U-M Creative Currents

U-M Stamps Gallery: Srimoyee Mitra

• Arts Initiative • Season 4 • Episode 4

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In this episode of U-M Creative Currents, host Mark Clague interviews Srimoyee Mitra, Director of the Stamps Gallery at the University of Michigan. This episode is part of a U-M Creative Currents' podcast series building excitement for the inaugural Michigan Arts Festival (September 25 - October 26, 2025).

Featured Programming & Highlights include:

Srimoyee discusses the Stamps Gallery's mission to showcase contemporary art and design, shares what makes the gallery a unique destination for both campus and community visitors, and highlights the special exhibitions and wellness programming that connect audiences to transformative artistic experiences during the Michigan Arts Festival and beyond.

*Production Note: This episode is part of U-M Creative Currents' special Michigan Arts Festival podcast series which kicks off on September 25, 2025 and is produced by Jessica Jenks and edited by Sly Pup Productions.


Season 4 ep 4: Srimoyee Mitra


Mark Clague: 0:05
Welcome to Creative Currents, the Michigan Arts podcast where we explore the power of collaborative creativity and the ways the arts inspire dialogue and connection. I'm your host, Mark Clague, and today we're continuing with our special series spotlighting the people and projects behind our Michigan Arts Festival happening this fall from September 25th to October 26, 2025. Our guest today is the director of one of my favorite galleries on campus, the Stamps Gallery. Srimoyee Mitra is a curator and writer whose work is in Srimoyee, welcome to Creative Currents. Thank you, Mark. So I'm guessing that some of our listeners may not have been to the Stamps Gallery because although it's on campus, it's sort of right adjacent to campus. I think it's sort of unfair to call it a hidden gem, but you may not know it's there if you don't go looking for it. So can you tell us a little bit about the gallery and how to find it?

Srimoyee Mitra: 1:17
Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, we are actually technically off campus, although we hold campus space in downtown Ann Arbor. So Stamps Gallery is located just on Division Street between Liberty and Washington. I always say it's right downtown. Division is sort of the big street that doesn't close even during the art fair. And, you know, it's right there in the center in the middle of all these wonderful restaurants and cafes. And, of course, Michigan Theater is adjacent to us. So it's a really exciting space. Stamps Gallery, in its current iter, Right. Right. initiative. Michelle Inojosa, brilliant artist, now faculty in Pennsylvania.

Mark Clague: 2:38
we're especially proud of her. She was one of our creative career fellows. Right. So it's sort of like a postdoc for MFAs, if you will.

Srimoyee Mitra: 2:44
That's right.

Mark Clague: 2:45
And so she was here with us for a year. She did some work at the hospital. She did some work for you. And that launched her career into a tenure track professor's gig. Absolutely. So that's a rare and special thing. So we're really proud of her.

Srimoyee Mitra: 2:56
Yeah, she really leveraged that time. Such an important time after graduating. And we also have, you know, the middle pillar, which says stamps. So it is a gallery that's open to everyone, not only for folks from University of Michigan. This is a question that I get every now and every so often, you know, can the public walk in? And we always say, yes, please. You know, all are welcome.

Mark Clague: 3:24
How much does it cost to go to the Stamps Gallery?

Srimoyee Mitra: 3:27
It's free.

Mark Clague: 3:28
It's totally free. It's free.

Srimoyee Mitra: 3:31
students, faculty, staff. Yeah, and everything Everything we do is free, which is, you know, whether it's a workshop, a performance, an exhibition, when you enter the Stamps Gallery, it's free. Unless it's, you know, a ticketed program that we're doing with a special partner, which, you know, happens every now and then when we've– but all the programs that Stamps

Mark Clague: 3:54
always free. You know, 95, 8% of the things that happen on campus are not ticketed.

Srimoyee Mitra: 4:09
That's right.

Mark Clague: 4:09
have to show up and know it. You have to know about it, and then you have to get yourself there.

