Arts & Culture

Coverage of visual arts, performing arts, cultural events, and artistic entrepreneurs

Carl Dunker works from his home office in Holland, Michigan.

Building relationships is at the heart of great design

Skot Welch, Julia Swenson and Carl Dunker are three designers who live and work in West Michigan. They share the ways they work to create a community where people belong.

Latest in Arts & Culture
Sara Crookston directs a toy photo shoot.
How life is better in West Michigan for those designing our world

Sarah Crookston, Mimi Ray and David Allan are all leaders in design. While they could work anywhere in the world, they discuss why they choose to live and work in West Michigan.

These perks and benefits are critical to keeping paid caregivers healthy

Nurses surveyed in 2021 said the most common reason they planned to leave their job was that work had negatively affected their health and well-being. The second most common reason was insufficient staffing. Here's why it's important to provide care for them and what some are doing to make sure they get it.

West Michigan design leadership: Discover impressive opportunities

Three impressive West Michigan design leaders share their perspectives on the opportunities for design in our area. Tara McCrackin, Marjorie Simmons, and Frances Close are all inspired by innovation.

Steelcase is making an impact on a global scale, helping better the world through furthering work on United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and driving social innovation from its headquarters in West Michigan.
Design as an ‘inescapable’ part of life in West Michigan and where you can find it

The world of design involves hard and soft skills, hands-on creativity and abstract vision. Here's how design is defined by the individuals who are doing the work in West Michigan.

Solar panels are part of the village's SMART Park.
Cassopolis: A village reimagined

A rural community in southwestern Michigan looks for a brighter future, tapping grants and other monies to revamp its downtown and add new amenities, including a beach, a pier and a skate park.

Pickleball courts part of Marshall’s Recreation Plan

Marshall launches fundraising campaign to create a new community area that will include designated pickleball courts, to meet the demand for the fast-growing sport.   

Con el sonido del trueno: Estruendo pretende salvar vidas

Para los fundadores de un grupo con el nombre Estruendo significa crear un gran impacto y eso es lo que están tratando de hacer para los jóvenes de habla hispana que viven aislamiento y pensamientos suicidas.

Synergy Health trabaja para superar las barreras de acceso a la atención de salud mental

“Hablar sobre la salud mental y cómo afecta a las personas negras cambia la narrativa de (ser) un tabú a la normalización, de la vergüenza a la aceptación, de la falta de comprensión a una mayor conciencia”, dice Valarie Cunningham. Abrió una clínica de servicios de salud mental sin fines de lucro en 2003 para aumentar esa conciencia.

Opinion: Stop blaming mental illness for gun violence

With a very few and specific (and possibly debatable) exceptions, people with mental illness are no more likely to perpetrate violence than the general population. If anything, they are far more likely to be the victims of it. In the rare cases where violent behavior is elevated, the most likely victim is the person themself.

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