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Public Art of the Week

784 Wilson Road, East Lansing The Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine is worth a trip for its terrific animal sculptures and artwork. The most spectacular is …

‘There are many layers to this’

Courtesy Soul Box Project
The centerpiece of the newest Broad exhibit, “Art in the Aftermath,” is an array of nearly 3,000 tiny boxes from the national Soul Box Project, each of which represents a person who was killed or injured by gun violence.
Quiet spaces for meditation and healing, sobering visual reminders of the scope and impact of gun violence in America and calls to action are all part of a new exhibit at Michigan State University’s Broad Art Museum, “Art in the Aftermath: Healing Gun Violence Through Artivism.”

2025 Michigan Notable Books run the gamut

As is typical of the Michigan Notable Book list, this year’s selections represent an eclectic mix of topics, with the one caveat that they all have some relationship to Michigan culture, geography and/or people.
“Big Gretch” is on the promotion trail for the young-adult version of her memoir, “True Gretch,” which was recently selected as a Michigan Notable Book for 2025.

Lansing’s first family of food

Erin Brains, founder of the Lansing Foodies group.
To put the Lansing Foodies group and its jaw-dropping 75,600-person Facebook membership in some perspective, consider that a Google search of similar foodie groups in Grand Rapids and Detroit,

Even non-fans will be thrilled with ‘MJ’ the musical

The cast of the North American tour of “MJ” the musical, running at the Wharton Center Tuesday (Feb. 11) through Feb. 16.
Devin Bowles wasn’t a big Michael Jackson fan. But when he saw “MJ” the musical on Broadway — the first of many viewings for him — he knew he wanted to be in the show.
From left: Kat Paloyan as Kaliope Darkwalker, Neysa Nohara as Tilly Evans and Theory Grande-Cassell as Lilith Morningstar in Ixion Ensemble Theatre’s production of “She Kills Monsters,” by Qui Nguyen.
As Ixion Ensemble Theatre celebrates its 10th season, the choice to rehash a previously staged show from its 2015-‘16 season, Qui Nguyen’s “She Kills Monsters,”
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Lawrence Cosentino/City Pulse
“Summer Harvest,” a 2023 watercolor by Anishinaabe artist Jamie John of Traverse City, is on display at the MSU Broad Art Museum as part of the new exhibition “Farmland: Food, Justice and Sovereignty,” which runs through July 27.
Don’t let the lounging cows give you a false sense of security. “Farmland: Food, Justice and Sovereignty,” a major new exhibit on view at the Michigan State University Broad Art Museum through July 27,
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Author and University of Michigan law Professor Matthew Fletcher, a member of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, said that much of what goes on in his new collection of short stories, “Stick Houses,” happened to him or someone he knows. The stories revolve around modern Indigenous culture and involve themes like land loss, alcoholism, reservation life and intergenerational trauma resulting from families being broken up.
East Lansing author and law Professor Matthew Fletcher has taken bits and pieces from his life and consolidated them into his first collection of short stories, “Stick Houses,” which he hit out of the park.
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Jake Odmark as Beau and Danielle Wade as Maizy in the North American tour of “Shucked,” running at the Wharton Center through Sunday (Jan. 26).
The Wharton Center’s first Broadway show of the new year is like a feast with an abundance of gourmet dishes and the occasional bean casserole made with canned soup.
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“Frosty the Snowman” may show up for a new downtown Lansing winter promotion showcasing creative snowfolk, but Frosty won’t melt away like the fictional character since no real snow can be used in the creations.
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Our 2023 Arts and Culture Issue:
Photo by Lauren Desberg, courtesy Wharton Center
Time for Three (from left: Nicolas Kendall, Charles Yang and Ranaan Meyer) will bring high energy and tight rapport to the Wharton Center on Jan. 29.
A constant communion
A live concert by string trio Time for Three is more than an evening of music. Watching and listening to Charles Yang (violin/vocals),
“I kept trying my best not to write it,” Midland author Jeff Vande Zande said of his new gothic horror novel, “The Dance of Rotten Sticks.” “I’m not a reader of horror, and I looked snobbishly down my nose at the genre.” However, the author ended up enjoying the experience so much that he’s 40,000 words into a sequel, which is set in northern Michigan’s Pigeon River State Forest.
Jeff Vande Zande scares himself with new gothic horror novel
A word of warning: Don’t start reading Jeff Vande Zande’s new gothic horror novel before going to bed. You’ll stay up late trying to uncover what happens next, and you’ll end up with nightmares.
Bernard LaFayette Jr., a minister, educator, lecturer and prominent civil rights leader of the mid-20th century, will deliver the keynote address at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commission of Mid-Michigan’s 40th annual Day of Celebration luncheon on Monday (Jan. 20).
The dream marches on
Martin Luther King Jr. is lauded as one of the most influential figures in American history — so much so that his birthday is honored each year with a holiday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day,
From left: Quinn Kelly as Jake II, TJ Kelly as Walt and Lewis Elson as Jake I in Riverwalk Theatre’s production of “Lustful Youth.”
Playful chaos transpires in Riverwalk Theatre’s ‘Lustful Youth’
For anyone who took an introduction to theater class in college, Riverwalk Theatre’s production of “Lustful Youth” will feel like déjà vu. In such a class,
Plymouth Township-based author and Civil War historian Jack Dempsey said he can trace his interest in the war to when he was 3 years old and was boosted up onto a monument of Stonewall Jackson at Manassas National Battlefield Park for a photograph.
Historian says Civil War stories can ‘help to draw us together’
Plymouth Township-based author and historian Jack Dempsey has written 10 books, seven of them on the Civil War.

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