Arts Initiative
Arts Initiative

Arts Initiative Workshops 2026 - 2027

The Arts Initiative is university-wide, and we believe the arts are for everyone. One of our goals is to make creative experiences accessible across all three University of Michigan campuses and beyond by connecting students, faculty, staff, and community members through meaningful artistic opportunities.

Throughout the year, we support hundreds of free or low-cost events, workshops, performances, exhibitions, artist talks, creative wellness programs, and public art experiences. Whether someone has been making art their entire life or is trying something creative for the very first time, there's a place for them here.

We believe that creativity helps us build community, explore new ideas, reduce stress, and connect with one another in meaningful ways. There's no expectation to be an artist when attending our workshops —just come as you are, stay curious, and enjoy the process.



Art in the Arb: Creative Writing w/ Caroline New

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Nichols Arboretum 1610 Washington Hts. Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Caroline New

Join us for "Art in the Arb", a special workshop series designed to welcome U-M students, staff, and faculty to Nichols Arboretum through a shared arts experience. Join teaching artist Caroline New to be inspired by the beauty of nature and explore your creativity through writing, all while connecting with others. No prior art or writing experience is required; all levels are welcome.  All materials are provided. Bring your curiosity and love for the outdoors!


Artist Bio

Caroline is a scholar and artist from southwest Georgia. She is the author of A History of Half-Birds (Milkweed Editions, 2024) and If I Call This Cave a Garden (YesYes Books, forthcoming 2027).


Her creative work is rooted in the precarious landscape of the Gulf Coast, where her practice spans poetry, sculpture, painting, film, choreography, and the tendons in between. As a Ph.D. student in anthropology, she studies in beyond-human entanglements, ruptures in temporality, and death and extinction in wetlands. She earned her M.F.A. in Poetry at the University of Michigan.


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