Penny Stamps Speaker Series

10/19/2026

🎶 Holly Herndon explores the intersection of experimental music, machine learning, and artistic collaboration.

This Thursday, the Berlin-based artist joins the Penny Stamps Speaker Series. Known for projects that bring together music and emerging technologies, her practice creates precedent-setting projects where technical systems are artworks unto themselves.

Herndon co-founded Spawning, an organization building an open consent-and-compliance protocol for AI data, creating tools for artists such as Have I Been Trained? and the Do Not Train protocol, covering 2 billion+ works.

📅 Thursday, October 22 at 5:30 PM
📍 The Michigan & State Theaters, Ann Arbor
🎟️ Free and open to the public

With support from Mary Ellen Coe and Elizabeth Laraki.

Series partners and supporters: Stamps School of Art & Design | Arts at Michigan | The Michigan & State Theaters | Detroit PBS | PBS Books | ALL ARTS | Michigan Public

Photo credit to Leon Chew
Photo of Holly by Diana Pfammatter

10/13/2026

👟Detroit roots. Global footwear design. An artistic practice all his own. Shane Ward has built a career that bridges sneakers, art, and culture.

A University of Michigan alum, Ward has designed footwear for brands including Adidas, Puma, Converse, Rockport, and G.H. Bass. Beyond footwear, his creative practice includes large-scale paintings that bring sneaker culture into conversation with the natural world. His Metamorphosis series explores themes of fashion, identity, and the lasting cultural impact of iconic sneaker designs.

Join us Thursday for “Fearless by Design,” as Ward shares his journey through design, creativity, and the power of imagination to expand what we believe is possible.

📅 Thursday, October 15
🕠 5:30 PM
📍 The Michigan & State Theaters - Marquee Arts , Ann Arbor

🎟️ Free and open to the public!

With support from Design Core Detroit and Detroit UNESCO City of Design.

Series partners and supporters: Stamps School of Art & Design | Arts at Michigan | The Michigan & State Theaters - Marquee Arts | PBS Books | Detroit PBS | ALL ARTS |

10/10/2026

🎬 This Monday at the Michigan Theater: Aanikoobijigan (ancestor/great-grandparent/great-grandchild), a documentary by Adam and Zack Khalil exploring the fight to bring Indigenous Ancestors home.

The film follows repatriation specialists from the Michigan Anishinaabek Cultural Preservation and Repatriation Alliance (MACPRA) as they work to return Indigenous Ancestors and funerary objects held in museums, libraries, and archives to their communities. It confronts the history behind these collections and the ongoing struggle to bring Ancestors home for reburial.

Join us for this special Penny Stamps Speaker Series screening, followed by a reception and Q&A with filmmakers Adam and Zack Khalil and special guests at Stamps Gallery.

📅 Monday, October 12
🕠 5:30 PM screening
📍 The Michigan & State Theaters - Marquee Arts , 603 E. Liberty St., Ann Arbor
🎟️ Free and open to the public

Reception and Q&A to follow from 7–8:30 PM at Stamps School of Art & Design gallery

📸 Courtesy of Ozhitoon LLC

In partnership with the UM Native American Graves Proection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) Office | University of Michigan Museum of Anthropological Archaeology | Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum | University of Michigan Film, Television, and Media | Native American Studies - University of Michigan | Department of American Culture - University of Michigan | UM Inclusive History Project | University of Michigan Anthropology | UM Stamps Gallery | Arts at Michigan

10/05/2026

Amy Franceschini of Futurefarmers is at the Michigan Theater this Thursday. 🌱

Amy Franceschini, founder of Futurefarmers, has spent decades creating projects that bring art, design, ecology, and community into conversation. Her work asks us to look differently at the places we inhabit, the systems that shape them, and what might be possible when we imagine alternatives.

Join us this Thursday at the Michigan Theater for “Presence as Practice.”

And make sure you’re there: this event will not be available online afterward.