Srimoyee Mitra: 4:13
That's right. And, you know, we always recommend registering, you know, sometimes when we– so that we know how many people to anticipate in case there are capacity issues. And, you know, we always find a way to make sure that, you know, everyone, you know, folks can– that there's– everyone has a turn to attend. But, you know, the more information we have to plan, the better. So Stamps Gallery is a center for art and design that is part of the Stamps School of Art and Design. We say we're an incubator and lab for artists and designers to catalyze, to develop projects that catalyze social change. So really what that means is we are, you know, we believe in the role of art and design to change the world. We believe that artists and designers and makers are like scientists. They're thinkers. They're, you know, really thinking about existing models and thinking and using their art practices to think, to consider, you know, how can the space that we hold together be better for everybody? And who is present and who is not? And why are the folks who are not here not here? How can we ensure that everybody feels welcome. So at Stamps Gallery, when we moved to this location, you know, really, you know, prime location downtown with all these beautiful windows, you know, we really leaned into that idea of community engagement. And we believe that, you know, we want to, we serve, of course, the students and the faculty and staff at the Stamps School and the entire university, and also the public. We want to make sure that it's a space that feels welcoming for all. And so that idea of How can we make it, what does it mean to be a public space, right? This idea of being free, that means that it's open to the public. So that's on one hand, yes, it's free, but also how does it feel? We want it to feel that it's for everybody. And that thinking really informs our exhibitions and our programs.

Mark Clague: 6:23
So I've seen like the Stampede group, the Stamp students art group. I've seen faculty events there, but it also seems like you have a lot of, exhibits that are actually artists from all around the world. I mean, I've seen certainly some things with Native American artists, Anishinaabe artists. So what do you have running during the festival? Are there particular exhibits that are coming up we should know about?

Srimoyee Mitra: 6:47
Yes, yes, we have a very exciting season of programs. To your point, yes, we present exhibitions with students, faculty, as well as alums, and typically the student exhibitions, just to give you a sense of our calendar. We commission projects with visiting artists, you know, typically in the fall semester and the summer season. And our student exhibitions typically take place in the winter, you know, from January through April, basically the winter semester. And those are curriculum linked shows like the Undergraduate Jury Exhibition, the MFA Show, which is a big highlight of our calendar. And then also, you know, we try to do, we've been trying to That's great. with our visiting artists.

Mark Clague: 8:07
Sometimes the Arts Initiative gets involved.

Srimoyee Mitra: 8:09
Yes, we're grateful for the support and really just having colleagues. You know, I think what Arts Initiative has done is brought all of us together, you know, because we're all so busy working away and I just really appreciate having colleagues. You know, I always said that we are part of an ecology, a vibrant arts ecology in Michigan and at U of M. I mean, you know, when I arrived, I was just so stunned with how much already exists, you know. And so just to find ways to intersect with one another is always more fulfilling, right? Yeah.

Mark Clague: 8:47
on one of the big themes of the festival, which is that there's an amazing, vibrant arts community right here, and we're going to shine a big spotlight on it, you know, for the month of basically end of September and October to really let people know how many cool things, what kind of treasures are right here in our Absolutely. easy to not pay attention to the things you sort of are with every day. And we hope that people will try some new things out. And if they love music and they know about going to a concert in Hill Auditorium with UMS or the School of Music, that they'll come check out the Stamps Gallery in UMA or vice versa. Everybody will stretch their own interests a little bit, try a different form of art.

Srimoyee Mitra: 9:27
Yeah, absolutely. And what's really special about that is that it's also multigenerational. Kids are welcome, which is, you know, which I really appreciate, you know, having young kids. I want to be able to take them somewhere in the evening. Well, that's the thing about the gallery, too.

Mark Clague: 9:42
If a kid starts to cry, you know, you can you can leave. But it's not like they've interrupted this.

Srimoyee Mitra: 9:47
That's right. Yeah, we truly I mean, of course, you're mindful to when it's a concert and, you know, but and to sound. But but, you know, the idea of being multigenerational and open, I think, is truly special. Also. Also, just, I mean, you know, I digress and I talk about audience. I will come back to your question about this season. But also, I think the audience in Ann Arbor is really special because they are ready to engage in the conversation, you know, that I've found. And that just makes for a very fulfilling engagement and exchange, you know, to the work we do, right?

Mark Clague: 10:27
That's so interesting. Yeah, because, I mean, it's sort of like the, you know, if a tree falls in the forest and nobody is there to hear it doesn't make any sound i mean it's sort of like the same thing with art right if if art isn't a gallery but nobody comes to look and think about it doesn't really exist right it's

Srimoyee Mitra: 10:44
yeah yeah and i um absolutely yeah um so to our season uh what do we have coming up in the fall uh we have two really special shows um one uh is uh you know i mentioned um faculty exhibitions uh so two years ago we launched sort of a series of group curated faculty shows at Stamps called Untold Stories. So that in 23, I believe it was Untold Stories part one. And this fall coming up is Untold Stories part two. And the theme of part one was really about this idea of artist as witness and artist and, you know, and telling stories as the as the title was. explains, I suppose. And part two is really about building a culture of belonging, you know, and community care and artists' role within that. And, you know, this whole series is inspired by the artists on our faculty, artists and designers who are brilliant, doing really great work, work that is so timely and engaged in what's happening around us or what has been happening you know latent and so that was part one with thinking about yeah really what does it mean for an artist to be a witness right so that was documentary photography with Amelia actually prints by Ardine Carlos Jackson that was sort of had the was looking at seeing Cesar Chavez. Oh, yeah. That's great.

