Flint
Public Art Project Temporarily Reclaims and Reuses
Razed Chevy Site for Free City—a Large-Scale
Open-Air
Art Festival, May 3–5
Flint,
Michigan – Flint Public Art Project
will temporarily reclaim Chevy-in-the-Hole, a
mile-long stretch along the Flint River once occupied by a series of now-razed
Chevrolet plants for Free
City, a large-scale, open-air art festival taking place Friday, May 3
through Sunday, May 5, 2013. With this year’s theme—“Reclaim | Transform” —Free City will demonstrate that a critical mass of
temporary activities can turn abandoned industrial properties into active
public spaces and will highlight the ongoing transformation of Flint. More than
40 artists from Flint, southeast Michigan, and the Great Lakes region will be joined by dozens of artists from across the
country and Europe.
Many
of the projects address the site’s history in provocative and entertaining
ways, while anticipating possible futures for its re-use. GeoSpace’s Firefly
is a futuristic three-wheeled human-powered vehicle that the Ann Arbor-based
artist tours around the exhibition area to spur conversations about sustainable
transport. Flint-based architect Freeman Greer marks the site with reclaimed
tires arranged in the form of a Chevrolet logo and planted with grass and
sunflowers. Los Angeles-based Jesse Sugarmann uses heavy equipment to hoist,
drop, ram, and pile junked Pontiac Fieros, recording the process for video
installations. Brooklyn’s Madagascar Institute creates amusement-park rides
made from reclaimed auto parts.
The
festival also showcases the growing network of artists, designers, builders,
and performers in the Great Lakes region. Melissa Mays of Flint’s Metal Shop
co-organizes Endless Drummers, a thundering and explosive performance by dozens of the best drummers from
the region. Video-projection mapping
by the Windsor-based duo Kero and Annie Hall superimposes computer-generated
imagery over the reclaimed landscape. Cinthia Montague and Candice Stewart of
the Flint-based group Flower Tour invite participants to use their mobile
devices to join a silent dance party. Kunsthalle Detroit installs video
projections transforming the Flint River channel into a light-filled spectacle,
and light-art installations by Catie Newell and students at University of
Michigan illuminate an old rail line that once moved materials to production.
“Free
City is the culmination of three years of conversations with local, regional,
and national artists about how art could be useful as a part of the renewal
process in the city of Flint,” says Stephen Zacks, executive director of Flint
Public Art Project. “The festival will reconnect residents to Chevy-in-the-Hole
in the short term, as long-term remediation takes place.”
The name Chevy-in-the-Hole refers to the
topography of the site, a flood plain of the Flint River lying 10-20 feet lower
than its surroundings. It has historical significance for the U.S. Labor
movement—in the mid-1930s, sit-down strikes by autoworkers led directly to
General Motors recognizing the United Auto Workers union in 1937. In the 1960s,
the Chevy site along with three other Flint industrial "campuses"
employed nearly 90,000 people. Layoffs took place throughout the 1970s and
1980s, and by 2004, all but one building was demolished.
Today however, the site is considered a key piece to Flint's future. The City of Flint has received funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to plant more than 1,000 trees that are helping clean up the soil. The City is also processing several tons of leaf waste and other organic matter for compost. Both activities are symbols of rebirth that are also helping speed the site's future re-use.
The festival is made possible in part by generous funding from ArtPlace, a consortium of thirteen national foundations in partnership with the National Endowment of the Arts, which awarded one of its second round of annual grants to Flint Public Art Project in 2012.
Today however, the site is considered a key piece to Flint's future. The City of Flint has received funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to plant more than 1,000 trees that are helping clean up the soil. The City is also processing several tons of leaf waste and other organic matter for compost. Both activities are symbols of rebirth that are also helping speed the site's future re-use.
The festival is made possible in part by generous funding from ArtPlace, a consortium of thirteen national foundations in partnership with the National Endowment of the Arts, which awarded one of its second round of annual grants to Flint Public Art Project in 2012.
Flint Public Art Project is
produced by Amplifier Inc. with support from ArtPlace, in affiliation with
Flint Institute of Arts, Red Ink Flint, and Fractured Atlas.
