March 2023 Newsletter

Today is Giving Blueday 2023!

Today marks the annual, university-wide day of giving called Giving Blueday! This is a great opportunity to give back to the programs and departments that have positively impacted your experience as a student at U-M. 

By making a contribution to Living ArtsEngine you’ll help us continue to offer meaningful programming and courses that explore creative expression and problem solving through hands-on making.

In order to maximize your gift, we are excited to share a few university matching challenges! 

• $50+ from first-time U-M donors may receive a match of $50 (Excludes students) 

• $25+ from current students may receive a match of $25 (Excludes alumni)

Program Highlights

Winter Workshops 

We've had some great workshops over the last few weeks! The student org DigiPaint visited the Creative Suite to teach a Intro to Photoshop and Illustrator workshop, LAE community members Kaanan Datt and Andrew Yang along with their team members from Innovation in Action led a workshop on plant care and the mental health benefits of indoor gardening, and our UARTS 175 Lecturer and LAE alum Sara Eskandari led an Unreal Engine workshop!

We've got workshops scheduled through April 2nd so you've still got time to squeeze a few more in before the end of the semester! 

Rube Goldberg Machine work sessions

The LAE Student Programming Board has begun work on our community installation, a Rube Goldberg Machine! Work sessions will be happening on Saturdays, March 18, 25, and April 1 from 3-5pm in the Creative Suite. All current community members are invited to help us build! 

Student Features

Q: What types of creative work do you like to do?

A:  So I would say my two big things are that; I’m a musician -- I play clarinet in the campus band here now and I played for seven years from 6th grade all the way through high school, and I did marching band - I did all the things! That was just something I didn’t want to lose, especially being an engineering student, where I wasn’t gonna have classes like that. And then on the more artsy side, I do polymer clay and sculpture modeling in a way. So that was something I found interesting and fun. 

Q: What  is a favorite activity or memory from your time in LAE so far? 

A: I really enjoy the more social events where I’m hanging out with people. I went to Bob Ross night and that was fun -- that was chaotic, but it was really fun! I’ve been to one or two movie nights and those are fun. I go to tea time and that’s always something I look forward to as like a , “I’m gonna go socialize with people for a bit”. 

Q: What is one fun fact about you that you'd like the community to know? 

A: I’ve done both band and robotics for 7+ years now!

Q: Has your experience in Living ArtsEngine impacted the way you approach your major?

A: My time at Living ArtsEngine has inspired me to contextualize computing with respect to its various creative users–digital designers, artists, and musicians. It has broadened my opportunities as a software developer: by understanding the needs of specialized creatives, I can design and build better tools for their work. In addition, the different perspectives I have learned toward generative AI has led me to become more critical of the socioeconomic effects of computing innovation.

Q: What is a favorite memory of yours from being in Living ArtsEngine?

A: Like Tate, I also enjoyed our most recent makeathon project the most, where all the peer mentors ceremonially destroyed completed artwork to argue for the importance of the creative process over the product. I think of this experience as a model example of high-functioning creative teams in action: shared passion, diverse expertise, and playful group dynamics. It will inform how I form, evaluate, and improve teams for years to come.

     Since leaving LAE, Robbie Co- founded a student organization called BLISS: Bioastronautics and Life Support Systems. This group uses multidisciplinary concepts of engineering and design, and is still running on campus today. He now works for Blue Origin in Washington helping to develop a new space station called an Orbital Reef, where multidisciplinary design is a large part of his work.

     During his time here, Robbie felt that LAE exposed him to other disciplines and allowed him to connect with students across North Campus. When speaking about his experience, he said “I think [Living ArtsEngine’s] design, you know, creative proposition is everywhere in the world. And once you learn to see it and once you see that there are people who do this their entire lives, you don’t un-see it and you appreciate it."  Some of Robbie’s most memorable experiences in the program were times spent with the community being creative and sharing work with one another. He also felt that being a part of a “community of people united in purpose” helped him transition to college. He shared that a community like LAE can help you along later in life as well. Interdisciplinary design is necessary to success, because in order to “solve the complex issues that our civilization faces”, we must learn and engage with culture.

     When asked to share some advice for first- year members, Robbie pointed out that there are two major types of creation: optimization and proposition. Optimization focuses on finding the “best” solution. Proposition involves proposing an experience to others. “Art is all about proposition.” “The Catholic Church did not do a customer survey to tell you how the Sistine Chapel was going to look. They had a vision for what the Sistine Chapel was about and what feelings it was supposed to evoke and they did that.” He feels that the best way to create is to not just focus on optimizing, but to also spend some time proposing meaningful ideas that can guide experience.