The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Thursday, September 23, 2010 - 3B
A G
Having a
*jolly good time,
On a map quest for art
ook out! The Jolly Pump-
kin, brewery-turned-sen-
sational-snacking-spot,
is serving up a smackdown and
shaking up
Main Street's
somewhat
stagnant rep-
ertoire. Not to
hate on Main
- it's clear-
ly a fixture
of the Ann LILA
Arbor food KALICK
scene and a
prime, if not
solo, player in the city's upscale
dining selection. Yet despite its
abundance of options and rela-
tive accessibility to community
members, you won't find many
students there grabbing dinner
on a typical Friday or Saturday
night.
Why not? The traditional
dichotomy between Main Street
and campus-area cuisine options
may be due to distance. "I have
class in an hour, therefore I am
going to eat Jimmy John's for
lunch." However, we can't ignore
the price point. I mainly avoid
Main because my pockets aren't
that deep. Classic statements like
"I'm going to eat dinner on Main
because the parents are in town"
or an overheard recounting of
a ludicrously expensive date at
Chop House or Gratzi only fur-
ther stigmatize Main's pricey
appeal.
The Jolly Pumpkin might
be starting to bridge this gap.
Having opened in Ann Arbor in
Sept. 2009, it's the most recent
addition to an increasingly suc-
cessful Jolly Pumpkin fran-
chise, already well established
* in Michigan with its brewery in
Dexter and restaurant, brewery
and distillery in Traverse City.
It's rapidly asserting itself as a
worthy opponent to compete
with another local favorite just
off Main, Arbor Brewing Com-
pany.
Like ABC, the Jolly Pumpkin
brews its own. Unlike ABC, its
food is excellent. Solid enough
to comfort but not so heavy
that it weighs you down, the
menu is secretly sophisticated.
Don't be fooled by the category
breakdown advertising a mod-
est spread of appetizers, sand-
wiches, salads and pizzas. The
Jolly Pumpkin's take on cuisine
is a master mix of some Ameri-
can classics, with twists as fresh
as their ingredients (collected
daily from local markets). Try
the truffled French fries or the
"Not Just a BLT" BLT featuring
applewood-smoked bacon, aru-
gula, roasted tomatoes, house-
made mozzarella and salsa verde
on toasted farm bread.
Boo! The Jolly Pumpkin
will scare you with how strong
its salad game is. The grilled
romaine - with croutons made
from layers of thinly sliced pota-
toes joined together by cream
then lightly breaded - is about
as decadent as they come. These
will haunt you in the great-
est way. Vegetarian and vegan
options accommodate just about
any dietary need. And, the brew-
ery provides a not-so-short list of
award-winning in-house beers
to accompany any dish.
An eclectic atmosphere and
staff complement the equally
eclectic menu. Inside, the walls
are a pale burnt orange punc-
tuated by quirky paintings and
family photos. Multi-hued glass
beads hang like drops off of cast
iron rods as lighting over the
booths and cast shadows on a
wooden statue of a lion sipping
a beer above the bar. Two mas-
sive chandeliers whimsically
constructed from cooking uten-
sils hang at either end of the
caf6, further emphasizing the
comfortable yet funky vibes the
Jolly Pumpkin so effortlessly
emits.
The service is friendly,
approachable and helpful, mean-
ing the waiter will tell you his
real feelings about the horse-
radish beet soup special. The
bartender is probably wearing a
Tigers hat as he wipes down the
cherry wood counter. Your host-
ess has tattoo sleeves and a sweet
smile.
If you can find it, modestly
nestled among some of the loud-
er facades, make sure to stop in.
Good food and
great brew form
a scary-good
combination.
The prices are surprisingly mod-
erate, especially for lunch. It's
not necessarily a $4 sandwich
from Potbelly, but only a stone's
throw away from the $8 you'd
spend on a Reuben from Amer's.
The Jolly Pumpkin is perfectly
poised to bring more student foot
traffic to Main.
Kalick is going to scare you with
her writing game. E-mail her your
"Eek!" at Ikalick@umich.edu.
Navigating a pair of
cartographical collections
at 'U' libraries
By CAROLYN KLARECKI
Senior Arts Editor
Whether you realize it or not, maps likely got
you to where you are today. You've quizzically
stared at the impossible-to-fold ones in your car
on the side of the road, you've labeled states and
capitols on a colorful America in grade school and
you've been saved many times from first-day late-
ness by the "you are here" labels on the plaques
in academic buildings. And while you appreciate
topographical depictions when they point you in
the right direction, you might not stop and think
about them much otherwise.
But at the University, there are people who see
maps for so much more than their surface appli-
cation. They create culture so big there are two
major cartography collections on campus: the
Map Library in Hatcher Graduate Library and
the collection in the William L. Clements Library.
Here, maps are valued as works of art.
