October! For a list of all Staff Explorer Pass events, visit https://sessions.studentlife.umich.edu/track/event/23512  

***Please note that complimentary Staff Explorer Pass tickets are limited to U-M staff members and limited amounts are available. Only register for yourself, and please let us know if you can no longer attend. Once registered, please plan to pick up your ticket at Will Call on performance day.  

REGISTER NO LATER THAN 10/10!

This registration is for complimentary U-M staff tickets; staff seats will be assigned randomly in the Front/Middle of Sections 6 and 10 on the Mezzanine. To purchase additional tickets or for more information on this performance, visit here.

Mexican American singer Lupita Infante brings a fresh, modern voice to traditional mariachi and ranchera, carrying forward the legacy of her family while redefining it for a new generation.

Interested in attending the concert with a small group of like-minded staff? Register for a special pre-concert Staff Arts Meetup here!

This program is part of the Michigan Arts Festival Staff Explorer Pass. In partnership with Voices of the Staff, the U-M Arts Initiative is offering limited complimentary tickets for select campus events and extra special experiences for U-M staff members all throughout October! For a list of all Staff Explorer Pass events, visit https://sessions.studentlife.umich.edu/track/event/23512  

As part of the 2nd annual Michigan Arts Festival, the U-M Arts Initiative, with partners The Ark, Booksweet, and the Disability Network Washtenaw Monroe Livingston, will offer a concert and discussion by artists Wheelchair Sports Camp & Gaelynn Lea.

The event will take place from approx. 1-3pm; doors at 12pm. A free livestream will also be available on The Ark's YouTube channel.

After the concert, Booksweet will offer sales of Gaelynn Lea's 2026 memoir, IT WASN’T MEANT TO BE PERFECT. The artists will be present for a signing.*

*Special U-M Staff Explorer Pass Perk!: The first 20 U-M Staff Members to check in at The Ark on performance day (Staff ID required; doors open at 12 PM) will receive a complimentary copy of Gaelynn's memoir!

Masks are welcome/encouraged.

The Ark is fully accessible to those with disabilities and works to accommodate anyone with special seating needs. The listening room is located on the second floor and is wheelchair accessible by elevator, which is located just behind the box office, straight back from the main entrance. If you have any concerns about your specific needs, please indicate them via the RSVP form and/or contact The Ark at (734) 761-1800.

This program is sponsored in part by Neil and Annmarie Hawkins and U-M Student Accessibility and Accommodation Services.

More info on the artists:

Wheelchair Sports Camp is certainly not your average act. Hailing from Denver, CO, fronted by Kalyn Rose Heffernan - a wheelchair-using, profanely queer and tiny rapper, with a very distinctly high-pitched sense of humor. Backed by her gimp Greggy on drums, the band combines fantastic beats with an absolutely face-shredding live show. After playing shows everywhere they could, the band expanded into performance art, museum takeovers, politics, prison tours, permanent installations, theatre, film, and now the release of their newest album, “oh imperfecta” on Alternative Tentacles Records.

Gaelynn Lea has carved out a singular place in contemporary music since winning NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest in 2016. With her haunting songs and cinematic arrangements of live-looped fiddle tunes, she has captivated audiences around the world and gone on to compose the original score for Macbeth on Broadway. Her work moves fluidly across genres—she has collaborated with Michael Stipe, The Decemberists, Wilco, LOW, and Pigface. In 2026, Algonquin Books published Gaelynn Lea's debut memoir, IT WASN’T MEANT TO BE PERFECT. Her book is a warm, witty look at music, disability advocacy, and the complicated but beautiful life of a touring artist. Gaelynn is one of the leading public voices on Disability Culture and accessibility in the arts.

This program is part of the Michigan Arts Festival Staff Explorer Pass. In partnership with Voices of the Staff, the U-M Arts Initiative is offering limited complimentary tickets for select campus events and extra special experiences for U-M staff members all throughout October! For a list of all Staff Explorer Pass events, visit https://sessions.studentlife.umich.edu/track/event/23512  

Please note: This is a 2-part workshop (10/21 and 10/26). External registration is required here: https://myumi.ch/X8yjr.

Led by visiting artist Tomoyuki Ueno, with commentary by Institute for the Humanities Arts Curator Amanda Krugliak, participants in this two-part workshop event will gather natural materials on a brief Nature Walk on main campus and explore incorporating them in collage and printmaking. This workshop offers the opportunity to explore personal connections to the natural world around us, and consideration of the imprint we make. Light refreshments will be provided. Please wear comfortable shoes. Register to attend at https://myumi.ch/X8yjr.

