A campaign for the MSU Museum

Joseph VanWagner culinary roots reach back to the shores of Southwest Michigan’s fruit belt, where he grew up fishing, hunting, and exploring its many beaches and farms. During his adolescence Joe also spent time washing dishes, picking fruit at his friends’ blueberry farms, and even cooking food in some of the local diners. His passion for food and service deepened while studying Hospitality Business at Michigan State University, leading him into fine dining management and ultimately inspiring a full-time culinary career beginning in 2009. He has worked in some of the best kitchens across the U.S. and Europe, including Restaurant A.T. in Paris, Daniel in NYC, and The Dixboro Project in Ann Arbor. Drawing from these experiences, Joe now leads the team at Echelon Kitchen & Bar in Ann Arbor, where his goal is to showcase Michigan’s natural bounty through creative and modern techniques and to develop a progressive culinary touchstone for Metro Detroit and Michigan for years to come.

Chef Kate Williams is an acclaimed chef, celebrated for her innovative interpretations of traditional Midwestern dishes at her flagship restaurant, Lady of the House, in Detroit, Michigan. Her dedication to local sourcing, empowerment, and community involvement has made her a cornerstone of the Detroit gastronomic landscape. She has garnered praise from critics and earned a place as Food & Wine’s 2018 list of America’s Best New Chefs, and James Beard Award Semifinalist 2018, 2019, and 2021.

Williams’s culinary journey was nurtured from a young age in her family’s kitchen, leading her to refine her skills at prestigious institutions like the French Culinary Institute and under the mentorship of esteemed chefs in the United States and Copenhagen. Her cooking style marries rustic comfort with refined sophistication, embodying her belief in the unifying power of food.

The Chicago Tribune lauded her food as showing “pure mastery,” while The New York Times described it as “seasonal-voluptuous.” Beyond her restaurant, Williams is a fervent advocate for food justice, actively working to combat food insecurity in her community. Chef Kate Williams’s passion for her craft and her community sets a standard that continues to inspire chefs and food lovers around the world.

When the Michigan native (Mike Ransom was born in the Traverse City area and grew up in East Lansing) moved to Detroit, he lived with a sushi chef that helped deepen his love and knowledge of the cuisine. He went on to culinary school in Chicago where he was classically trained, and then worked in cities such as Baltimore and San Francisco before coming home.
Ransom recently opened Ima, a casual Corktown eatery featuring Japanese-inspired fare with a Midwest emphasis. As of press time, they were open only for dinner, but Ransom plans to add lunch service as well as secure a liquor license and open up the patio where there will be music when warm weather returns. Over the past 10 years, he’s been thinking about the kind of restaurant he wanted to open, and the concept of Japanese food was a perfect fit because it’s what made him most excited to create and eat.

Born into a chocolate loving family, it was no surprise when, at nineteen, Alexandra Clark announced she would open a chocolate shop. After traveling the world studying her craft as an food scientist, economist, confectioner, and retailer, she started Bon Bon Bon, as an experiment. It worked. Today, “The Babes Babes Babes” (as they’re called in Detroit) hand-make and hand-pipe millions of “Bons” in micro batches of colorful, delicious and truly good chocolates for the good people of Detroit and the world round! Recognized as some of the best and most creative chocolate in the world by the likes of Forbes, Martha Stewart, Bon Appetit, Elle France and The James Beard Awards, Bon Bon Bon maintains an almost obsessive focus on quality. Meanwhile, Alex remains a highly focused, creative and enthusiastic entrepreneur who is fascinated by people, obsessed with agri-food inefficiencies and believes deeply in the power of good data and great design.

Alison Dobbins, Professor of Integrated Performance Media Design at Michigan State University, explores how to activate spaces with projections and media.  She and her students most recently created the media for the Beaumont Halloween Concert and Read for your Rights on the Division Street Parking Garage.  Dobbins also designs projections for area professional theatres and her recent credits include The Mountaintop at Detroit Public Theatre and Sally: A Solo Play at the Wharton Center.  Dobbins is the project director and creator of Dance Engine, Shark! The Interactive Musical, BranchOut, Mostly Human, The Poetic Dramas of Mina Loy and other interdisciplinary art projects that focus on audience engagement and creating community through performance.

Michael Gabriel is a conductor, arranger, researcher, and teacher whose work centers on collaboration and contemporary music. Originally from West Palm Beach, Florida, he is now based in Lansing, Michigan, where he serves as a Graduate Teaching Assistant and Doctoral student in Wind Conducting at Michigan State University. A specialist in new music, Gabriel has commissioned and premiered more than 25 works for a range of ensembles and has conducted across multiple U.S. states and four countries. His practice is driven by a spirit of experimentation and a love of blending genres and art forms.

For Ascent Act II, Gabriel curates and conducts a program of contemporary works inspired by themes reverberating through Blurred Realities. Performed by College of Music students, the program opens with Brad Lubman’s …to quiet the mind, a reflective work that explores the real-time experience of seeking meditative clarity, inviting listeners to question whether stillness is truly still or simply energy slowed beyond perception. Jennifer Bellor’s Light, Awaken follows, drawing inspiration from the mechanical yet lyrical motion of a robotic arm, with textures interweaving like puzzle pieces forming a vivid realization. The evening closes with Things Invisible by MSU graduate student composer Carlos Lalonde, whose two movements move from reverent spirituality in Unto Light to the jagged, driving absurdity of The Jest.

Musicians: Alex Coble, flute; Emily Quintana, oboe; Elyor Gofurov, clarinet; Alex Lee, Emma Allen, Ethan Roberts, and Parker Fritz, saxophone; Ethan Gurwitz, horn; Alirna Korieva and Thomas Shahbaghyan, violin; Brendan McEvoy, viola; Aaron Longuski, cello; Isaac Hinshaw and Peter Nonaka, percussion; and Yi-Hui Chen, piano.