Stamps Undergraduate View Book

Cover Design

The cover design of this brochure was created by Stamps alum Angel Manson (BFA '22). Angel is a talented comic book artist and illustrator, and we are proud to feature their work.

Your creativity is powerful. Through art and design, you change the world within you and around you. You offer new perspectives to reveal hopeful possibilities. You innovate to address the unique challenges and opportunities of our time. You shift culture. You shape the future.

We are here to support your vision, to create a home for it. We are skilled makers.

We are original, critical thinkers. We are leaders and collaborators. We are global citizens. We design the future. And so do you.

Your Community

“Being in the studio... it’s my home. It’s where I need to be.” Isabella Comai, BFA student

“It was very important to me to get a solid academic education in addition to art. A lot of the art schools I looked at wanted me to declare what my focus would be when I entered. And I just wasn’t ready to commit to one medium. The Stamps School fixed that problem for me by allowing me to take literally every kind of class imaginable.”

Small School

A close-knit community of 700+ students, faculty, and staff

“When I came into the Stamps program, I was kind of in my little niche. However, through the Stamps courses, through the mentoring of my professors, I’ve definitely had the opportunity to take risks and broaden my perspective as a designer.”

Big University

Connect to the diverse resources of a world class university.

19 schools and colleges

280+ degree programs

1600+ student clubs and organizations

A global network of 659,000+ alums

# 1 Public University in the U.S.

# 1 public research university in the U.S.

# 10 LGBTQIA+-friendly university campus

More than 30 student entrepreneurship groups

18 residence halls where 97 % of first-year students live

200+ study abroad programs

Student Groups

With over 1,600 student organizations at U-M, the Stamps School is home to a number of active student orgs, including:

Stamps in Color , promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion on campus and beyond

IDSA , supporting professional development for student industrial designers

AIGA , fostering the graphic design community at Stamps

Ceramics Club , communitybuilding and nonprofit fundraising through the creation and sale of handmade pottery

Michigan Animation , creating and appreciating animation

Digital Fabrication Club , exploring twenty-first-century modes of digital making

What will you join? What will you start?

“There are just so many resources that I’d never been exposed to before. Stamps gives me so many chances and opportunities to grow.”

Tina Ji, BFA student

How We Work

“Having a larger conceptual goal or theme gives shape to everything you’re learning from a formal perspective. It gives you a reason and a motivation to put your skills into action.”

Business-minded students get start-up support and mentoring through Innovate Blue

100% of Stamps students participate in community-based work

New Additions

“Working with fellow students who are as eager as I am about working on a project has been a great experience. I really learned so much about organizing events and big exhibitions.”

Megan Gizzi, BA student, on working with Witt Artist in Residence Pinar Yoldas

You Are Welcome Here

Stamps is home. You are safe here. You are supported. You

are heard.

“If we’re not challenging our students to think more deeply about the complex issues of race, class, or gender, they can’t rise to the task of really positively informing our world.”

Porter, Stamps Professor emerita and former inclusive teaching liaison

“In order for diversity to be more than just a buzzword, it needs to be understood more — which can only come from more discussion, even when it may be controversial. As a result, we’ll all become bilingual or, better yet, polyglots.”

Stamps Gallery

Stamps students show their work at Stamps Gallery, an 8,000-square-foot public space located in the heart of downtown Ann Arbor.

In addition to an active exhibition space, students learn about exhibition design and curation — and have a built-in venue for networking with professional visiting artists and designers.

“The Stamps Gallery is more than an exhibition space. It’s an incubator for new ideas.”

Penny Stamps Speaker Series

Bringing the world’s best creative innovators to Stamps students.

Every. Single. Week.

“This is an opportunity for Stamps students to start to build their network with the professional world. We’ve had great success with having our students intern with many of our speakers.”

“One of my favorite things about being a Stamps student is going to the Penny Stamps Speaker Series. Every Thursday, all the art and design students go and get inspired.”

Dakota Lewis, BFA student

Past speakers:

Author Lemony Snicket - Daniel Handler

Nike Shoe Designer - Wilson Smith

Artist/Activist Collective - Pussy Riot

Congressman - John Lewis (pictured)

Children’s Book Illustrator - Brian Selznick

Poet - Claudia Rankine

Dancer and Choreographer - Bill T. Jones

Filmmaker - Oliver Stone

Graphic Designer - Stefan Sagmeister

Performance Artist - Marina Abramovic

Photographer - Vik Muniz

Graphic Designer - Louise Fili

Architect - Bjarke Ingels

Actor, Director, Writer - John Cameron Mitchel

Cartoonist - Lynda Barry

Typographic Designers - Matthew Carter and Roger Black

Interaction Designer - Massimo Banzi

Fashion Designer - Zandra Rhodes

Podcast Producer - Jad Abumrad

Perfumier - Sissel Tolaas

Director and Playwright - Robert Wilson

Installation Artist - Mary Sibande

Social Justice Activist - Chelsea Manning

Painter and Collagist - Wangechi Mutu

Industrial Designer - Tim Brown

Composer - Philip Glass

Photographer - Sally Mann

Media Artist - Carrie Mae Weems

Cartoonist - Alison Bechdel

Faculty

Internationally recognized faculty and other experts guide the creative and educational experience at Stamps.

At Stamps, dedicated faculty who are renowned artists and designers teach, mentor, and champion the creative practice of students. With small class sizes that focus on each individual student, Stamps faculty have established an academic journey that is profoundly unique.

Your Curriculum

The Stamps Art & Design Curriculum

At Stamps, our degree programs are unique. This approach allows you to:

→ cu stomize your education

→ have cross-disciplinary experiences

→ engage in critic al thinking and creative problem solving

The Stamps BFA is different.

Steeped in both studio and academic efforts, work by Stamps BFA students is informed, captivating, with a "bleeding edge" quality. Our BFA students make work about a world they’ve developed deep knowledge of. Work that makes a difference.

Other options at Stamps

BA in Art and Design

For students interested in a more in-depth academic pursuit, with a survey of art and design courses.

BFA in Interarts Performance*

Dual Degrees

The following schools are available in the Common App for firstyear students to apply dually with Stamps:

→ C ollege of Engineering

→ S chool of Music, Theatre & Dance

→ S chool of Kinesiology

→ C ollege of Literature, Science, and the Arts

→ S chool of Nursing

→ Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning

→ R esidential College (LSA)

The following schools are available in the Common App for firstyear students to apply for preferred admission with Stamps:

→ S chool of Information

→ R oss School of Business

→ Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning

Stamps Studios

Stamps Studios

Academics

You can also choose to apply for a dual degree with any U-M school or college once you are an enrolled student.

Explore the possibilties at curriculum-designer.com .

Your First-Year Experience

This is what your first year at Stamps will look like:

Fall Winter

Drawing: Observation

Studio: 2D

Studio: 3D

University Academic Elective

University Academic Elective

The Stamps School’s approach to academic advising is a

Our personal approach ensures that students can create a curricular path that is tailored to their individual creative interests and long-term goals.

Drawing: Visualization

Studio: 4D

Creative Process Strategies

Art & Design History

University Academic Elective

While Stamps first-year students are busy grounding themselves in foundational coursework, assigned advisors meet with students no fewer than three times during the first year. In these meetings, advisors make sure that students understand the expectations and rigors of a U-M education, help to build influential faculty mentorships, and pave the way for strong career preparation and a productive creative practice.

one-of-a-kind experience.

Second Year Sample Plan of Study: BFA

Fall Winter

Elective Studio Elective Studio

Elective Studio Elective Studio

Elective Studio

University Academic Elective

Art & Design in Context

Penny Stamps Speaker Series

Second Year Sample Plan of Study: BA

Second Year Studio

University Academic Elective

University Academic Elective

Penny Stamps Speaker Series

Fall Winter

Second Year Studio Elective Studio

Elective Studio Elective Studio

University Academic Elective

University Academic Elective

Art & Design in Context

Penny Stamps Speaker Series

University Academic Elective

University Academic Elective

University Academic Elective

Penny Stamps Speaker Series

First Year Sample Plan of Study: BFA in Interarts Performance

Fall Winter

Interarts Forum

Live Art Survey

One Introductory Studio

Acting One

Studio or University Academic Elective

Penny Stamps Speaker Series

Introductory Studio

Theatre/Drama Academic

Studio 4D

Studio or University Academic Elective

University Academic Elective

Penny Stamps Speaker Series

International Experience

100% of Stamps students have an international experience

“Stamps is one of the only schools I know of where International Experience is required. Becoming an artist/ designer is about altering your perspective. It’s also about understanding the context of your creative work in relation to the world around you. There’s no better way to learn this than immersing yourself in another culture.”

“It was incredibly eye-opening to go overseas and work with a culture that’s so different from my own. I don’t think I could’ve learned this any other way.”

Ian Crowley, BFA student

Community Collaborations

Engaging with community partners is a cornerstone of the Stamps experience for students. Designers and artists are key to researching, listening, and using their knowledge, skills, and talents to bring about positive solutions that have real, positive impacts.

One faculty member who has spent years bringing classes together with community leaders is Stamps Professor Joe Trumpey. Professor Trumpey teaches innovative classes like the Design Build course, where students work together to create functional objects that make a difference. Some of the community partners students work directly with during this course included:

→ Groundhog Park - Brightmoor Artisans Collective

→ The Detroit Partnership for Food Learning and Innovation

→ University of Michigan Campus Farm

→ We the People Opportunity Farm

In another class, Professor Trumpey and his students worked with community organizers in a neighborhood known for having the worst air quality in the state due to the industries located nearby. The students developed and painted murals on buildings in the neighborhood that draw attention to the environmental issues the community faces.

“The overall experience was great. It was wonderful collaborating with all my classmates. I learned a lot through this program and how important it is to talk and listen to the community to understand their perspectives.”

Senior Projects

During your senior year you’ll have the opportunity to bring all of your experiences together with:

→ engaged faculty members to help you realize your goals

→ the option of taking one year to complete a self-directed thesis project through the Integrative Project course elective.

→ dedicated work space for IP students

“I learned how to work as an independent artist, to really be in charge of my own project for the long term, to be able to budget, plan, and give my work the time to grow conceptually.”

“During my senior year, I experienced a whole new level of confidence about myself and my work. I’ve switched from asking for permission to saying, ‘this is really what I want to do.’”

Senior Studios

BFA students who elect to take the Integrative Project (IP) course receive dedicated studio space to create thesis work.

“The studio courses at Stamps allowed me to explore my interests in many fields of art and design over four years, from animation to illustration to packaging design and more. Each course I took taught me essential skills and sparked ideas that eventually led me to my thesis project.”

Your Career

Stamps School alum Candy Chang reimagines public spaces to help us make sense of our lives. After losing someone she loved, she created the Before I Die public art project inviting people to share their personal aspirations in public space. Since then, over 5,000 Before I Die walls have been created by people in more than 75 countries. Chang has also completed public projects in New Orleans, Hong Kong, Las Vegas, and New York City. Her work has been exhibited in the Venice Biennale and the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. Chang’s 2012 Ted Talk about Before I Die has been viewed over five million times and translated into over 40 languages.

Career Preparation

On average, about 84% of Stamps graduates end up working in creative positions within 6 months of graduation. About 7% of our students go immediately on to graduate school. Through networking, workshops, internships, faculty mentorships, strong alum networks, and individual career advising, Stamps grads enter post-college life ready for work.

“Networking and internships are a vital part of preparing for graduation. Career counseling starts in your first year.

It’s my job to set you up and help you find your way.”

The demand for a creative workforce is strong.

Our students have interned with...

American Greetings

Ann Arbor Film Festival

Anna Sui Corp.

Anthropologie

Apple

Arnold Worldwide

ArtsAlliance

Betsey Johnson

Biolumina

Cloth and Kind

Coach

Conde Nast

Cranbrook Art Museum

Domestic Violence Project, Inc.

Doner Advertising

Donghia Furniture & Textile

Elle Magazine

Endgame Entertainment

Foreign Policy Magazine

GE Medical Systems

General Motors Design Center

Giorgio Armani

Glacier National Park

Glamour Magazine

Graphis

GTB

Hearst Design Group

IDL Merchandising Solutions

Inner Concept Media Studio

Interlochen Arts Camp

Liz Claiborne, Inc.

Mad Magazine

Mass. Audubon Society

MOCAD

Moosejaw Mountaineering

MTS Seating

MTV Networks

NBA

NBC News

New Line Cinema

Nickelodeon

The New Museum

Pixel/Starcom MediaVest

Proteus Design

Publicis Hong Kong

Saatchi and Saatchi (Taiwan)

San Diego Union Tribune

Superfly Presents

Surface Magazine

The Rockport Company

Toledo Museum of Art

U-M Matthaei Botanical Gardens

Vogue

Warner Music Group

Whitney Museum of American Art

And more...

Land Your Dream Job

Stamps people are working and creating in a wide range of industries.

Entrepreneurial efforts:

I started my own business in color correction for feature films.

I spent a year in the Peace Corps doing graphic design in Zambia.

I’m the founder & chief designer of Plae, a company that designs customizable children’s shoes: plae.co

I am a fashion photographer in New York, New York. My photos have been in Elle, Cosmo, Seventeen, Surface, and Glitterati magazines.

I opened a painting studio in Detroit and sell my work at national galleries.

I am the arts coordinator at an afterschool youth program.

I’m an art consultant with the Carrie Fell Gallery in Vail, Colorado, where I also get to ski and snowboard.

I created a designer clothing brand that produces hand-dyed and embroidered apparel.

“Stamps gave me the vocabulary of an artist and my internship at Nickelodeon gave me the vocabulary of an animator. My internship at Nickelodeon was life changing.”

Creat ive Work

Audiovisual performance

“Through coinciding sound and projected visuals, Sagas addresses ideas such as linguistic phenomena and the ultimate failure of communication.”

Initial Response

This Is Not A Landscape

Bianca Ng A Better Conversation With Myself Black ink, paper

Sydney Markus

Combustion Oxidation

Scuplture: ceramic, neon, copper, and brass

Gabriel Consiglio describes his Senior IP project Studio 05D: "Here there exist no new forms, yet everything has been made completely anew. In this room built within a room, an echo of the studios you now find yourself walking through, the mundane is transformed into something monumental. Ash wood, oriented strand board, poplar detailing."

Gina Garavalia

The Wishing Stone

Concept art

“The Wishing Stone is an animated television series concept about family, friendship, and perseverance in the face of adversity. The project is presented as a 100+ page book containing concept art, character and environment designs, storyboards, color keys, and process sketches accompanied by description of the characters, setting, and story.”

“Floppy Phallics investigates the connections between western norms of masculinity and the design of firearms.”

Emma Covode

Floppy Phallics

Silicone

Jacob Saphier

Twelve Knives

Hand-made knives

Danielle Battaglia Quintessence: Visualizing a Torodial Universe

3D model

“An attempt to discover the great order of all things. Studying the theories of Plato, Stephen Hawking, Albert Einstein, and others on subjects such as black holes, white holes, wormholes, sacred geometry, Klein surfaces, physics, higher dimensions, and space-time, I have come up with a form that could be the basic design of our universe: a torus. To visualize this concept I installed this 3D model in the MIDEN, a 3D virtual space where one can experience the model on a new level, by moving through the space in three dimensions.”

“Part of a site-specific mini series looking at intersections of identities and perspectives.”

media: board game

Jaclyn Caris

Let’s Cross Over

App for iOS and Android

“A book and an app that were inspired by my study abroad in Florence, Italy. The book is a travel guide and journal meant for other study-abroad students to use while traveling in Florence. The app is for travelers anywhere in the world and allows users to document all their trips through journal entries and pictures.”

Until Later, Take Care Connected through the Prison Creative Arts Project, Chris and Ariana spent a year writing and getting to know one another.

Jong Hoon Kim Things, Not Objects Buttero vegetable tanned cow leather

“

“Brain scans and transmission electron micrograph images lend themselves to beautiful possibilities. These works are my attempt to come to terms with the possibility of illness in my family and friends.”

Stephanie Casing Finding Beauty In An Ugly Situation: A series of works assuaging my fear of illness in loved ones

Paper, photography

A&D/Abroad

Visual identity system

veg out

Ink, digital, and plantable seed paper

“A collection of illustrated plantable seed paper recipe postcards which aim to de-stigmatize vegan and gluten-free dietary lifestyles.”

is a

Screenprints

“A series of screenprinted zines and prints to gratify human beings’ fascination with the strange, humorous, unbelievable, or grotesque. The project emulates feelings surrounding the Age of Exploration — everyone rushing to expose the next great species, to reveal something to the public that they had never seen.”

The World Below

2D video game

The World Below is influenced by Filipino mythology and folklore.

Punk Science

Character design and illustration series

“A

Nature By Numbers

Pen and ink

“The Fibonacci sequence is a series of numbers found in nature. Each drawing uses the sequence to celebrate the beauty of these natural patterns.”

Dress

Paper receipts, shoelaces, ribbon

“I was working at a cafe where we were required to print out receipts for the customers, who then threw them away. I hated how wasteful that was and decided to use them to make a dress, turning the waste into something both useful/functional, and beautiful.”

Constanza McKinstry

The Inside Counts

Sculptural objects

“The Inside Counts is an installation that consists of sculptural objects and photographs that explore my symbiotic relationship with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.”

Rachael Cross ArtBot Arduino, charcoal

False Facades and Adulteress

Sterling silver, fine silver, enamel

Trust Me

Stainless steel, carbon steel, wood

“Pulling from the traditions of globally distinct tattoo cultures, this set of ‘flash’ uses ink on paper to illuminate the limitations imposed on creative expression by the culturally constructed definitions of artwork.”

With Borders: Latinas in Detroit

“Anatomy is a puzzle and learning tool for all ages. For children, it offers the chance to develop hands-on understanding of how our bodies work. For adults, it makes a fun gift.”

Emma Berger

Drop the Needle

Intaglio, woodblock, ink, and watercolor

“These etchings expand on the existing culture of screen-printed gig posters. The prints are signed by the bands and auctioned off to support Brandi Carlile’s Looking Out Foundation and Charity: Water.”

5G Individualized Eyewear Wood, vaneer, 3D printing

“The project uses handcrafted and digital fabrication techniques to generate ergonomically designed frames using consumers’ individual facial and head measurements. With a balance of hand and digital craft, 5G Individualized Eyewear uses individual parametric measurements to create frames designed to fit each person.”

Ronan Lynam

Duck & Friends

Digital prints

“A series of personified animal portraits satirizing our narcissistic fascination with human portraiture.”

Take Notice

Branding system

“Camp Take Notice is a democratically self-governing community of homeless people in Ann Arbor. It was important to me to create a visual language that Camp Take Notice could use to tell its story. I was inspired by Ghanaian Adinkra symbols and hobo symbols from the early 1900s.”

Apply to the Stamps School of Art & Design

Steps for Successfully Applying to Stamps

We welcome all interested students to apply to attend the Stamps School. For Fall 2024, the University of Michigan continues with its testoptional policy, so SAT and ACT scores are not required for consideration. All students who apply should fill out the Common App and follow the specific instructions.

Key components of the application include:

→ Portfolio of all creative work

Your portfolio should include 12 – 15 pieces of your best and most recent work. You are encouraged to submit a range of media, including assignments or work you created on your own. For each piece, please answer the question “Why did I create this?”

→ Personal Essays

When you fill out the Common App, you must submit a personal statement, plus two U-M supplemental essays. If you have any questions about these essays and what to expect, we invite you to get in touch with us at stamps-admissions@umich.edu. We want to make sure we're providing context that best advocates for your specific creative, academic, and career goals.

Make sure to request an official transcript from your high school.

We strongly encourage students to apply by the November 1 deadline so their application can be reviewed early, and so they have the opportunity to be considered for any U-M scholarships that are available.

Statement of DEI Values & Land Acknowledgment for Stamps

The Stamps School affirms the existence of diverse and intersectional identities, including age, culture, disability, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, language, nationality, race, religion, sexual orientation, size, and socioeconomic status. The Stamps School celebrates our community members’ varied identities and creative practices.

We are proud to be located in the beautiful state of Michigan, where we are graced by 20% of the planet’s fresh water in our great lakes. The University of Michigan exists among hardwood forests on the banks of the Huron River, located on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Wyandot (Wyandotte), Seneca, Delaware, Shawanese (Shawnee), Miami, Sauk and Fox, and others. In 1817, the Bodewadami, Odawa, and Ojibwe Nations made the largest single land transfer to the University, land granted through Article 16 of the Treaty at the Foot of the Rapids, with the understanding that their children would be provided with educational opportunities.

We honor and gratefully acknowledge the Native Peoples on whose ancestral lands we gather, and the diverse and vibrant Native communities who make their home here today. Through these words of acknowledgment, their contemporary and ancestral legacies to the land, sovereignty, and their contributions to the University are recognized and reaffirmed.

University of Michigan Regents

Jordan B. Acker, Huntington Woods

Michael J. Behm, Grand Blanc

Mark J. Bernstein, Ann Arbor

Paul W. Brown, Ann Arbor

Sarah Hubbard, Okemos

Denise Ilitch, Bingham Farms

Ron Weiser, Ann Arbor

Katherine E. White, Ann Arbor

Santa J. Ono, (ex officio)

Nondiscrimination Policy Statement

The University of Michigan, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action. The University of Michigan is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion,

height, weight, or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions. Inquiries or complaints may be addressed to the Senior Director for Institutional Equity, and Title IX/Section 504/ ADA Coordinator, Office for Institutional Equity, 2072 Administrative Services Building, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1432, 734-7630235, TTY 734-647-1388, institutional. equity@umich.edu. For other University of Michigan information call 734-764-1817.