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1 month ago | 
mibluemag.com | Amy S. Eckert
After shuttering the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory in 2022 for extensive work that incorporated more than $12 million in two phases of renovations, Detroit’s Belle Isle landmark reopened last December. Dignitaries and project managers celebrated with an impressive ribbon-cutting ceremony — and the public questioned what had changed.
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Dec 23, 2024 | 
mibluemag.com | Amy S. Eckert
The snow lies deep in Michigan’s most popular recreation areas come winter, and many of the state’s loveliest waterside trails are transformed into pristine snowshoe paths in the off season. Swap your hiking boots for a pair of snowshoes this winter and venture out on one of these spectacular Michigan escapes. Chippewa Nature Center (Midland)Difficulty: EasyDormant trees bear tiny buds and seed pods, promises of next spring’s growth.
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Dec 9, 2024 | 
gardenandgun.com | Amy S. Eckert |Gabriela Gomez-Misserian
It’s tempting to call Robert Brown a disco ball artist. Except he’s never actually created a simple ball. “This all began with a disco squirrel,” Brown says of his first commission in 2017. “I was a metal sculptor at the time and was approached by this company about making a disco ball squirrel holding a bottle.
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Nov 26, 2024 | 
saturdayeveningpost.com | Amy S. Eckert
A small brown mop of a dog trots a neat circle around the royal blue carpet of the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center. Her eyes are barely visible beneath a thick corded coat that looks a bit like dreadlocks. The dog’s name is Abby and she’s a Puli, an uncommon breed thought to be descended from the Tibetan Terrier, according to the show’s host. It’s impossible to watch Abby scurry around the stage and refrain from smiling.
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Nov 4, 2024 | 
mibluemag.com | Amy S. Eckert
As a longtime resident of west Michigan, I’m accustomed to staying up late to catch a brilliant Great Lakes sunset. Getting up early to catch a Great Lakes sunrise? That was something new to me. Yet that was precisely what I found myself doing on a clear morning last September — heading out the door at 7 a.m. to see the sun poke its first rays above the glassy surface of Lake Huron at Bay City State Park.
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Aug 19, 2024 | 
mibluemag.com | Amy S. Eckert
There’s no better way to spend a summer day than walking the beach. Michigan’s lakeside trails wend beneath leafy hardwoods, brightened by colorful wildflowers and berry bushes. And always, just a few feet away, lies the promise of a splash in the surf. From easy state park strolls to scenic bike paths and challenging backpacking routes, Michigan is criss-crossed by trails. Here are a few of my favorites that also can be hiked in various segments.
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Jul 22, 2024 | 
mibluemag.com | Amy S. Eckert
Some cultural institutions waited out the pandemic quietly. Detroit’s Belle Isle Aquarium and the Belle Isle Conservancy used the downtime to dive into an extensive renovation of the historic structure. “Renovating an aquarium involves closing tanks, which nobody likes,” says Amanda Murray, senior aquarist of the Belle Isle Aquarium.
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Jul 10, 2024 | 
airchicagomagazine.com | Amy S. Eckert
With good reason, the city of Munich has become synonymous with foaming mugs of beer, sizzling sausages, spirited oompah bands, and dirndls and lederhosen as far as the eye can see. Certainly there’s no shortage of them all, but Bavaria’s capital goes beyond skin deep, with exquisite cathedrals and royal palaces, boisterous markets, edgy art galleries, and high tech transport — all a measure of the high living that still greets visitors today.
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Jun 23, 2024 | 
channel3000.com | Amy S. Eckert |Lacey Russell |McKenna Ewen |Laurie Frankel
Grand Rapids, Michigan (CNN) — A rust-colored tree stands in the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, its leafless arms contrasting with the surrounding sugar maples. Get closer, and you’ll see this is no real tree but rather Iron Tree, a sculpture by Ai Weiwei. A short walk away stands Eve, a glossy bronze by Auguste Rodin tucked in a corridor of European hornbeam trees.
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Jun 23, 2024 | 
yahoo.com | Amy S. Eckert |Lacey Russell |McKenna Ewen |Laurie Frankel
unknown content item-A rust-colored tree stands in the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, its leafless arms contrasting with the surrounding sugar maples. Get closer, and you’ll see this is no real tree but rather Iron Tree, a sculpture by Ai Weiwei. A short walk away stands Eve, a glossy bronze by Auguste Rodin tucked in a corridor of European hornbeam trees. Further still, Mark di Suvero’s 25-foot-tall industrial steel sculpture Scarlatti occupies a wildflower meadow.
