Visual and Performing Arts - NMU Events and Announcements

Visual and Performing Arts

April 16 - May 1 
Winter 2026 NMU School of Art & Design Senior Exhibition 

Graduating seniors from concentrations across the NMU School of Art and Design present their artwork. This exhibition features artists in the following areas: Ceramics, Digital Cinema, Graphic Design, Illustration, Metalworking, Painting and Drawing, and Photography. 

Featured artists include Madison Buszka, Clara Chambers, Livia Ganley, Katelyn Ginger, Aubrey Huddleston, Victoria Iporre Buitrago, Savannah Johnson, Maggie Jordan, Lexi Klamer, Jane Konigsberg, Gianna Madero, Molly Mannor, Paige Miller, Lex Roach, Elliot Smith, Will Voss, Elyse Wejrowski, Aila Weycker, Taryn Whitney, and Breeze Wojciechowski. 

Closing Reception: Friday, May 1st, 7-9 pm 
Film screening: 6:30 pm 
8 pm - Please join us for the awards. 

Thank you to the Friends of the DeVos for sponsoring the Gold Award and the NMU School of Art & Design for sponsoring the Silver and Bronze Awards. 

Visual and Performing Arts

Celebrating Legacy: Lake Superior Art Association in the Permanent Collection

On View: March 19, 2026 – March 19, 2027

This year marks the 75th Anniversary of the Lake Superior Art Association (LSAA), the longest-running arts organization in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. In celebration of this legacy, this exhibition brings together past and present LSAA members from the museum’s permanent collection. A collection that was created in a variety of mediums, including ceramics, sculpture, photography, printmaking, collage, textile, and painting. The artwork offers glimpses into their observations and experiences of everyday life expressed through abstract, representational, and functional forms.

Artists include: Bobbi Ameen, Claire Bennett, Barry Bernstein, Helen Bice, Ben Bohnsack, Sally Brebner, Jon Brookhouse, Thomas Cappuccio, Alice Carr, May Cebalo, Sallie Chisholm, Kathleen Conover, Cynthia Coté, Jack Deo, Verna Depro, Nita Engle, Linda Ferguson, Wayne Francis, Christine Garceau, Vivian Glass, Paul Grant, John Gustafson, Niel Haapala, Elizabeth Hadley, Bill Hamilton, Claire Harkin, Ken Hatfield, John Heath, Kaye Hiebel, Marc Himes, John Hubbard, Kathy Carlton Johnson, Celia Kelly, Diane Kordich, Maude Kronquist, Robert LaLonde, Stella Larkin, Vida Lautner, William Leete, Yvonne Lemire, Marj Lehwald, Maggie Linn, Carl Mayer, Mark Mitchell, Josephine Morris, Tyyne Ostlund, Carol Phillips, Vicki Phillips, Bernard Park, James Quirk, Ed Risak, Sue Robishaw, Ann Russ, Christine Saari, Steve Schmeck, JoAnn Deuel Shelby, Betty Shirtz, Patty Smith, Helen Steinho, and Patrick St. Germain.

Visual and Performing Arts

4Reels Digital Cinema club presents the 24 Hour Film Challenge, an event where you compete to create the best film in just 24 hours. The winners of the challenge will receive free filmmaking equipment! This event is open to NMU students and community members, and can be completed in teams or solo. All equipment and editing software will be provided. 

Visual and Performing Arts

Join us on Sunday, March 15, at 3:00pm in Reynolds Recital Hall for a collaborative concert with the NMU Choirs and Wind Ensemble! This is a pairing you don't want to miss, and the best part, it's free!

Visual and Performing Arts

Please join us at the 30th Annual Celebration of Student Scholarship!

The 30th Annual Celebration of Student Scholarship will be held on Thursday, April 16, 2026, all day in Jamrich Hall.

The Celebration of Student Scholarship is an annual event held on the Northern Michigan University campus to recognize the scholarly activity of undergraduate and graduate students in all disciplines. Students share their scholarly and creative work with the NMU and Marquette communities. The event is free and open to the public. Students interested in participating should speak with their faculty advisors for assistance in planning their submission.

