As a community theatre, the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre understands the importance of individuals feeling engaged to our mission. The Theatre’s focus is in providing experiences through highest quality performances, the award winning education programs and outreach. Our success can be measured by thousands of hours given by volunteers, the record setting ticket sales from our audiences, and ever important financial commitments of our supporters. These are the elements that make the Theatre a recognized cornerstone in the West Michigan arts and cultural community.

The Grand Rapids Public Museum has numerous programs that use the museum to educate children in history, immigrants and diversity, social studies, and local communities. Also available is a carousel and a planetarium.

Each year more than 15,000 young listeners get their first taste of the Grand Rapids Symphony at45-minute Lollipop Concerts that feature musical versions of classic children’s literature. Numerous performances are available at various locations.

Also available are 3rd grader concerts. In these concerts the story of Percussion is told. Its history spans from the earliest known humans to all modern cultures. No one tells the vibrant story of the importance of percussion music and instruments better than Bill Vits in this high-energy, high-impact concert just for Third Graders.

The GRS also has 5th grader concerts. In these unique concerts the traditional concert hall takes on a new look and feel with these multi-media concerts sure to engage your fifth grade students in the full spectrum of a live concert full of great music.

The final field trip program is The Access to Music Concerts. These concerts provide a unique performance for members of the Greater Grand Rapids community who are not able to attend traditional concerts due to impairments or physical and financial limitations. These concerts occupy a special place in the heart of the Grand Rapids Symphony’s education programs.

Come and enjoy great music in an environment that will be sure to make everyone feel welcome. Check our website for specifics on these programs.

The Center’s mission is to inspire, entertain, and educate through the performing arts with year-round, world-class performances, affordable ticket pricing, and robust educational programming, and to serve as a cultural and social hub for Northern Michigan.

The Vision of the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra is that we will be: "the Resident Chamber Orchestra of Northern Michigan that produces a sustainable, high-quality product that delights the community."

We are a hands on Museum providing self guided visits. Our exhibits include: a water table, freighter to play on, lighthouse keepers quarters to play in, magnetic ball wall, living river, arts and crafts table, water cycle climbing structure, toddler beach (a play space for our youngest visitors), "What's in the bay?" display.

Our facilities also include the Great Lakes room where groups can bring a snack or lunch. Groups can also choose from the following program offerings: Interactive Story Time Weather--Get the Facts, Listening To The River (watershed education), The Incredible Journey (water cycle education), Stuffee at the Museum (Heart and digestive system), Science Stories (Folk lore that has it's roots in real science).

Field trip opportunities at the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center include, but are not limited to, museum tours, hands-on classroom activities based on STEM principles, and shipboard education. The Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center is the headquarters for Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

Sanctuary education and outreach programs are designed to raise public awareness about the sanctuary and its resources, encourage public involvement in resource protection, increase knowledge about Great Lakes maritime history, and expand ocean and Great Lakes literacy.

Self-guided tours of the Whitefish Point Lighthouse Keeper’s Quarters (1861), Shipwreck Museum gallery featuring Edmund Fitzgerald exhibit, Naval Radio Station building with theater and United States Coast Guard Surfboat House (1923). Tower Tours available for the first time in 2011, and an additional fee (directly supports tower restoration) applies.

Once a center for local government, a grand old building in the heart of Harbor Springs is now a center for local history. Welcome to the Harbor Springs History Museum located in the former city hall building on Main Street. Our museum not only serves as the new home to the Harbor Springs Area Historical Society, it also features exhibits documenting the unique history of this area.

Leading a journey beginning with our first residents, the Odawa Indians, our exhibits escort visitors through time stopping to visit with missionaries, homesteaders, loggers, downtown merchants and resorters. With the arrival of each of these groups, whether by foot, horse, canoe, steam ferry, train or automobile, a connection was made with this place. And with each of these connections, another chapter in our history was written.

Hartley Outdoor Education Center is a residential facility located 15 miles Southeast of Saginaw in Saginaw County. It has three state registered historic sites of which one is an old Coal Mine (some ruins are still visible) which operated from 1917-1931 and was the longest running Coal Mine in Michigan (14 years).

Another is the Schroeder Log Home which was built in 1896 and moved to the Hartley property in 1978. The third is the Fowler One-room Schoolhouse (the first schoolhouse in District 1). We also moved the oldest barn still standing in Saginaw county to our property last summer. That made a nice addition to our 100 acre Farm Learning Center which also includes the Murphy Farmhouse and the Henige Log Cabin.

Students spend three days and two nights experiencing the outdoor, hands-on classes that their teachers have chosen in one of three categories: Social Studies (Lumberjack Lore, Pioneer Heritage, Native American Living, Coal Mine #8, and Archaeology); Team Building (Confidence Course, Wilderness Survival, and Navigation Challenge); or Science (Wetland Lab, Watershed, Mammals, Bird Study, Forest Ecology, Photography and Weather). Mini/day trips are where schools can get a "little taste of Hartley". We also have an Fall Festival in October where the community can get a delicious breakfast, see presentations, listen to performers (we have had dulcimers, Beats Settin' Home, the Rusty String Band and singers) and to explore and enjoy the Hartley surroundings.