Confucius once said: "Knowledge is recognizing what you know and what you don't." With nearly 300 centers around the world, the Confucius Institute brings Chinese art and culture to global audiences, while acting as a platform for diplomacy. U-M is home to one of Michigan's four institutes, providing Ann Arborites with a dynamic range of programming.
Even in our high speed digital world there's still a place for old school day planners. Co-founders Sarah Nicoli and Lisa Edwards have turned their design sense and organizational know-how into Dotmine, a highly successful Ann Arbor business.
Ann Arbor's downtown isn't the only location that's getting urban reconsideration. In an unprecedented partnership with Ypsilanti, Pittsfield and Ypsilanti Townships, the city is looking to evolve an important stretch of Washtenaw Avenue into a contemporary urban village. Concentrate looks at the players tasked with reimagining Washtenaw.
Communities like Austin (music), Sundance (film), Aspen (comedy), and now Grand Rapids (ArtPrize) have discovered the economic opportunities that come with developing an internationally recognized festival. Though Ann Arbor doesn't lack for cultural events, it has yet to find one that inspires half as much interest as U-M football. Concentrate's Constance Crump looks into why, and what might be next.
With nearly 20% of Ann Arbor's population speaking a foreign first language, the city's diversity is clearly rooted in immigration, international students, and global business development. So, how do we engage these strangers in a strange land? Enter SPARK's Cultural Ambassador program, an effort by local business leaders to attract and retain foreign-born talent.
Ann Arbor is known for its parks... and we're not just talking baseball diamonds and soccer fields. The city has lots and lots of natural spaces to maintain. Enter Jason Freznel, who is part of the Natural Area Preservation Unit. Combating incursions by non-native plants, rallying local volunteers, and coordinating controlled burns, he's the city's go-to guy for green spaces.
Whether you agree or disagree with him, developer and U-M prof Peter Allen has had his fingers in many of A2's pies. Concentrate's Constance Crump calls shotgun in his drive through the city and gets a candid view of downtown development.
Rep houses like The Purple Rose and Performance Network tend to get all the attention, but often it's the fringe companies that deliver the most interesting work. Enter Bart Bund and his Blackbird Theater troupe. For nearly a dozen years this little company-that-could has been producing offbeat and challenging work.
Rich Sheridan feels your pain. As the co-founder, president, and CEO of Menlo Innovations, he's turned a passion for computers and customers into a successful company that produces kinder, gentler, user-friendlier software.
Ben Falk did what many U-M grads do after graduation - moved somewhere else. But a year and half ago he returned from NYC to open his computer repair business in Ann Arbor's downtown. It's hard not to see Beagle Brain's presence in Nickels Arcade as the perfect metaphor for how the city honors its past while embracing its future.
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