UMMA’s exterior media art initiative is free and open to the public, and will run September 15-22 from early evening to dawn along its South State Street-side facade, on the west side of the Maxine and Stuart Frankel and the Frankel Family Wing.
“Last year’s Nights event was a big hit with the local and campus community,” says Kathryn Huss, UMMA’s Interim Director. “This year, we’re making it bigger and better as we work to extend UMMA’s reach beyond the walls of the Museum.”
Throughout Nights, UMMA will showcase Chris Doyle’s video piece, “In the Labyrinth,” (right) from 10 p.m. to dawn. The digital animation video features an imaginary landscape built as a repository for environmental and economic anxieties.
UMMA is once again collaborating with University of Michigan and community partners – including the University Musical Society, the U-M Bicentennial Office, School of Music, Theatre & Dance and Department of Screen Arts & Cultures, the Ann Arbor District Library, and the Neutral Zone – to display video performances and art throughout the event.
Highlights include: a U-M Bicentennial documentary on September 15; Pixar’s WALL-E on September 16; Heart of Tones live dance event on September 17; a live simulcast of the New York Philharmonic performing Mahler’s 5th Symphony on September 19; and a screening of Robert Wilson and Philip Glass’s seminal opera Einstein on the Beach on September 22.
The full Nights at the Museum schedule is as follows:
- Friday, Sept. 15: a screening of U-M’s Bicentennial documentary An Uncommon Education at 8 p.m., and Big Ten Elite: 1997 Michigan Football Team, at 9 p.m.
- Saturday, Sept. 16: Family-Friendly Sustainability Night, with the Ann Arbor District Library hosting a design challenge activities at 7 p.m., and a showing of WALL-E at 8 p.m.
- Sunday, Sept. 17: Dance Night, with a live performance by U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance of Heart of Tones at 8 p.m.
- Monday, Sept. 18: In the Labyrinth on view starting at 8 p.m.
- Tuesday, Sept. 19: Live simulcast of the New York Philharmonic performing Mahler’s 5th Symphony from 7:30-9 p.m.
- Wednesday, Sept. 20: Student Film/Digital Art Night with U-M Screen Arts and Cultures, and the Neutral Zone, from 8-10 p.m.
- Thursday, Sept. 21: Video highlights of performances by the U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance from 8-10 p.m.
- Friday, Sept. 22: Screening of Wilson/Glass’s Einstein on the Beach from 6:30-11 p.m.
Last year's Nights at the Museum series attracted 2,000 people to the Museum.
UMMA encourages viewers to send feedback using the #ummanights hashtag on social media sites.