"Changing the Narrative from Crisis to Art"

Lecturer: Joe Schipani, Director of Flint Public Art Project

After listening to our community one thing became clear: locals felt revitalization efforts were being over–shadowed by stories and images of the water crisis, blight, hardship, and ruin. These issues have become the hotspots for shows like Netflix’s Flint Town and other documentaries about Flint. This media attention has blurred out the nice parts of the city we all love. After several discussions our board came up with an idea: what if we used big, colorful art projects to draw attention to the parts of our city and community we are proud of? Would that make people watching those shows ask themselves, what’s behind the blur? After a few more discussions we came up with a plan to install 150 new murals a year for two years all over the city. Our hope was to shift the narrative around Flint away from the water crisis and transform our city into an international leader in the public arts.

Presentation in English with Spanish translation. Q&A in English and Spanish.

Hosted by the HCUAP and Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh