Arts & Culture

HANCOCK, MI--   Mary Wright is on the hunt for historic saunas and a place in which to permanently display them. 

The Daily Mining Gazette reports that the artist from Hancock is collecting the old structures.  They first came with immigrants from Finland, where sauna use is a national pastime.

Wright is collecting them for FinnFest USA 2013, a national heritage festival coming to the area from June 19-23. She also aims to create an outdoor sauna museum.

DETROIT, MI (AP)--   Michigan Governor Rick Snyder says he hopes Detroit's financial crisis doesn't force emergency manager Kevyn Orr to sell off items from the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts.  

Orr says the DIA's collection could face sale if Detroit seeks bankruptcy protection. The museum opened in 1885 and has more than 60,000 artworks.

Interviewed at a conference on Mackinac Island, Snyder tells the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News he won't rule out a sale of the museum's collection.

LANSING, MI--   More than 50 museums in Michigan are offering free admission this summer to active duty military personnel and their families. 

The Blue Star Museums program is in its fourth year.  More than 2,000 museums across the country are taking part.

Participating Upper Peninsula museums include the Lore of the Lakes Maritime Museum in Copper Harbor; the Quincy Mine Hoist Association in Hancock; Ishpeming’s U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame; Delaware Copper Mine Tours in Mohawk; and the Copper Range Historical Society in South Range.

SAULT STE. MARIE, MI--   Four Upper Peninsula nonprofit groups have received grants from the Michigan Humanities Council.  

Money is awarded annually to organizations that support cultural, educational and community-based public humanities programs. 

$15,000 was approved for the Calumet Theatre Company in Houghton County. 

In Chippewa County another $15,000 is slated for the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society; $2,930 is going to Lake Superior State University; and $5,674 is going to the Bayliss Public Library in the Soo.