Arts Initiative
Arts Initiative

Staff Explorer Pass - Michigan Arts Festival 2026

The Michigan Arts Festival spotlights the vibrant university arts scene, serving as a broad invitation for everyone to engage with the arts at Michigan—our museums, theaters, and concert halls—to celebrate the role of the arts in research, learning, and community life.


In partnership with Voices of the Staff, the U-M Arts Initiative is offering the Michigan Arts Festival Staff Explorer Pass, made up of complimentary tickets for select campus events and extra special experiences for U-M staff members all throughout October! U-M Staff members from all three campuses are encouraged to participate and are welcome to register for as many or as few programs as they would like. Please note that limited space is available for several of the Staff Explorer Pass opportunities, but waitlists will be available if a Session is full.



Staff Explorer Pass | Dabls in Detroit Tour With visiting artist Olayami Dabls

Session Is Over
-
Register to attend at https://myumi.ch/2j346.

Note: This program includes a roundtrip shuttle from Ann Arbor to Detroit. For more information and to register visit here: https://myumi.ch/2j346 


Join artist Olayami Dabls for a guided tour of the MBAD African Bead Museum, a one-of-a-kind cultural destination that reimagines what a museum can be. Featuring an art gallery, bead shop, buildings transformed into canvases, and two city blocks of immersive outdoor installations, the museum invites visitors into a vibrant artistic landscape. As you explore with the artist, you'll examine how traditional perspectives on African and European art shape what we see, how we assign value, and how we interpret works of art—offering a thought-provoking experience that challenges assumptions and sparks new ways of seeing. Register to attend at https://myumi.ch/2j346.



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  

For questions or contact information click here