📅 Thursday, October 8
🕠 5:30 PM
📍 Michigan Theater, 603 E Liberty St.
🎟️ Free and open to the public

See you there!

In partnership with UM Student Life Sustainability and with support from Design Core Detroit

Series partners and supporters: Stamps School of Art & Design | Arts at Michigan | The Michigan & State Theaters - Marquee Arts | Detroit PBS | PBS Books| ALL ARTS |

10/04/2026

A look back at our evening with Cosmo Whyte. 📸

Whyte joined us at the Michigan Theater for a wide-ranging conversation about his work and practice. Now, you can watch the full talk online!

🎥 Watch on facebook or at our linktree: https://linktr.ee/PennyStampsSeries

📸 Mark Gjukich

NEXT UP! Amy Franceschini/Futurefarmers on October 8! This one will NOT be recorded so please come to The Michigan & State Theaters - Marquee Arts!

Presented in partnership with Stamps School of Art & Design Gallery

Series partners and supporters: Stamps School of Art & Design | Arts at Michigan | The Michigan & State Theaters - Marquee Arts | Detroit PBS | PBS Books | ALL ARTS |

10/02/2026

09/30/2026

🎻 Hear Vijay Gupta live at the Michigan Theater tomorrow!

Vijay Gupta, violin, and pianist Dominic Cheli will take the stage for an evening of live music and conversation as part of the Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series.

Gupta is an acclaimed violinist, MacArthur Fellow, and advocate for the power of music to bring people together. Cheli, an accomplished pianist and artist-citizen in his own right, joins him for a performance you won’t want to miss. 🎶

📅 Tomorrow, October 1
🕠 5:30 PM
📍 Michigan Theater
🎟️ Free and open to the public

See you tomorrow!

In partnership with Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra and Arts at Michigan

Series partners:
Stamps School of Art & Design | The Michigan & State Theaters - Marquee Arts | PBS Books | Detroit PBS | ALL ARTS| Arts at Michigan |

06/08/2026

🌈 Happy Pride Month from the Penny Stamps Speaker Series! 🌈

Throughout our history, the Penny Stamps Speaker Series has welcomed visionary artists, performers, designers, activists, and cultural leaders whose work has expanded conversations around identity, community, creativity, and social change.

This Pride Month, we're revisiting a selection of remarkable past guests whose contributions have shaped LGBTQ+ culture and history. From legendary drag performers and boundary-pushing musicians to groundbreaking visual artists and multidisciplinary creators, their work reminds us that art can challenge norms, build community, celebrate difference, and imagine more inclusive futures.

Featured speakers include:
✨ Machine Dazzle
✨ Phranc
✨ Whitaker Malem
✨ Legendary Drag Queens
✨ Mx. Justin Vivian Bond
✨ Zanele Muholi

Explore their talks and performances through our archives and celebrate the artists whose creativity, courage, and advocacy continue to inspire audiences around the world.

📺 Watch these programs and more through our archives, on Facebook, or via the Stamps School of Art & Design YouTube channel.

04/23/2026

🏺🧑‍🎨 A sincere thank you to Jonathan Adler for his inspiring talk last Thursday at The Michigan & State Theaters - Marquee Arts! Adler has built an international reputation for his innovative approach to design, which deftly combines humor, impeccable style, and skilled craftsmanship.

In his talk, Adler shed light on how he synthesizes disparate inspirations into a varied yet distinctive voice and offered advice on how young designers and artists can develop their own signature styles in a chaotic visual landscape. ❤️‍🔥👐

🎥 Missed the event? You can watch the talk on demand starting Friday, 4/24 at 8 PM on the Stamps School of Art & Design YouTube channel or through our partner programs: Detroit PBS, PBS Books, and ALL ARTS.

This was our last event of the spring season! Thank you to everyone who attended. Be sure to check back soon for the fall schedule.

📸 Photography by .j.saulsberry on Instagram

This project was made possible by a grant from Arts at Michigan.

Media partner: Michigan Public
With support from Design Core Detroit