Mark Clague: 12:35
can see the dean's work.

Srimoyee Mitra: 12:36
Yeah, exactly. He's an artist. And then this year coming up with Untold Stories, Act Two, we're thinking about care and also, you know, how artists have sort of and how do we build this sort of culture of belonging, you know, through their work. So one of the artists is Andy Kirshner I know Andy. Yes, a musician and filmmaker, so prolific. And so he's going to present sort of an installation based on a film that he is in the process of sort of launching. And this installation actually will draw on materials from the special collections at the university, so it's going to be very, very special. Another artist and faculty member is Quinn Hunter. I know Quinn. as well yes uh i mean again uh wonderful brilliant uh working on the series of ceramics and quilts so um yeah it's going to be at a it's going to be an exciting uh an exciting show um and paired with that is um a solo exhibition with uh our wit artist in resident um so uh and her name is stacy kirby um so stacy kirby is from north carolina she's a performance artist um and actually a bookmaker, a really beautiful book artist. And she really came to performance and performance work realizing that her practice needed to go out into the public more, you know, as a bookmaker working, you know, so detailed and beautiful, but also that she really needed to engage with the public to inform her work, and that really transformed her practice. And she started this series of performance in called Bureau of Personal Belongings. And where, you know, it's the idea that, you know, all of us have stories to tell. And how can these stories be acknowledged and represented no matter how diverse or divergent they can be within a space and within institutional spaces. So she is going to create these sort of retro office spaces, like a retro kind of government office and the the viewers the visitors will be walked through actually a really important part I should mention as Stacey was here last year last when I say last year I mean last semester in the winter semester as the witch artist in residence for three months and that's a program that's stewarded by my colleague Christina Hamilton I think you'll be speaking with her soon but and During this time, she engaged with, I don't know, so many students and faculty. She worked very closely with Professor Holly Hughes and her class. One of our most famous performance artists. was what they really wanted to think about is to thank actually the custodians who work at the Stamps School, who we never see. And so they made these really beautiful, I believe they're reserve posters and zines. So some of that work will also be represented in the exhibition. And then, so Stacey has been creating performances based on the sort of like in-person research that she has done and engagement with the students. And then the performance will be activated, you know, twice through the, at least twice, if not more, but starting actually shortly after the Michigan Festival opens on September 28th is when we'll open the Bureau of Personal Belonging. So the, you know, the second half of the gallery will be transformed into, you know, these retro offices We have a lot of furniture from Property Dispo. And, you know, it should be really fun and really engaging in a, yeah, very sort of delightful, interactive way where, you know, there will be stamps. You'll be asked to fill out forms. You'll have to wait in a waiting room. So, you know, all the things that we have to do in everyday life, you know, when we go, I don't know, to change our... Right.

Mark Clague: 17:54
experience. or ideas but you also look at the way other people tell stories and see and sort of mine that for new perspectives and new ideas and to connect with other people so it's not only about belonging but understanding how other people belong in the

Srimoyee Mitra: 18:20
yeah and how can we understand I mean for me stories has been as a curator has been really kind of one of the you know as a young person studying artistic and theater, because I come from a background in theater, really thinking about how, yeah, what can we learn? What we, you know, the stories that are not present today, right? We, I had a former career as a journalist and, you know, so we were trained to like go out and talk to people. And as an art writer, one of the artists who kind of became a mentor, one of the things she would always say is, you know, her work was to make stories visible that are, you you know, that are not visible, right? And so this idea of latent histories, right, where we are today, you know, I believe in, you know, we sort of stand on the shoulders, I stand on the shoulders of my grandparents and my grandmother and the work she did. And so these are stories that get passed down, right, from generation to generation and beyond, right? Sometimes ideas circulate across the world well before the internet, right? So how does that happen? I mean, you know, probably, you know, word of mouth is a real thing and that's storytelling too.

Mark Clague: 19:40
Well, it's fascinating that you have a theater background and that makes a lot of sense because, you know, when you enter into a space, you move through the space, you move through time. It's not just looking at something on the wall, right? It's actually a sort of scripted, right? You guide people through an experience and bring them into new, to that narrative, that storytelling. So that's, we talk a lot about interdisciplinary work, but I can see how that would really empower you as a gallerist?

