U-M Creative Currents

In this episode of Creative Currents, host Mark Clague sits down with University of Michigan alumnus and entrepreneur Noah Kaplan, '95, to explore how an arts education can become the foundation for a lifetime of creative innovation.

As the founder and president of Leon Speakers, Noah has spent more than 25 years transforming an idea born from his background in art and design into a globally recognized company that blends premium audio, craftsmanship, and beautiful design. He shares the story behind Leon's early days, the challenges of building a business from the ground up, and why leading with creativity—not just technology—has remained central to the company's success.

The conversation also explores how Noah has expanded that same philosophy beyond Leon Speakers through ventures including York Food & Drink, Mothfire Brewing Company, and Blimpy Burger. Together, these businesses form what he describes as a "Creative Campus" in Ann Arbor—spaces where design, community, entrepreneurship, and local culture intersect.

In this episode:

• Noah’s journey from New York to the University of Michigan
• How Noah founded Leon Speakers and built it into a global design and audio company
• How an arts education prepared Noah for entrepreneurship
• Advice for students and aspiring entrepreneurs 
• The concept of arts as “team sport”

Production Note:
Creative Currents is produced by Jessica Jenks and edited by Brian Lillie.

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• Checkout our website
• Learn more about the Michigan Arts Festival

What role does arts journalism play in strengthening communities—and what happens when those stories and funding disappear?

In this episode of Creative Currents, host Mark Clague sits down with Brittany Moseley, the 2025-26 Knight-Wallace Arts Journalism Fellow and culture reporter for Signal Akron, to discuss the evolving landscape of arts reporting, public investment in the arts, and why local storytelling matters now more than ever.

Whether you're an artist, journalist, educator, or arts advocate, this conversation offers thoughtful insights into the future of cultural reporting—and why telling these stories is more important than ever.

In this episode:

• Inside the Knight-Wallace Arts Journalism Fellowship
• Innovative public funding models for the arts, including Cuyahoga County's cigarette tax and the Massillon Museum's property tax 
• Advice for aspiring young arts journalists

Production Note: Creative Currents is produced by Jessica Jenks and edited by Brian Lillie.

• Subscribe to the Arts Initiative Newsletter
• Checkout our website
• Learn more about the Michigan Arts Festival

In this special Alumni Edition of Creative Currents, host Mark Clague sits down with two University of Michigan alumni who have built careers rooted in creativity, collaboration, and saying "yes" to the unexpected.

Tony DeRosa, co-founder of Ann Arbor's Hear.Say Brewing, shares how a career in leadership development at Google led him back to Michigan to create a brewery where craft beer, improv comedy, and community come together. Actor and comedian Anna Garcia reflects on her journey from U-M to television, film, and the national improv scene, including roles in Fly Me to the Moon, Hacks, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Party Down, and Die Hart.

Together, Tony and Anna explore how the arts continue to shape their work long after graduation—from building confidence and embracing uncertainty to strengthening communication, leading teams, creating community, and forging unconventional career paths. Whether you're pursuing the arts professionally or simply looking to bring more creativity into your life, this conversation is a reminder that the skills developed through artistic practice extend far beyond the stage and well beyond your undergraduate experience.

This episode launches Creative Currents: Alumni Edition, a special two-part miniseries that previews a larger October series released during the Michigan Arts Festival, spotlighting alumni, entrepreneurs, comedians, and creative changemakers. Together, these conversations explore one central question: You studied the arts at Michigan—now what?

In this episode:

• Why improv is about much more than comedy
• How creativity fuels leadership, entrepreneurship, and creative innovation
• Building community through collaboration and shared experiences
• Navigating nonlinear careers and embracing unexpected opportunities
• Advice for current students on taking creative risks after graduation
• The launch of the inaugural Yes, Ann Improv Festival 

Production Note: Creative Currents is produced by Jessica Jenks and edited by Brian Lillie.

• Subscribe to the Arts Initiative Newsletter
• Checkout our website
• Learn more about the Michigan Arts Festival

In this episode of U-M Creative Currents, host Mark Clague sits down with historian and professor Colin Gunckel from the University of Michigan's College of Literature, Science and the Arts. Gunckel is a faculty member in both the Program in American Culture and the Department of Film, Television, and Media (FTVM), where he also serves as department chair.

