West Michigan is full of art galleries, displaying work from hundreds of artists all over the state.
Michael Baumgarten, the second star of our Backstage Bios series, has provided lighting design for many Opera Grand Rapids productions, including The Magic Flute, The Mikado and this year’s Scalia/Ginsburg.
Don’t blame her; theater was in the family. Liz Merriman’s grandfather painted sets. Her grandmother helped with the painting and did props too. Liz’s father and sisters were all actors and her mother did costumes.
On June 17, the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts announced that it would be moving from its current location at 2 W. Fulton Street in Grand Rapids to The Fed Galleries at 17 Pearl St. NW.
The talent onstage shouldn’t get all the love. Without the people working behind the scenes, they wouldn’t have a stage to stand on, much less a show to perform.
