Creators on Campus (CoC) is a residency program that will make available the full scope of resources at the University of Michigan, a premier destination for emerging and established artists to drive creativity, collaboration, and discovery. This endeavor will expand existing visiting artist programs and initiate cyclical larger-scale programs. CoC will enhance learning, arts research, and the overall campus experience for students. Artists in turn can employ the full scope of resources at the U-M to drive collaboration, innovation, and to discover novel ways of addressing grand challenges.
Funding for faculty, students, and staff to implement programs, projects, and performances that will help to discover, shape, inform, and advance the evolving Arts Initiative during its startup phase around four themes: Advancing Creative Collaborations, Art in Action / Transformative Performances, Catalyzing Capacities, Expanding/Growing Audiences & Communities.
These bold projects will enable experimental ways of thinking about the role of the arts for the UM community and the Southeast Michigan region and serve as exemplars for the Arts Initiative’s Startup Phase. All of the projects reflect a strong commitment to social justice and community impact as well as connections and synergies with multiple disciplines in the university.
Students formed interdisciplinary teams to take on the semester-long challenge, taking forward the core DEI values of the university and its community. Teams set out to design the future! Teams accessed design asynchronously through a Canvas site, supplemented with bi-weekly feedback sessions and mentoring. 60 students participated in the challenge, with 7 teams competing for special prizes in the “Envisioning an Anti-Racist World” category.