Colin shares insights from his extensive experience teaching film and media studies. As a historian specializing in Latinx media and art, Latin American cinema, and popular culture linking the U.S. and Mexico, he brings a rich transnational perspective to his work. His book Mexico on Main Street: Transnational Film Culture in Los Angeles before World War II (Rutgers University Press, 2015) explores the relationship between Mexican audiences, the rise of Hollywood, and the development of Mexican cinema.

This fall, students across U-M will collaborate with internationally acclaimed performer and filmmaker John Cameron Mitchell—visiting faculty in LSA’s FTVM Department—through the Arts Initiative’s Student Creative Fellowship program. Their work will culminate in a public showcase on November 16.

Additional Show Links:

• FTVM Full Calendar of Events
• John Cameron Mitchell – Fall 2025, Visiting Professor, Writer, Director, Performer
• Michigan Theatre Free Showings on Mondays at 10 a.m.
• New Course: FTVM 368.002 – Queer and Trans Gaming

Related episodes:

• The Arts on Screen: How film shapes student life at U-M with Lauren Horne
• Discussing Disfluency with Anna Baumgarten & Danny Mooney

*Production Note: This episode is part of U-M Creative Currents' special Michigan Arts Festival podcast series and is edited by Sly Pup Productions.

• Subscribe to the Arts Initiative Newsletter
• Checkout our website
• Learn more about the Michigan Arts Festival

In this episode of U-M Creative Currents, host Mark Clague talks with Clare Croft, Faculty Director of Research & Creative Practice for the U-M Arts Initiative, and Anne Mondro, visual artist and professor at the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design. This episode is part of Creative Currents’ special podcast series on the Michigan Arts Festival (September 25 – October 26, 2025).

Featured Programming & Highlights include:

• ARIA Faculty Research Showcase, October 23 at 4 p.m., Michigan Union Ballroom
• Faculty projects exploring art, health, design, and interdisciplinary collaboration
• Works highlighted during the episode include: Mondro’s Tethered, Perpetual Sunshine & The Ghost Girls, The Heirloom Project, and Hygroscopic Envelope

Croft discusses how the Arts Research: Incubation & Acceleration (ARIA) program elevates creative practice as research, fostering new interdisciplinary partnerships across campus. Mondro shares insights on Tethered, her ARIA-funded project using woven metal forms to explore empathy, illness, and human connection through art.

*Production Note: This episode is part of U-M Creative Currents' special Michigan Arts Festival podcast series and is edited by Sly Pup Productions.

• Subscribe to the Arts Initiative Newsletter
• Checkout our website
• Learn more about the Michigan Arts Festival

In this episode of U-M Creative Currents, host Mark Clague interviews Anya Sirota, designer, professor, and Senior Associate Dean for Academic Initiatives at the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. This episode is part of Creative Currents’ podcast series building excitement for the inaugural Michigan Arts Festival (September 25 – October 26, 2025).

Featured Programming & Highlights include:

• Rebetiko by France's Anima Theatre, October 24–25 at the Detroit Institute of Arts
• Weeklong campus residency with Taubman College students
• TV Lab and Taubman Lecture Series featuring innovative voices in design and architecture

Anya discusses her role leading Akoaki, a design practice working at the intersection of architecture, urbanism, and social engagement. She shares insights on the Detroit Cultural Center Initiative, the learning design of Taubman’s studios, and how architecture can foster civic imagination, equity, and collective expression.

*Production Note: This episode is part of U-M Creative Currents' special Michigan Arts Festival podcast series and is edited by Sly Pup Productions.

• Subscribe to the Arts Initiative Newsletter
• Checkout our website
• Learn more about the Michigan Arts Festival

In this episode of U-M Creative Currents, host Mark Clague talks with Aaron Coleman, poet, translator, and professor of English and Comparative Literature in U-M’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. He also serves on the faculty of the U-M Helen Zell Writers’ Program. Coleman shares how poetry and translation shape his creative practice and how the Michigan literary community fosters dialogue across cultures and identities.

