In October, UMMA invited 12-16 individuals to create 2-3 minute videos in response to works of art in our collection to be made available to the public next spring in our galleries and on the DialogTable, UMMA's award-winning interactive storytelling and social learning tool. Generously supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, this project is designed to bring in fresh perspectives and creative new voices to the Museum space and to in turn increase access and engage diverse audiences with UMMA's renowned collections.
"UMMA has been in the forefront of museums developing innovative ways to offer multiple points of entry into collections," said Ruth Slavin, UMMA Deputy Director, Education and Curatorial. "These films will show us the collection through diverse lenses."
These project-based workshops allow the Museum to work collaboratively with a diverse group and with various levels of expertise-from novice to advanced. A broad range of approaches are considered and encouraged (e.g. documentary, story-based, non-linear, sample-based collage, abstraction, music video, etc.) The participants were selected through a competitive application process.
UMMA has engaged two prominent filmmakers to serve as workshop instructors:
Donald Harrison is an independent filmmaker, community leader, and former executive director of the Ann Arbor Film Festival. Harrison has over ten years experience producing film, video, and media installations. He has reviewed more than 5,000 films in the last five years, hosted over 100 film screenings, launched new educational film programs, and served on the boards of directors for the Arts Alliance, Michigan Theater, and the Detroit Film Center.
Sharad Patel in an independent filmmaker with over twenty years producing film and video. Patel has produced television spots, animations, short documentaries, and experimental films and has screened his work at SXSW Film Festival, Gen Arts Film Festival, Houston International Film Festival, Aurora Picture Show, and others. He most recently served as the 2012 artist-in-residence at the Chelsea River Gallery running filmmaking, screenwriting, and storyboarding community workshops.