As the seasons shift, it can be hard to find pride in Michigan amid the bipolar weather, but there’s so much more the state has to offer: a lack of alligators and minimal venomous snakes and spiders, for one.
More importantly, Michigan has a vast collection of creativity at its core. Artists born and raised in the state reflect the beauty and nostalgia of growing up in the Midwest.
NF
Born in the small town of Gladwin, Michigan, Nathan Feuerstein is a rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Taking major inspiration from fellow Michigan native Eminem, Feuerstein is known professionally by his initials, NF. Like Eminem, he favors clear enunciation and a lot of internal rhymes in his raps.
For NF, music was an escape growing up, and he recorded his first songs on a karaoke machine. By 2010, he independently released his first studio album, “Moments.” From there, the rapper could only grow, and by 2017, his single “Let You Down” became his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 and was eventually certified platinum in the U.S. and several other countries. After a two-year break, his latest EP, “Fear,” was released in November of 2025. The title track “Fear” discusses NF’s perpetual mental health issues and relapses.
Unlike most rappers, NF shies away from excessive swearing or rapping about money, drugs and fame. Rather, he focuses on the struggles in his personal life, stemming from parents who divorced when he was young and an abusive childhood. His songs touch on a variety of personal issues, from his anxiety and depression to his diagnosis with OCD.
The artist has acknowledged that his OCD frequently delays his creative process as he struggles to make the music perfect. In particular, his 2023 release “Hope” took NF over a year and a half to complete as he fixated on the songs and his inability to make them perfect.
“Because You’ll Never Meet Me” by Leah Thomas
Oliver “Ollie” Paulot and Moritz Farber are wunderkinds, children born a little strange. Ollie is essentially allergic to electricity and grew up a hermit, secluded in the woods of the Michigan Upper Peninsula. Moritz, alongside a lack of eyes, has an electric heart and lives in Germany. Meeting in person would leave one or the other dead; Ollie from an epileptic seizure or Moritz from turning off his pacemaker.
The two share their individual stories with each other as pen pals, slowly becoming unlikely friends and learning more about themselves along the way. Thomas does a beautiful job writing the dynamics of their friendship and character arcs.
Ollie’s story feels nostalgic to growing up in Michigan despite the extremities of his situation. He shares memories of running through the woods with his self-proclaimed first love, exploring the natural side of the state without the pressures of social media.
Pewabic Pottery by Mary Chase Perry Stratton and Horace James Caulkins
Pewabic Pottery, now a designated National Historic Landmark, was a collaboration between Mary Chase Perry Stratton and Horace James Caulkins. Stratton was trained in art and ceramics, while Caulkins was a ceramic artist who began his career as a dental supplier. In this line of work, he developed a kiln for firing dental enamel, named the Revelation.
When the two artists met, they combined Caulkin’s innovative kiln with Stratton’s knowledge of ceramic glazes to found the Pewabic Pottery. The name came from the mine Stratton’s father worked at in the Upper Peninsula, called the Pewabic Copper Mine. Their collaboration was highly successful, and they became known for their unusual iridescent ceramic glazes, producing tiles, architectural elements and jewelry.
By 1907, the pottery moved to a Tudor revival style home in Detroit and continues to operate to this day under the leadership of the nonprofit Pewabic Society Inc. The location now also houses a museum and educational programming, while many Pewabic products continue to be produced there.
While customers may still pay to have Pewabic tiles in their homes, Detroit and the surrounding areas boast a plethora of Pewabic installations. Mosaics adorn the exterior of Comerica Park and Little Caesars Arena, the floor of the Riviera Court at the Detroit Institute of Arts and inside several of the Detroit People Mover stations. Oakland University students do not have to look far to find the iconic pottery, as Meadow Brook Hall’s Pegasus Fountain is laid with turquoise Pewabic tiles.
Starkid’s “Hatchetfield” series
Many Michiganders have at least heard of Starkid Productions, either through the grapevine or in the wake of their ever-growing success as a theatre company. The company was woven from the threads left by Michigan University students who put together a parody musical titled “A Very Potter Musical” based on the “Harry Potter” franchise.
The students posted the production on YouTube for friends and family to enjoy, and the video instead went viral. Fifteen full-length musicals have since been written and released on their YouTube channel, Team StarKid, three of which take place in a small town located in Michigan.
The horror-comedy collection is known as the “Hatchetfield” series and boasts three full-length musicals and two web series for a total of fifteen stories, which take place in the town. The core trilogy consists of “The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals,” “Black Friday” and “Nerdy Prudes Must Die.” The web series is called “Nightmare Time” and features two installments with five more stories.
“The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals” was the first installment of the trilogy. It follows Paul, an average Joe with a distaste for musicals, through a musical apocalypse in which people can’t stop singing.
“Black Friday” takes place on the day it’s titled after, a shopping trip filled with nightmare fuel (and laughter!) Tickle-Me Wiggly is the hottest new toy who is also a chaos-hungry interdimensional being keen on making the world his own.
“Nerdy Prudes Must Die” is a slasher-style musical following a group of high schoolers who accidentally summon an all-powerful and evil spirit with a vendetta against nerds. It is up to the unwitting summoners to save the day.
