ANNOUNCEMENT: The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit will be closed Saturday, July 4, 2009.

May 29 — July 26, 2009:

Friday, June 26th from 8pm to 12pm

PERFORMANCE: MIDSUMMER NIGHTS IN MIDTOWN
All Ages

The UCCA and Wayne State University present MidSummer Nights in Midtown, the new summer series presents an eclectic music mix, street painting, street theatre and activities for families and children. The event will introduce the public to Midtown Detroit's wide array of museums, galleries and entertainment venues.  Admission is free throughout the summer series.

LEMUR: League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots

Installation from 8:00pm-12:00am, with performances at 8:45pm and 10:30pm.

LEMUR builds robots that are new types of sculptural musical instruments.  The robots will perform with human beatbox and vocal performance artist, Adam Matta in an exotic inter-active installation that invites audience participation.

Slavic Soul Party!
Will perform live at 9:30pm and 11:15pm – A Balkan Worldbeat
party this fiery 10-piece brass band from NYC delivers some of the most danceable rhythms this side of the Atlantic, melding Gypsy, East European, Mexican and Asian jazz and soul.

Visit the MidSummer Nights in Midtown website for more information

Friday, July 3, 2009 at 8pm

MUSIC: MUCCA PAZZA
All Ages | Admission $7

Mucca Pazza is a 30 piece orchestrated circus that marches and plays music loud for all to hear. Their musical influences are as colorful as the bright spandex glitter-encrusted outfits they flaunt. Expect a diverse group of folks: some, lungs filling up with air to out play one another and others, cheerleading the group forward and on!

Visit the Mucca Pazza website or visit their myspace page

Wednesday, July 15th, 7pm

PRESENTATION: COMIX 101 WITH ART SPIEGELMAN
Admission $7
A public presentation about the history of Art Spiegelmans work at MOCAD

Art Spiegelman came out of the politically charged era for comics of the 1960s and 1970s, and kept the movement's momentum for the past forty years.

During his early years, he contributed to underground comic publications such as “Real Pulp” and “Young Lust”, as well as co-created the acclaimed comic magazine, “Raw”. In 1986, “Raw” launched his career into foresight with “Maus I: A Survivor's Tale” the true story of his family's experience in Germany during the Holocaust in which Nazi's were Cats and Jewish families were mice. With this publication he was able to give a serious political edge that comic readers craved. In 1992, he published the second half of the story “Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began” which led to a major exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and earned him a Pulitzer Prize. Also in the year he began to work at the New Yorker, helping to create some of the most controversial covers in the magazine's history.

Spiegelman left the New Yorker in 2004, after ten years, to protest the “widespread conformism” that he believed the magazine was linked to. This was fresh after he created one of the most memorable covers of the magazine's history of the Twin Towers. In 2005 he was named one Time Magazines “Top 100 Most Influential People”.

Recently, Spiegelman has re-released the 1978 edition of his anthology Breakdowns, in which he includes an autobiographical comix-format introduction entitled, “Portrait of the Artist As A Young %@&*!” as well as children's book called “Jack and the Box”. On May 29, 2008 the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit will present an exhibition on Breakdowns.

Sunday, July 19th from 12 noon to 4PM

FAMILY DAY: FAMILY HOOTENANNY PRESENTS MOMMY AND DADDY BAND ROCK-OFF
All Ages | Free admission

A gathering of kids and their grownups for the purpose of singing, stomping, shouting, strumming, silliness and otherwise making music for the whole family. Past Hootenannies have included such sonic entertainment wonders as: Homemade country ditties about popsicle soup and being stuck in playpens, tear-inducing renditions of Muppets songs and acoustic-punk jams about woodland creatures.

Visit the Family Hootenanny Myspace at:
http://www.myspace.com/thefamilyhootenanny

Museum Tours
Wednesdays at 1pm
Saturday 1pm & 4 pm
Sundays at 12 pm
Tours are free and open to the public
For group reservations please contact Zeb Smith at zsmith@mocadetroit.org.

Museum Hours
Wednesday, Saturday, & Sunday: 11 - 5 pm
Thursday & Friday: 11 - 8 pm
closed Monday & Tuesday

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