What follows is our official exit interview with Merritt Bankes, who just recently left Ypsilanti, headed for Tecumseh. MARK: Can you please state your full name for the record? MERRITT: Merritt Bankes. MARK: OK, let’s start at the beginning… What kind of kid were you? MERRITT: Feral! A free-range chicken! [Laughs.] I didn’t even wear […]
Tag Archives: art school
Ypsi/Arbor Exit Interview: Merritt Bankes
Awesome U-M undergrads launch startup to teach American history through the stories of inspirational women
The Ann Arbor Awesome Foundation a few days ago awarded a $1,000 grant to Virginia Lozano, an undergraduate at the University of Michigan, who, along with her twin sister Beatriz, created an education technology company called Leesta in order to “inspire 8-11 year olds by teaching American History through the stories of women.” After bestowing […]
Art, Food, Sex and Trauma: Mark Maynard shoots the shit with the most important artists to ever draw breath on the planet earth… Episode 3: Peter Sickman-Garner
Today we’re joined by Peter Sickman-Garner, the cartoonist behind the beloved series Hey, Mister. Pete’s new book, the 192-page graphic novel Come Hell or Highwater Pants, will be be released by Top Shelf this Saturday at the Toronto Comic Art Festival. MARK: When did you first start drawing? And, what, if you can recall, was […]
Emilia Javanica on the Red Blob Massacre, and what it’s like to shoot one’s first independent film
A few months ago, I announced here on the site that an aspiring filmmaker in Ann Arbor, by the name of Emilia Javanica, was looking for actors to cast in a comedic horror film that she was making called the Red Blob Massacre. Well, the film has just completed production, and I took the opportunity […]