Srimoyee Mitra: 20:06
As a curator, actually. So yeah, I appreciate you saying that. I think that working in theater and then working as a journalist at the same time and being in museums and galleries, I realized that, you know, actually this is the space that I think I belong more to because it's this idea, yeah, the space, right, is an active live space, right? And it's multi-directional it is the narrative is you know

Mark Clague: 20:40
so yeah it's a state like upstage downstage stage right left the soundscape you know all those things make a difference fascinating well one other thing I wanted to touch on because I know you've been doing some really interesting work that's about to intersect with some stuff we're doing at the Arts Initiative which is about arts and wellness and the Arts Initiative is going to be working with you and others to launch an arts rx social prescribing program but you've been a pioneer of this work on campus because you're already making stuff happen can you tell us a little bit about the wellness programming

Srimoyee Mitra: 21:14
sure um you know uh and thank you for that um We thought we would pilot it this summer. And, you know, we really felt like there is a need to have space for, you know, as we're talking about stories, one of the things that came through during Stacey's time at, you know, in residence is, you know, she went, attended events and listened, you know, and found really a need where, you know, people to tell their stories and to find a space where they felt comfortable and safe. You know, for us... You know, this idea of really questioning, you know, how do we continue to be this sort of public space, right, with every exhibition? You know, how do we make more room for those who are not here, perhaps, right? So this year, moving forward, there'll be two things that we're looking at. One is, you know, so we've launched this summer called Be Well, our design and wellness series, the idea that it's an ongoing series and we really started it with Isabella De La Mora is a local artist has been a gallery assistant for some time you know really lovely and she also you know is a trained Pilates instructor so we invited her you know to to host a you know a free Pilates session at the gallery which would then be paired with an art an art like an a tour of the exhibition that Haley Babcock Perkins, my colleague, who's the public programs and outreach officer, would run. And, you know, we had a great attendance, you know, and it was a great conversation. So I think our plan is to continue the sort of, you know, the sort of offering these classes, quote, in In the fall. And, you know, I'm excited to see how we can develop this further, you know, through the RX program and really thinking about, yeah, I mean, it's like, you know, waking up in the morning and looking at greenery, right? It's so good for your eyes. And, you know, for me, the woods is kind of an important space in the same way I feel like art is that kind of space, right? I feel, yeah, it's always a privilege and an honor to be able to work in a space like this where we can really talk, deal with difficult topics in ways that may not, you know, don't have to be polarizing. They can be, you know, but it's about the human experience and about stories and, you know, a space where we can listen to one another through action and through, you know, what we're doing.

Mark Clague: 24:23
That's great. Well, I'm so excited you're doing this work and it's really fabulous that we're partnering to bring this to campus because there's so much research and medical spaces that really shows how effective bringing the arts and human wellness together can be and it's something that I think those of us in the arts, part of our drive is that we know it makes us feel good. We know it helps us handle stress. We know it helps us work through ideas and navigate our life and try to understand the world a little bit better and to be better people ourselves. So, you know, to have that actually be an official program, to really be able to do research on it in partnership with our medical system and our counseling colleagues, I think is going to be really transformative for the campus and hopefully influential, you know, across higher education. So, well, thank you so much for joining us in the Michigan Arts Festival. We're really happy to have the Stamps Gallery as a partner. And I hope people go check out the gallery. As you say, it's just off campus. It's a couple blocks. It's just a couple blocks. Division Street and Washington, is it?

Srimoyee Mitra: 25:22
Yes, it's on Division between the Liberty in Washington it used to have the Google sign up type it's the old Google building and right now you know it has a big stamps well which is more visible in the evening because it's an electrical sign it says stamps it's free and open to everyone you know our the gallery hours our regular hours is Wednesday through Saturday 11 to 5 Thursdays we're open until 7 reach out to me anytime. Srimoy Mitra, the email is srimoy at umich.edu. And really any of us, it's a small team. We always love to hear from folks. And yeah, you know, part of stories and having, you know, this idea of dialogue and wellness is really, and to me, it's a form of inquiry as well and research. And yeah, and the more that we can work together, the stronger. We can be.

Mark Clague: 26:24
Well, thank you so much to your team and for joining us on Creative Currents. And you helped make Michigan campus a more beautiful place.

Srimoyee Mitra: 26:31
Thank you, Mark. Thanks so much.

Mark Clague: 26:41
Thank you. about the University of Michigan's Arts Initiative, please visit our website at arts.umich.edu. Thanks for listening and for being part of the Michigan arts community that makes our campus so fabulous. So until next time, stay curious, stay inspired, and keep your creative currents flowing.