Travel Muse Magazine

“Live in the sunshine” and “drink the wild air.” These words of the poet Ralph Waldo Emerson are ones to live by. Add them to these by the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche: “Only thoughts that come by walking have any value,” and you’ve got a recipe for mind-body success as art, nature, and exercise all have been shown to improve mental health and well-being. So spending an hour on an art-nature walk has to be good for you, right? Yes! “Studies have shown that art installations in public spaces can help reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, improve mood, and promote an overall sense of wellbeing.” And you don’t need to go far to get a good “fix” of art, nature and exercise all at once at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. We’re lucky enough to have some world class pieces just sitting outside for us all to enjoy – for free!

There’s many ways to go about this art-meets-nature walk, of course. I recommend completely unplugging, taking in the sounds of the leaves blowing in the trees and the campus’ famous chubby squirrels running about. I find when I walk with no music, no audiobook, just observing what’s around me that I have lots of great ideas. I’m not alone. Stephen King, David Sedaris, Charles Dickens, Virginia Woolf, Nietzsche, Steve Jobs, William Wordsworth are all among the famously great thinkers and writers who swear by walking. There’s science behind that too. According to a 2014 study by Stanford, “a person’s creative output increased by an average of 60 percent when walking.” 

To get those creative juices flowing plus get the relaxation power of being in nature and seeing public art, you’re going to make what amounts to a big circle around UM’s Central Campus and hit up a dozen or so cool sculptures, a fun mural, and even a giant stained glass window made by the world famous Tiffany Glass Company!

See my map here & at the bottom of this article.

This two mile route will take about 45-minutes to an hour, depending on how long you stop at each piece, how many side trips you take, and how fast you walk.

Start your adventure at the time-portal-looking-spiral that’s called Arriving Home on the wide walkway of East University Mall south of the bus transit center. Next, head into the verdant courtyard respite between Randall Laboratory and West Hall. It’s a full-on art garden in here, but look for Veltman’s Diagram on the west end. It “celebrates the award of the 1999 Nobel Prize to Martinus Veltman, U-M professor emeritus, and his student Gerard‘t Hooft. Veltman was recognized for his contributions to the theory of elementary particles,” according to the Ann Arbor District Library. 

Get back on the East Mall walkway heading south, cross S. University Ave. and walk to the west side of the School of Social Work, where you’ll come across Kindred. “The work draws upon the mode of Cycladic statues from the very dawn of Western Civilization in the Aegean in order to make a statement (according to the sculptor) that all ‘art is communication between people’” (“Kindred”).

Behind you in the lush green yard of the Martha Cook dorm you’ll see The Lady of the Garden. Pass that on your way back across S. University and head to the walkway between Tappan Hall and the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA). Hidden in the trees are Angry Neptune, Salacia, and Strider next to UMMA’s rear outside courtyard. There are several other cool sculptures in here, if you want to hang out and look around for a bit longer. 

When you’re done, go back down the walkway from which you came and turn right, heading west again. You’ll see Daedalus just south of UMMA on your way to the world famous giant head called Behind the Walls guarding UMMA’s main entrance. “More than almost any other artist working today, [Spanish artist Jaume] Plensa’s work argues for art’s capacity to produce powerfully a sense of public place and expression—to jolt us into thought and heightened perception,” UMMA Director Christina Olsen told Michigan Giving when the statue was installed in November 2020. “This new work is arriving at a critical time in our country and world, prompting deep reflection on deliberate ignorance and collective inaction.”

Cross the construction zone that will one day soon again turn into State Street, north of Michigan Union and west of the LSA building, you’ll see the beloved Endover, more commonly known as “The Cube” spinning in Regents’ Plaza. Keep going to the Kelsey Museum of Archeology one building up. Pass the main doors to the walkway north of the building and turn east (right). About half way down the path, look up at the Kelsey and you’ll see Fox Memorial Window by Louis Comfort Tiffany. (See cover photo at top of this article.) Yes, that Tiffany, as in “one of America’s greatest artisans of the Arts and Crafts period” of Tiffany Glass Company fame. 

Walk back on the pathway to Maynard Street and resume your northward journey. At the northwest corner of the next block (East William), you’ll see the Instagrammable Michigan Wings. Remember this cool angel wings mural for when you’re about to graduate, as the side panel features a grad cap. Keep heading north, turn right into the Nickles’ Arcade, then cross State Street, walk past Hill Auditorium and turn north onto Ingalls Mall and you’ll see the glorious fountain of Sunday Morning in Deep Waters by “famous Swedish artist Carl Milles” which celebrates the Greek “sea god Triton” outside of the Michigan League (“Sunday”). Students wade through this iconic fountain as they start a freshman, per UM tradition.

We’re in the home stretch now with maybe 10 more minutes on this tour of public art. On a nice day with the sun shining and birds chirping, you’ll be feeling refreshed and, if you’re like me, in awe of all the cool stuff that we just get to walk by all around campus. Head back on N. University Ave. continuing east to the School of Dentistry. Walk into the West Courtyard here, down some steps and you’ll see the statue known as the “Tooth Fairy.” “Created by sculptor Bill Barrett in 1969, the 14-foot-tall Tooth Fairy was installed at the School of Dentistry in 1971” and moved to its present location in 2021 after building renovations.

Last up – we’re heading to a time capsule. But like none you’ve ever seen. This one’s guarded by the Pumas outside the natural history museum. Placed here in 2018 and sealed until 2118, the big black bronze cats atop the time capsule are replicas of the original ones that have been on campus since 1940. That’s a long time to be on duty and the perfect place to wrap up this nature walk.

Sit outside Darwin’s cafe and enjoy the lively pollinator garden behind the pumas while you ponder your own future while enjoying all that the past has brought to us that led to this relaxing art-nature urban hike we just got to do!

Want to enjoy even more cool outdoor art on campus?

The Modern Greek Program of the Department of Classical Studies at the University of Michigan made the ”Greek Campus” Project” with histories of public art, building facades and more to explore on campus. The University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) also has an interactive map that can guide you around the north, central, and medical campuses of UM to explore even more public art while also enjoying nature and getting exercise.