Location: Institute for the Humanities Osterman Common Room, #1022 202 S. Thayer

This program is part of the Michigan Arts Festival Staff Explorer Pass. In partnership with Voices of the Staff, the U-M Arts Initiative is offering limited complimentary tickets for select campus events and extra special experiences for U-M staff members all throughout October! For a list of all Staff Explorer Pass events, visit https://sessions.studentlife.umich.edu/track/event/23512  

The Art Collections and Exhibitions Department for the U-M Dearborn campus is proud to offer a special Staff-only tour given by renowned artist Anita Bates of her exhibition, Frames of Reference, Past and Present: Selected Works By Anita Bates. 

The tour will take place from 1:00-2:30 pm. Immediately following the exhibition tour, Curator, Laura Cotton, will offer a brief tour of select pieces frrom the permanent collection displayed in the Library.

This event is free and available to all staff members from any of the three U-M campuses. It will take place inside the Stamelos Gallery Center, on the first floor of the Mardigian Library, UM- Dearborn, 4901 Evergreen Rd., Dearborn. Free parking is available in the large lot across from the library.

This program is part of the Michigan Arts Festival Staff Explorer Pass. In partnership with Voices of the Staff, the U-M Arts Initiative is offering limited complimentary tickets for select campus events and extra special experiences for U-M staff members all throughout October! For a list of all Staff Explorer Pass events, visit https://sessions.studentlife.umich.edu/track/event/23512  

Join fellow staff members for a special U-M Staff backstage Meet & Greet with Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker James Baxter, followed by his public lecture at 5:30 p.m.

Event Details:

• Meet in the lobby of the Michigan Theatre at 4:30pm
• Look for staff members with teal Michigan Arts Fest t-shirts!
• Receive Michigan Arts Fest swag!

Please Note:

• Backstage Meet & Greet is limited to U-M staff members.
• Can't make it? Let us know so your spot may be released.

Staff Art Meetups are staff-led excursions designed to explore the arts on campus and connect with colleagues who share similar interests. These meetups are being organized throughout October as part of the Michigan Arts Festival.

Questions? Contact your staff hosts: Meaghan Blanchard (mblanch@umich.edu) and Clarissa Santana (cmsantan@umich.edu)

About the Speaker
James Baxter is an award-winning character animator whose work has shaped some of the most beloved animated films and television series of the past four decades. Renowned for his expressive draftsmanship and mastery of performance through movement, Baxter has animated some of animation’s most iconic characters, including Belle in Beauty and the Beast, Rafiki in The Lion King, Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and the title character in Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. His work has also appeared in films including The Prince of Egypt, Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon, and Enchanted, among many others.

Throughout his career, Baxter has held creative and leadership roles at Walt Disney Feature Animation, DreamWorks Animation, and Netflix Animation, where he currently serves as vice president of animation. Working across both hand-drawn and computer animation, he has helped shape performances in some of the medium’s most recognizable films while also teaching and mentoring artists throughout the industry. His contributions to animation can also be seen in Adventure Time, where the recurring character James Baxter the Horse was created as a tribute to the animator.

Baxter will share stories from his four decades in animation and discuss the craft of character performance, offering a behind-the-scenes look at how movement, emotion, and storytelling come together to create memorable animated characters.

More information on the Penny Stamps Speaker Series can be found HERE.

This program is part of the Michigan Arts Festival Staff Explorer Pass. In partnership with Voices of the Staff, the U-M Arts Initiative is offering limited complimentary tickets for select campus events and extra special experiences for U-M staff members all throughout October! For a list of all Staff Explorer Pass events, visit https://sessions.studentlife.umich.edu/track/event/23512  

***Please note that complimentary Staff Explorer Pass tickets are limited to U-M staff members and limited amounts are available. Only register for yourself, and please let us know if you can no longer attend.

REGISTER NO LATER THAN 10/24!

Once registered, please plan to pick up your ticket at Will Call on performance day.  

This registration is for complimentary U-M staff tickets; staff seats will be assigned randomly in the rear of Sections 10, 9, and 6 of the Mezzanine. To purchase additional tickets or for more information on this performance, visit: https://tickets.smtd.umich.edu/6976

This popular and family-friendly tradition brings together the University Symphony and University Philharmonia Orchestras for a musical celebration of the spooky season.

Kenneth Kiesler, artistic director

This program is part of the Michigan Arts Festival Staff Explorer Pass. In partnership with Voices of the Staff, the U-M Arts Initiative is offering limited complimentary tickets for select campus events and extra special experiences for U-M staff members all throughout October! For a list of all Staff Explorer Pass events, visit https://sessions.studentlife.umich.edu/track/event/23512