Arts and Culture

Northern Michigan University's Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble will launch a new Okanagan Charter Concert Series, which highlights musical themes that support NMU's strategic commitment to well-being, at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24, in Reynolds Recital Hall. Both groups will perform pieces that advance the dialogue of mental health awareness. New Director of Bands Steven Riley will also mark his first NMU concert by incorporating a multi-movement suite by a Michigan composer that features the melodies of numerous folk tunes to honor the agricultural, maritime and lumbering history of the state.

Northern Michigan University's Department of Music will host three performance events next week. All will be held in Reynolds Recital Hall. The first is a Superior String Alliance Pop-in Piano Trio Concert at noon Tuesday, Feb. 18.

Northern Michigan University's DeVos Art Museum is accepting submissions through March 18 for its “North of the 45th: 2025 Annual Upper Midwest Juried Exhibition.” Artists living in Michigan, Wisconsin or Minnesota north of the 45th parallel are invited to submit their works from all media.

A Shakespeare play presented with the second week of deer camp in the Upper Peninsula as its backdrop might seem a strange combination or stretch, but Jimmy Ludwig, director of this month's Northern Michigan University production of "Much Ado About Nothing," said his adaptation is designed to make the show more relatable to local audiences.  

The lives and work of the Upper Peninsula's greatest politicians will be on display beginning Friday, Feb. 21, in the Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center's new exhibition, “The Political Life.” An opening reception will be held from 5–7 p.m. in the center's Gries Hall gallery at Northern Michigan University. Admission to the reception and exhibition is free. 

The Northern Michigan University Queers & Allies group presents its 28th annual Drag Show at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 7, in the Northern Center's Grand Ballroom. According to organizers, this is an opportunity to meet the lineup of some of the most talented names in drag and take pictures. 

The Northern Michigan University DeVos Art Museum is hosting its School of Art & Design Faculty Biennial Exhibition through March 29. The 2025 Faculty Biennial Exhibition highlights a diversity of creative achievements by participating faculty from across the School of Art & Design. 

Three Northern Michigan University Theatre & Dance students earned awards at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival's (KCACTF) Region 3 conference in Madison. Mark Simons from Cadillac became the second NMU student ever to advance to nationals at the Kennedy Center with a win in the Musical Theater Intensive. Maya Moreau of Dearborn, who made history last year as the first from NMU to advance to nationals, won the Classical Acting Award. Liam Fisher of Grand Rapids received a scholarship to attend the Open Jar Institute, New York City's premiere Broadway actor training program, this summer.

The book selected for this year's Diversity Common Reader Program (DCRP) at Northern Michigan University is As We Have Always Done: Indigenous Freedom Through Radical Resistance by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson. Held annually since 2013, the DCRP revolves around a nonfiction book of interdisciplinary interest that advances discussions of diversity, inclusion and social justice.

Northern Michigan University's Northern Shores Storywork Writing Project has announced the 31 Upper Peninsula teens selected as regional award winners for the 2025 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the country's longest-running and most prestigious scholarship and recognition program for creative students in grades 7-12. There were 113 submissions from the Upper Peninsula, a significant increase over the eight received last year.