Spartan Newsroom (https://news.jrn.msu.edu/category/news/arts-entertainment/)
Arts and entertainment coverage from the Spartan Newsroom
Downriver Detroit developed during the 20th century as an industrial region, but it was never just an industrial space. Alongside factories and working-class neighborhoods, there were wetlands, waterfront areas, nature preserves, farms and residential communities with different types of environments that shaped the region. A new book by an MSU historian tells that story. By Kyrmyzy Turbayeva.
Michigan State University students looking for a break from busy campus life can find a place to relax and reconnect with nature at the W.J. Beal Botanical Garden.
The garden, located in the heart of MSU’s campus, features hundreds of plants across different areas for students and visitors to explore.
Fall plants featured at Beal Garden Fest
Dr. Alan Prather, director of the Beal Botanical Garden, said one of the things he hears most often from students is that they use the garden as a place to decompress.
“It’s right in the heart of campus,” Prather said. “It’s a nice place for people to come, to relax, to connect with nature, to listen to the river flow.”
The garden also gives visitors the opportunity to learn more about Michigan’s plants. Plants throughout the garden are labeled with their names and descriptions, while a color-coded map shows where different plants are found throughout the state.
The garden also highlights research happening on campus, including research involving native and pollinator plants.
Beal Botanical Garden hosted its third annual BealFest last Thursday, a free event featuring live music, games, activities, environmental and sustainability organizations, and treats from the MSU Dairy Store.
This year’s theme, “Wild Harmony,” focused on bringing people and nature together.
Prather said connecting with nature can benefit students’ overall well-being.
“Connecting with nature really does help both your physical health and your mental health,” Prather said. “It can make you more creative, it can lower your blood pressure. There’s so many things that it can do for you.”
The garden also offers programs throughout the year designed to connect students with nature and wellness.
One winter program, called Restore Your Roots, brings an indoor garden experience to students when the campus is covered in snow.
The American Rust Belt is often described through statistics, manufacturing output, employment rates and economic downturns. For poet Jim Daniels, however, the region is defined by people, working families, factory neighborhoods, highways leading north toward the Great Lakes and memories that stay with a person for a lifetime. By Kyrmyzy Turebayeva.
The underground music scene in East Lansing has been making waves for some time, and local band Maternal Instinct has made an impression on the scene since 2024.
On Mondays and Wednesdays, Marcia Olds teaches ballet to adults ages 60 and older class called Studio De Danse at the Hannah Community Center. Ballet brought together the group of women that attend Old’s dance lessons under various circumstances. Some were looking to reignite their passion for something they stopped at a young age. Others were just curious to try dancing for the first time. And some were looking for a sense of community.
Despite requesting an expansion to the event, the East Lansing City Council chose for Albert EL Fresco in 2026 to feature no road closures and limited outdoor seating following the March 10 discussion-only meeting, and voted unanimously on the downsizing at the March 17 council meeting. While Albert EL Fresco events will still happen over the summer, the evergreen street closures and outdoor seating will not be provided, effectively ending the five-year Albert EL Fresco corridor.
At recent East Lansing City Council meetings, residents voiced both concerns and support for the future of Albert EL Fresco. While Albert EL Fresco has drawn mixed opinions from residents, the City Council has urged its expansion based on survey results collected by Community and Economic Development staff at the event in 2025.
A new songwriting contest is coming to the city of East Lansing, one that aims to bring the community together and give local artists the spotlight.
At the Jan. 15 East Lansing Arts Commission meeting, the commission passed a proposal for a songwriting contest, where songwriters will compete by writing and performing original songs about the city of East Lansing.
An Alanson-raised author whose book on Ernest Hemingway’s ties to Northern Michigan explains the region’s influence on the novelist’s work. The book “Picturing Hemingway’s Michigan,” has just been released in paperback. By Julia Belden.
On Sunday afternoons in a quiet Lansing neighborhood, Faisal “Saul” Mulla hosts friends for coffee, conversation and live jazz in a ritual he calls Sundays at Saul’s. What began as a small gathering to recreate the feeling of home in Saudi Arabia has grown into a warm, community-driven space where creativity, music and connection flourish.
For more than a century, the East Lansing Public Library has been a place where stories, learning and community come together. The East Lansing Public Library opened in in 1923 with just $26 and a small collection of borrowed books, launched by the women of the Child Study Club. In those 100 years, the ELPL building has become a physical time capsule of East Lansing, showcasing both its history and the lives of its modern residents.
