Blog: Glass, petals, smoke TedxUofM Talk: Secrets from a trained nose 

Listen in, Michigan

Episode 46: Scents and sensibilities, featuring Michelle Krell Kydd

David ZInn FacebookDavid Zinn InstagramThe Chalk Art Handbook: How to Create Masterpieces on Driveways and Sidewalks and in PlaygroundsTemporary Preserves Chalk Art by David Zinn Underfoot Menagerie: More Street Art by David Zinn

Episode 45: Wisdom and whimsy, featuring David Zinn

Read about Michigan's 2021 Commencement CeremonyVisit the 2021 Commencement page for videos, photos, and coverage of individual schools and colleges

Episode 44: The (commencement) song remains the same

University Musical SocietyRegister to view "Some Old Black Man"5 things to know about "Some Old Black Man"Post-premiere discussion with the cast & crewThe making of "Some Old Black Man"Set tourProducing theater in a pandemic

Episode 43: Art'sTangible Effect, feat. Wendell Pierce

Michigan TodayClaire ZimmermanAlbert Kahn Associates

Episode 42: The interior life of Albert Kahn, featuring Claire Zimmerman

Conquering Heroines: How Women Fought Sex Bias at Michigan and Paved the Way for Title IX.

Episode 41: The conquering heroines of Title IX, featuring Sara Fitzgerald, BA '73

Episode 40: Ken Fischer: Ann Arbor's 'Music Man'

When Keith Orr and Martin Contreras refashioned their Mexican restaurant La Casita de Lupe into /aut/BAR in 1995, they sought to deliver a radically different gay-positive experience to the people of Ann Arbor. Their club would be the city’s first full-time, gay-owned gay bar. For the more than two decades that followed, Orr and Contreras created a sanctuary in Kerrytown’s Braun Court that sustained and nurtured the local LGBTQ community through myriad social, political, and legislative ups and downs. They bought businesses and buildings over time, served on nonprofit boards and other organizations, and even became friendly with one-time Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean. In March 2019, the married partners sold the business to Ann Arbor-based BarStar Group. The privately held entertainment investment company specializes in the development, design, construction, and operation of hospitality and mixed-use real estate projects. Through the deal, BarStar also acquired the Braun Court buildings that house Spiral Tattoo, the Jim Toy Community Center, and the former Common Language Bookstore. The news was tough to hear for /aut/Bar’s tight-knit community, but that was nothing compared to the announcement on June 6, 2020, that BarStar was closing the venue for good. “Despite the countless hours dedicated to building, strengthening and reimagining the bar’s future, the financial impact of the COVID-19 crisis has proved — as it has for so many small businesses across the country — to be simply too much to bear,” read the owners’ statement on Facebook. BarStar also owns the local clubs Nightcap, Lo-Fi, and Babs’ Underground. “I don’t have much to say about the decision to close because we haven’t been part of it,” Orr says. “I understand people’s sadness, anger, and frustration because we need these safe spaces now more than ever.” He remembers the day before /aut/BAR opened, when a friend asked, “So, are you ready to be community leaders?” At that time, gay bars served as places where people gathered not just to meet and party, but to launch fundraisers, find listings of memorial services, and sign up to be a buddy to someone who had HIV or needed support. “In Ann Arbor, we had none of that,” Orr says. “If someone ‘disappeared’ from the scene for a few weeks, you’d wonder, ‘Did he move? Or is he dead?’” All that changed once /aut/BAR opened it doors. Instead of a dark and secret hideway, /aut/BAR was bright and warm. The windows were uncovered, the colors were bright. And the brunch was fantastic. Its “niche” was the whole community, from the shy college student who was just coming out, to the lesbian couple with a young family. “We wanted people to know we were in it for the long haul,” Contreras says. That long haul included countless celebrations, protests, Pride events, election parties, engagements, marriages, and memorials. All the while, Orr and Contreras grew into their roles as advocates and activists for LGBTQ rights. Even now, as the club is closed and the community is dispersed due to coronavirus, Orr continues to encourage what Armistead Maupin would call his “logical family,” reminding them they are part of something bigger than just a building. BarStar turned over the club’s social media accounts to Orr and Contreras so the community could remain connected in the digital space. As Black Lives Matter protests filled the June streets that normally would be rocking Pride parades, Orr took to Facebook to point out the intersections between the groups. He changed the June mantra of “Happy Pride” to “In Pride we stand with you.’” “There are plenty of black leaders in the LGBTQ community, and let’s not forget Pride began as a riot at Stonewall, largely started by people of color and transgender folks,” he says. It’s that kind of empathy and compassion that has informed everything Orr and Contreras have done as business owners and community leaders. Success to them is hearing that /aut/BAR was someone’s first gay club after coming out; that a couple met there and has been married for years; or that a student brought their parents to brunch to introduce them to a community that celebrates the lifestyle, not denigrates it. To honor the club’s historic significance to the LGBTQ community, BarStar is returning the brand name, intellectual property, and vintage signage and décor to Contreras and Orr. They hope someone will emerge to take up the torch they carried for so long. In the meantime, listen in, as the partners reflect on their careers.

Episiode 39: Going /aut/ with Keith Orr and Martin Contreras

Coffee, COVID, & a course correction with Sweetwaters' Lisa Bee

The Heritage ProjectMadelon's WorldAndrea Turpin"A New Moral Vision: Gender, Religion, and the Changing Purposes of American Higher Education, 1837-1917 (American Institutions and Society)." 

Prof Andrea Turpin: The first female students at U-M

Bentley Historical LibraryCollections MagazineEsquire Classic: F. Scott Fitzgerald  

The editor and the the giants

It's a Woman's World, featuring Coach Kim Barnes Arico

This is how you 'capture space' (Michigan Today)Listen in, Michigan, Episode 19 -- Re:UnionConstructing gender: The origins of Michigan's Union and League (Bentley Historical Library.)Renovated, improved, historic Michigan Union offers intriguing features (University Record)Union project revealed surprises, reuse opportunities (University Record)Michigan Union Re:Union website 

Capturing space at the Michigan Union

Corey Seeman FlickrFollow Corey Seeman @cseeman on Twitter Follow Corey at cseeman3 on InstagramRead about the history of U-M's fascination with the campus squirrel: Just Nuts at heritage.umich.eduMore  Michigan Today stories about the University of Michigan 

Squirrels on film, feat. Corey Seeman

Michigan Marching BandMichigan TodayJohn PasqualeHow we went blue Albert Ahronheim, onetime drum major of the Marching Band, deconstructs the iconic "Let's Go Blue" tune, starting with his initial conversation with George Cavender in the early '70s.Strike up the band When he was just a sophomore in the early 1950s, Jerry Bilik (who barely passed the MMB audition as 17th of 18 trombones) discovered a talent for writing and arranging that would transform the Michigan Marching Band forever.     

The band plays on, feat. John Pasquale

"Listen In, Michigan" is an audio storytelling feature brought to you by the online alumni magazine, Michigan Today. From historical features and alumni dispatches to campus news and provocative opinions, "Listen In, Michigan" will entertain and inform, helping to keep you connected to the University of Michigan — today.

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