Chelsea Manning is coming to Ann Arbor as part of U-M's Penny Stamps speaker series

By Jerilyn Jordan

Jan 5, 2018 at 11:14 am

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The Stamps School of Art & Design at The University of Michigan released its programming schedule for the Winter 2018 Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series. The series promises lectures from a wide array of artists, inventors, and forward-thinking activists.

It kicks off Thursday, Jan. 11 with Anicka Yi, a conceptual artist from New York City who is known for using fragrance in conjunction with visual art to communicate with audiences.

A queer and transgender rights activist and former intelligence analyst for the U.S Department of Defense, Chelsea Manning will be joined by bio-political artist Heather Dewey-Hagborg on Thursday, March 15 to discuss their collaborative DNA-derived sculptural portraiture project. Manning, who is best known for serving seven years of a 35-year sentence in military prison after leaking government documents during her deployment in Iraq in 2009. Manning was released in 2017 after President Obama commuted her sentence.

Other speakers include large-scale robotic sculptor Chico MacMurtrie, Jamaican artist Ebony G. Patterson (Feb. 1), and Judson Dance Theatre founder turned filmmaker Yvonne Rainer (March 22). The series runs through March 29.

Unless otherwise noted, all programs take place on Thursdays at 5:10 pm at the historic Michigan Theater; 603 E. Liberty Street, Ann Arbor; lectures are free of charge and open to the public.