As part of the Michigan Arts Festival series, Aaron previews the Zell Visiting Writers Series, which welcomes acclaimed poet and essayist Roger Reeves to campus for readings and craft talks on October 16–17, 2025.

Listeners will hear excerpts from Coleman’s award-winning collection Red Wilderness (Winner of the 2020 GLCA New Writers Award) as he explores how translation breathes new life into poetry—bridging languages, cultures, and time.

*Production Note: This episode is part of U-M Creative Currents' special Michigan Arts Festival podcast series and is edited by Sly Pup Productions.

• Subscribe to the Arts Initiative Newsletter
• Checkout our website
• Learn more about the Michigan Arts Festival

In this episode of U-M Creative Currents, host Mark Clague interviews Paul Feeny, Director of Concerts & Events at the University of Michigan's School of Music, Theatre & Dance. This episode is part of U-M Creative Currents' podcast series building excitement for the inaugural Michigan Arts Festival (September 25 - October 26, 2025).

Featured Programming & Highlights include:

• SMTD presents Gloria and Cabaret on October 2 at Arthur Miller Theatre & the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre
• Band & Choir Collaborative Concert on October 3 in Hill Auditorium
• Percussion Ensemble on October 5 in the McIntosh Theatre
• Contemporary Directions Ensemble on October 7 in the Stamps Auditorium
• Strings Showcase on October 17 in Britton Recital Hall
• The Legendary Count Basie Orchestra on October 24 in the Power Center
• University Orchestra Halloween Concert on October 26 (festival finale)

Paul discusses his role in overseeing SMTD's 1,000+ event performance calendar, shares what makes North Campus venues unique destinations for audiences, and highlights how the Michigan Arts Festival creates opportunities for artists and audiences to discover collaborative work happening across campus disciplines—from commissioned orchestral premieres to student showcases that blend tradition with innovation.

*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 edited by Sly Pup Productions.

• Subscribe to the Arts Initiative Newsletter
• Checkout our website
• Learn more about the Michigan Arts Festival

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:

• Untold Stories, Part II: a Stamps Faculty exhibition
• The Bureau of Personal Belonging: a Stacy L. Kirby exhibition (opens September 27)
• ArtsRx social prescribing program and wellness programming
• Ongoing rotating exhibitions throughout the year
• Stamps Gallery location and accessibility information for new visitors

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.

• Subscribe to the Arts Initiative Newsletter
• Checkout our website
• Learn more about the Michigan Arts Festival

In this episode of U-M Creative Currents, host Mark Clague interviews Cayenne Harris, Vice President for Learning & Engagement, and Mark Jacobson, Vice President for Programming and Production, both from the University Musical Society (UMS). 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). 

UMS serves as the University of Michigan's performing arts presenter, bringing world-class musicians, dance companies, and theater works to southeast Michigan. Cayenne is a nationally recognized leader in arts education and community engagement who oversees programs for students, faculty, staff, and the community. Mark oversees dance, music and theater programming with a special passion for jazz, having built U-M's ongoing partnership with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra.

Featured Programming & Highlights include:

• Verdi's "Requiem" (September 26)
• Nigamon / Tunai (October 2-8)
• Makaya McCraven (October 10)
• Ballet BC (October 17)
• Belcea Quartet (October 19)
• Philharmonia Orchestra, London (October 24)
• Herbie Hancock (October 25)
• Imani Winds Imani Winds & Andy Akiho, steel drum The BeLonging Project (October 26)
• Special ticket programs, including a free “Bert's Ticket” for U-M students
• October 2025 New Faculty Reception 
• Upcoming programming: Gatz (March 2026) and Rhiannon Giddens (April 2026)

Cayenne and Mark discuss UMS's mission to deepen the impact of arts on campus and in the community, share what first-time concertgoers need to know about attending performing arts events, and highlight the special programming and engagement opportunities that connect audiences to world-class artists.

*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.

• Subscribe to the Arts Initiative Newsletter
• Checkout our website
• Learn more about the Michigan Arts Festival