Welcome to the front page for the Cultural Heritage Initiative for Community Outreach (CHICO) based at the University of Michigan School of Information. CHICO projects celebrate the arts and cultural expressions within and across communities. These communities may be as nearby as the projects engaged in by the "Students on Site" or as far-reaching as the communities addressed in more global studies, such as the archaeological exhibits about "Foods of the Ancient World" or the exhibit about the 500-year history of African people in the Americas. CHICO projects focus on engaging practitioners in the arts, and presenters of the arts, with students of all ages and general audiences. CHICO team members are graduate students at the University of Michigan's School of Information. Team members work with partners and collaborators in schools, art institutions, and lively arts organizations, including University of Michigan departments, K-12 schools as well as local, regional, and national museums and public libraries.

On these pages, you will find topics ranging from the extensive collection of Yup'ik masks and stories, a project done in collaboration with the National Museum of the American Indian, to the exploration in "Stylistic Journey" of how new technologies are shaping museum visits and experiences. Many of the CHICO websites include resource materials for K-12 students and teachers, and all are invited to explore in greater depth the topics here presented.

Funding generously provided by