Founded in 1923, the Clements Library started
with alum and former regent William L. Cle-
ments's personal collection of historic documents
and manuscripts, which contained several hun-
dred maps. Clements made a fortune supplying
materials for the construction of the Panama
Canal and combed auctions of private librar-
ies and estate sales of aristocrats to obtain his
obscenely large collection. The Clements Library
has expanded greatly in the past 87 years and is
now home to 30,000 charts of the Americas dat-
ing from the 15th century to the 20th. Nearly
every pre-1820 map of the Americas is included
among the originals and copies that form the col-
lection, which is accessible for student observa-
tion through appointment.
"The map collection at Clements is a more
historical map collection," said Brian Dunnigan,
curator of the Clements collection. "It documents
the growth and cartographic knowledge of the
Americas from the time of Columbus up until, for
the most part, about 1900."
While old maps are often valued for their his-
The Hatcher Map Library has more than 320,000 maps.
torical significance, many also contain ornate
designs, giving them significant artistic value as
well.
"I would especially say for the manuscript
maps, they are decorative - they are certainly
functional for the most part - but they are defi-
nitely a form of art," Dunnigan said.
Long before GPS and satellites, maps were
often drawn and colored by hand. Pictures were
used to denote landmarks and land ownership or
simply to add a little flair to the document. Ships
were placed in the harbors and oceans, windmills
graced the countrysides and yellows, reds and
blues marked divided properties. Certainly, you
don't find this ornamentation on your TomTom
or Garmin.
"You can see that with printed maps, they get
more scientific as you get into the late 18th, early
19th century," Dunnigan said. "They start to lose
alot ofthe decorativeelements thatyousee onthe
earlier maps."
While it's true that over time maps get more
factual and less creative, it can still be argued
that modern maps retain a sense of aesthetics and
illustrate cultural relevance.
"I want to say (maps) stopped being art at a
certain time, but they didn't," said Tim Utter, the
access and information services librarian for the
Map Library at Hatcher Graduate Library. "What
See MAPS, Page 4B
Pledging creativity: Artsy Greeks
By Emma Jeszke I Daily Arts Writer
Some University students might exclusively associate Greek Life with the keg-induced madness that
becomes Hill St. every football Saturday. What you may not be aware of, though, is a vibrant (albeit
quiet) side to the Greek system that focuses on the spreading and sharing of what its members love: art.
Daily Arts explores Alpha Rho
Chi and Kappa Kappa Psi - two
co-ed, professional, arts-focused
fraternities on campus doing just
that.
Though Alpha Rho Chi and
Kappa Kappa Psi both lack an offi-
cial frat house with bawdy parties,
their presence is still very visible
in the Greek scene. Through their
respective organizations, architec-
tural and musical outreach stays
alive on campus, adding another
layer of color to the Ann Arbor's
artistic - and Greek - community.
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APX
Alpha Rho Chi, founded in 1914
by two architecture societies from
the Universities of Michigan and
Illinois, is a nationwide fraternity
for those interested in architecture
and the "allied arts," which include
related design fields like industrial
engineering and civil engineering.
"What we aim to do is create and
foster both a social and professional
relationship and community with
students within the school and
within the University setting," said
Jordan Buckner, president of Alpha
Rho Chi. "We work with students
and the University to put on pro-
grams and events that extend the
architectural experience outside of
the classroom."
Through last week's program,
called "Dinosaurs on the Diag,"
Alpha Rho Chi extended the archi-
tectural experience all the way
from the North Campus classroom
to Central Campus. Large wooden
dinosaurs on the Diag transformed
the normally monotonous, open
area into a dynamic Jurassic land.
The various dinosaur structures
were completely designed and con-
structed by architecture students.
"One thingthat we are interested
in ... is gaining exposure to people,
especially on Central Campus,
about architecture and some of the
other design fields that they don't
normally have exposure to," Buck-
ner said. "So one of the goals of the
'Dinosaurs on the Diag' program
is to create a space or environment
and a re-envisioning of the Central
Campus Diag space to get people to
look at it differently.
"The great thing about architec-
ture, too, is that it's not just about
designing buildings," he said. "It's
designing spaces, spaces that can
be formative and kind of emotion-
al for people ton. We get to build
something with our hands, we get
to design it with our hands and
everything we do is kind of our own
creative process."
Alpha Rho Chi uses architec-
ture as a means of outreach in
other ways, too. This past summer,
the fraternity participated in the
building of new playgrounds for a
Detroit elementary school by help-
ing plan and create the structures.
In October, the group is taking part
in a Michigan Habitat for Human-
ity build.
Although Buckner said the fra-
ternity strives to bring its art to
others who aren't familiar with it,
he also feels that Alpha Rho Chi is
important because of the relation-
ships it fosters between its mem-
bers.
"(Alpha Rho Chi) provides a
catalyst to form strong friendships
and relationships to people with
the same interests as me," Buck-
ner said, "connections that will not
only last though college, but also
throughout the rest of my life."
See ARTSY GREEKS, Page 4B
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Alpha Rho Chi put on "Dinosaurs on the Diag" to increase its campu
>ence. Rawr.