In the past, this event was limited to research posters and 10-minute oral presentations. Last year, the event expanded to include student artwork. For the 30th anniversary, we are looking to include as many different students from across campus as possible and are opening Celebration to other formats, including film and video, readings, round tables, performances, publications, artistic displays, and more.

This event is an important opportunity for student scholars to share their work in a way that is accessible to the general public. Our mission is to improve how we communicate about academic topics and ideas while recognizing the hard work done by NMU students under the guidance of faculty. Join us to discover and celebrate student scholarship.

Visual and Performing Arts

The NMU Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble will present "Musical Perspectives and Monumental Moments" on Monday, February 23, at 7:30 pm.  Please join us in Reynolds Recital Hall for their first concert of 2026!

Visual and Performing Arts

The NMU Orchestra is excited for its annual Children's Concert!  

The selections the orchestra will perform include How to Train Your Dragon by John Powell, Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest by Hans Zimmer, and Randy Newman's Ma Belle Evangeline from The Princess and the Frog, arranged by Anna Zepke.

This is a free event for families and friends, in dedication to our younger members in the community!

Visual and Performing Arts

Join us for the Art & Writing Awards on the campus of NMU in the Art & Design Building, room 165, on Saturday, March 14, from 2-4 pm.

Scholastic Art & Writing Awards Exhibition: February 21 to March 14, 2026

Presented by the nonprofit organization, the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are the country’s longest-running and most prestigious scholarship and recognition program for creative students in grades 7–12. This year, there were 130 total submissions from Upper Peninsula students. Forty-six creative teens from the Upper Peninsula received regional honors, including Gold Keys, Silver Keys, Honorable Mentions, and American Visions & Voices nominations, from the local Scholastic Awards Affiliate Northern Shores Storywork Writing Project.

The featured visual artists in this year’s exhibition are – Reese Collins, Eleanor Dohrenwend, Cat Ernsberger, Morgyn Hansen, Nynna Jarvi, Brooke Johnson, Hannah Josefsen, Natalie Joyal, Madeline Meilahn, Gabrielle Myers, Arianna Paananen,  Isabelle Recollet, Savanna Rautio, Miles Spaulding,  Lilia Skoglund, Addisyn Sundberg, Esme Ulland-Joy, Lila Witham, and Quinley Wonch

Learn more about Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.

Visual and Performing Arts

Scholastic Art & Writing Exhibition: February 21 to March 14, 2026

Presented by the nonprofit organization, the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are the country’s longest-running and most prestigious scholarship and recognition program for creative students in grades 7–12. This year, there were 130 total submissions from Upper Peninsula students. Forty-six creative teens from the Upper Peninsula received regional honors, including Gold Keys, Silver Keys, Honorable Mentions, and American Visions & Voices nominations, from the local Scholastic Awards Affiliate Northern Shores Storywork Writing Project.

The featured visual artists in this year’s exhibition are – Reese Collins, Eleanor Dohrenwend, Cat Ernsberger, Morgyn Hansen, Nynna Jarvi, Brooke Johnson, Hannah Josefsen, Natalie Joyal, Madeline Meilahn, Gabrielle Myers, Arianna Paananen,  Isabelle Recollet, Savanna Rautio, Miles Spaulding,  Lilia Skoglund, Addisyn Sundberg, Esme Ulland-Joy, Lila Witham, and Quinley Wonch

Join us for the Art & Writing Awards on the campus of NMU in the Art & Design Building, room 165, on Saturday, March 14, from 2-4 pm.

Learn more about Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.

Visual and Performing Arts

The 2025 NMU Jazz Festival will be held on the beautiful campus of Northern Michigan University on Thursday and Friday, March 19-20.  High school and middle school jazz bands from throughout the region will participate in a variety of performances and clinics, and an exciting evening performance will showcase NMU students, faculty, and guest clinicians.

This year’s festival will feature The Westerlies, a New York-based brass quartet comprised of Riley Mulherkar and Chloe Rowlands on trumpet, and Andy Clausen and Addison Maye-Saxon on trombone.  This cutting-edge ensemble is “an arty quartet…mixing ideas from jazz, new classical, and Appalachian folk” (New York Times). From Carnegie Hall to Coachella, The Westerlies navigate a wide array of venues and projects with the precision of a string quartet, the audacity of a rock band, and the charm of a family sing-along.