The Stamps Gallery is part of the University of Michigan Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design. It is located at 201 S. Division Street in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Image credit: Nick Beardslee/University of Michigan Stamps School of Art & Design.

ANN ARBOR—The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts recently announced that the Stamps Gallery in downtown Ann Arbor will be the recipient of an $80,000 grant to support public exhibitions, public programs and publications dedicated to exploring inclusive, equitable futures through the lens of contemporary art practice.

Part of the University of Michigan Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design, the Stamps Gallery presents original exhibitions and public programs that focus largely on shining a spotlight on artists and designers who use creative work to catalyze social change.

The Stamps Gallery is directed by award-winning curator and writer Srimoyee Mitra, whose approach to organizing exhibitions and selecting artists acknowledges the intergenerational and cultural losses endured through colonial and racial violence in North America that marginalize women, queer, indigenous and racialized communities from all walks of life, including the art world.

Spanning two years of programming, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts grant will support six exhibitions and corresponding programs, as well as launch the gallery’s publications program.

Exhibitions include work by artists micha cárdenas, Oliver Husain, Elizabeth LaPensée, Meryl McMaster, Syrus Marcus Ware, Osman Khan, Razi Jafri, Stephanie Dinkins, Dylan Miner and Sheila de Bretteville. The foundation will also support an exhibition of LaToya Ruby Frazier’s photography series “Flint is Family,” which will be shown in the Midwest for the first time at the Stamps Gallery in fall 2020.

Stamps Gallery attendees participate in a recent book-making activity in the gallery. Image credit: Nick Beardslee/University of Michigan Stamps School of Art & Design.

The grant will also serve to support an exhibition publication for “Envision: The Michigan Artist Initiative,” the gallery’s inaugural and statewide award program designed to support the development of contemporary artists living and working in Michigan.

“Through meaningful dialogues with artists of diverse and multigenerational backgrounds, our goal is to inspire and evoke conversations on socially and culturally relevant issues that inform the concerns of artists’ works in the 21st century,” Mitra said. “Recognition and support from the Warhol Foundation is an important milestone in our efforts—and we are very grateful.”

Stamps Gallery: 2020-21 exhibition and programming schedule

Taking A Stand (Jan. 17-Feb. 29, 2020)
Featuring work by micha cárdenas, Oliver Husain, Elizabeth LaPensée, Meryl McMaster and Syrus Marcus Ware, the artists in this exhibition use science-fiction-inspired visual narratives as a way to build new understandings of solidarity, empathy and decoloniality. Affiliated public programs include talks, tours, workshops and a series of book events around Nia King’s anthology “Queer and Trans Artists of Color.”

Envision: The Michigan Artist Initiative (Call for Work: March 16-April 30, 2020; Exhibition: Jan. 15-Feb. 28, 2021)
Organized by the Stamps Gallery, “Envision: The Michigan Artist Initiative” is a new awards program designed to support the development of contemporary artists living and working in Michigan. With an open call for work launching March 16-April 30 and a jury comprised of artists and curators, “Envision” will culminate with an exhibition that features the work of three to five finalists at the Stamps Gallery Jan. 13-Feb. 28, 2021. The winner of the exhibition will receive a $5,000 prize and a solo exhibition at the Crooked Tree Art Center in Traverse City, Michigan. This initiative showcases the excellence and merit of contemporary art practices in Michigan and recognizes the creativity, rigor and innovation of artists and collaboratives working in the region.

Halal Metropolis (May-July 2020)
Organized by the U-M art & design professor and artist Osman Khan, photographer Razi Jafri and U-M Dearborn historian Sally Howell, this exhibition presents photo- and video-based installations, tapestries and materials from community archives to highlight the impact and influence of Muslim migrant and refugee artists in Southeast Michigan and beyond. Affiliated public programs include talks, performances and workshops.

Latoya Ruby Frazier: Flint is Family (August-October 2020)
LaToya Ruby Frazier’s photography series “Flint is Family” examines the recent trauma of contaminated water that poisoned thousands of residents in Flint, Michigan. Elements of Frazier’s work on Flint was recently included in the 2019 SFMoma exhibition “Soft Power.” Her Stamps Gallery exhibition will be accompanied by seminars and workshops with Flint residents, activists, designers and scholars.

Stephanie Dinkins (August-October 2021)
Transmedia artist Stephanie Dinkins explores how artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality and mixed reality intersects with race, gender, aging and future histories. As part of the exhibition, she will work with scientists, philosophers and engineers of color at U-M to create a 360-degree immersive installation on the memoir of one black American family told by an AI entity called NTOO (Not the Only One).

Dylan Miner (October-November 2021)
Artist and scholar Dylan Miner examines the possibility of returning agency to those who lost it by paying homage to his ancestors from the Métis “Halfbreed” community on Bootaagani-minis (the Anishinaabemowin name for Michigan’s Drummond Island). The historic Métis community fought in the War of 1812, and after a border dispute, were forcibly removed from their ancestral lands. In addition to a multisite exhibition, Miner’s project will culminate in a symposium and a publication.

More Information:

• Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
• U-M Stamps School of Art & Design
• Stamps Gallery