Community Calendar

During this ArtBreak, artist and educator Tom Rice will discuss the evolution of his large-scale drawings and installations that address the global climate crisis. The increasing size and frequency of hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, and floods are symptoms of a seismic transition from a relatively stable climate to a new normal. The denial of these signs and the quickening pace of global warming brought on by the extraction, production, and burning of fossil fuels are the themes of his work.

Tom Rice is an artist working primarily in drawing, painting, and installation. He received a BFA from the Tyler School of Art and Architecture in Philadelphia and an MFA from the University of Georgia. Rice is the Jo-Ann and Robert Stewart Professor of Art at Kalamazoo College.

During this special offsite lecture, Dr. James Denison, Postdoctoral Fellow at Kalamazoo College and the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, will offer a new interpretation of the artist John Marin’s (1870–1953) work in Maine. Drawing on Marin’s writings, Denison’s presentation will investigate the artist’s attempted assimilation into what he perceived to be a rustic “Yankee” community on the Maine coast. Denison will relate Marin’s representations of denizens of the Maine coast to contemporaneous notions of whiteness and New England identity, situating the artist’s fascination with Maine within the long history of ethnic and cultural tourism in the state.

A native of the DC area and a graduate of Bowdoin College, James completed his PhD in art history at the University of Michigan, where he wrote a thesis on the connections between the Stieglitz Circle and racism in the interwar U.S. In 2023 he joined Kalamazoo College and the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts as a postdoctoral fellow.

This lecture will take place in the Connable Recital Hall in the Light Fine Arts Building at Kalamazoo College, at the corner of Thompson and Academy Streets. The recital hall is located off of the main lobby, next to the Dalton Theatre. Parking can be found in the lot behind the building on Thompson Street, as well as on adjacent streets.

In February 1943, Mies van der Rohe published his “Museum for a Small City” in Architectural Forum. Architectural historians have long been fascinated with the concept drawings, but often refer to the plans as never having been realized. And yet, archival evidence suggests that Mies’ “Museum for a Small City” was indeed realized in 1961, right here in Kalamazoo. During this ArtBreak, Dr. Christine Hahn will examine how Mies’ vision came to life in the architectural design of the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts.

Dr. Christine Hahn is a Professor of Art History and the Art Department Chair at Kalamazoo College. She received both her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and has shared her work with local, national, and international audiences. She was the recipient of a Fulbright Research Fellowship in 2002, spending the year in Seoul, South Korea. Dr. Hahn’s research focuses on 20th century art, examining how the circulation of art via expatriate artists, traveling exhibitions, and the museum space creates multilayered meanings for global audiences.

The Vicksburg District Library is excited to welcome 2025 Michigan Notable Book Author Donald Lystra, whose novel "Searching for Van Gogh" was selected as one of this year's Michigan Notable Books. Donald will read from his book, speak about it, and take audience questions. Books will be available for purchase, and Donald will have time to sign books at the end of the event.

In the lead up to the event, the library will also host a book discussion for "Searching for Van Gogh" on May 22 at 6:00PM. A limited number of books will be available as part of the library's collection.

Book Summary:
"Searching for Van Gogh" is a stirring novel set in 1963 in America's industrial Midwest. Nate, a young man with a gift for math and science, rejects a comfortable future by walking away from college to pursue painting-a desperate attempt to access the emotions buried deep within him following the tragic death of his revered older brother. But Nate's search for meaning is lonely and frustrating until he meets Audrey Brubaker, a paradox of strength and vulnerability, who becomes a sort of mentor to Nate, guiding him toward self-discovery. But in the end it is Audrey who will ultimately need Nate's emotional insight, and in a devastating turn, she seeks redemption in the most unexpected way-forcing Nate to tap into the very depths of empathy and courage she's helped him to uncover.

Author Bio:
Donald Lystra was raised in the cities, towns, and suburbs of Michigan. As a young man he was variously engaged as an auto plant worker, a door-to-door salesman, a dishwasher, a house painter, and a shipyard engineer. He eventually settled into a career as an electrical engineer, though in his fifties he began to write fiction in a serious way. His written works have received numerous awards, including two selected as Michigan Notable Books. Lystra and his wife divide their time between a farm in northern Michigan and a town on the ocean side of Florida.

The Richland Community Library is excite to welcome Michigan Notable Author Brittany Rogers!

Brittany is a poet, visual artist, essayist, high school teacher, and lifelong Detroiter. Her work has been featured in Underbelly, Mississippi Review, and The Metro Times, just to name a few.

Her debut collection of poems, Good Dress, was selected as a 2025 Michigan Notable Title.

About Good Dress:
Following the tradition of Nikky Finney, Krista Franklin, and Morgan Parker, Brittany Rogers's Good Dress documents the beauty and audacity of Black Detroit, Black womanhood, community, class, luxury, materialism, and matrilineage. A nontraditional coming of age, this collection witnesses a speaker coming into her own autonomy and selfhood as a young adult, reflecting on formative experiences. With care and incandescent energy, the poems engage with memory, time, interiority, and community.

This program is presented in partnership with the Library of Michigan Foundation & the MI Humanities Grant.