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2015-16 Michele Schara Artist & Designers in Residence Announced

Schara lauraamtower 3

The Stamps School’s Michele Schara Artist & Designer in Residency program invites U‑M alumni and artists living and working in Detroit to propose and complete a project that engages U‑M Students and youth in one of two Stamps School partner schools in Detroit — Bennett Elementary and Detroit Community Schools.

Schara Residency projects engage with teachers and students from kindergarten through high school to integrate art and design into existing curriculums, while exposing youth to new skill sets, experiences, and ways of thinking.

We are excited to publicly announce our residents for Summer/​Fall 2015 & Winter 2016. Learn more about their projects below, and on the Michele Schara Artist & Designer in Residency Program page:


Summer 2015

Zak Rosen, Detroit based independent radio producer, will work with a team of Brightmoor youth to develop programmatic content and ideas for a burgeoning Brightmoor Community Radio Station. Covering field recording, interviewing, story development, investigative reporting, editing, and distribution, the residency will be spent preparing youth to create and share their own audio content focused on local people, places, issues, and events. 


Ian Klipa (BFA 2015) a sculptor and video artist, will introduce the basic principles of low tooling metal fabrication and will work with Detroit Community High School students to modify and refurbish industrial tricycles into delivery vehicles for community-run businesses. 


Fall 2015

Laura Amtower (MFA 2015) will work with students at Bennett Elementary School to design and build a multipurpose cart outfitted with materials to be used in classroom learning, indoor recess, and public school events. The cart will be created collaboratively with k‑5 students to mimicking other similar classroom tools available on the market –but designed by students for their own classroom. The cart will be constructed in phases, allowing students to experiment and learn about possibilities and impact over time. 

Lyz Luidens (BFA 2013) will work with students at Detroit Community High School on developing The Detroit Atlas Project. The Detroit Atlas Project aims to give Detroit youth the chance to map their city however they see fit: through research, personal experience, or purely aesthetic visual choices. Youth-made maps will be reproduced using screen and relief printing and bound together to form atlas of youth-drawn maps of the city of Detroit. 


Winter 2016

Carrie Morris (MFA 2007) will facilitate The Detroit Teen Video Project with students at Detroit Community High. Detroit Teen Video Project is a free digital media workshop that gives Detroit youth access to equipment and instructional support in order to make their own short films. Through the workshop participants learn about digital media, storytelling, collaboration and job skills while focusing on ways to see and share how local knowledge can be universal.


Emilia Javanica (MFA 2012) will introduce techniques in playwriting, devised theater, puppetry and scenography in workshops for 4th and 5th grade students at Bennett Elementary. Bennett students will develop content for a new theatrical production that Emilia will produce and direct in collaboration with students from the University of Michigan. 

Visit the Michele Schara Artist & Designer in Residency Program page for more details on upcoming residencies.