Since 1957, Flint Youth Theatre (FYT) has been a source of pride for the city and its residents. Located at the heart of the Cultural Center, FYT is Flint’s only professional theatre and the only professional youth theatre in Michigan. The drama school, serving children in grades 2-12, is second to none. Its workshops are informative and always welcomed – its productions fantastic. FYT is a perfect fit for the city and its youth, and it is now becoming more. The face and mission of FYT is growing and it was for this reason that I recently ventured there to talk with its young, Producing Artistic Director, Michael Lluberes.
In 1997, Mara Jevera Fulmer was living in Fiji. Six years into her position as art director, senior graphic artist and acting senior photographer at the University of the South Pacific, she was ready for a change. When a position opened up at Mott Community College, she boarded a plane to Flint. It wasn’t for just any position that she moved from her tropical island home – it was for the singular opportunity to develop and found the graphic design program at Mott Community College (MCC).
The expansion houses a new ceramics collection with about 400 works by some of the world’s best-known contemporary artists, a stunning contemporary glass exhibit featuring around 150 works by 98 artists and representing every technique in contemporary glassmaking. The new wing also features a changing exhibit for emerging artists working in craft such as silver, wood or fiber.
The Flint School of Performing Arts (FSPA) offers many opportunities to explore the world through music. A group of young musicians recently returned from a trip to Paris and London! My City Magazine caught up with a few of the lucky students who shared this experience, three of whom have traveled overseas with the FSPA more than once.
Located near d’Vine Wines and kitty-corner from Vietnamese eatery, MaMang, Art at the Market Gallery features the works of between 30-35 local artists, many of which have long histories in Flint. The originating members are long-time Flint artists, many of whom have stayed involved in Flint, and include retired community art teachers.
Moving through the narrow staircase leading up to 134 ½ West Second Street – home to Buckham Gallery for the past 30 years – carries excitement and anticipation. Hearing the chatter of guests above and their feet on the creaking wood floors before you reach the top; before the narrow way opens into a large, carefully-lit space where white walls bear contemporary art. The vibrancy of the space is balanced with the contrasting heavy, dark wood beams of the cathedral ceiling.
Aisha Changezi, 47, is not the traditional student. Mother of three children, her two sons are studying the sciences at UM-Flint while she finishes her Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in Painting and a minor in Graphic Design. Changezi is also training with a master calligrapher, Dr. Nihad Dukhan, to eventually earn her license in traditional Arabic calligraphy. “But, I am also interested in English calligraphy, because Arabic is not my first language.”
The goal of the Third Annual African American Film Series is “to educate, empower, inform and give people tangible things they can do to actually implement change in the community,” explains Glenn A. Wilson, President and CEO of Communities First Inc. The series, which began November 2, features four films: Floyd Norman: An Animated Life; 13th (December 14); I Am Not Your Negro (January 11); and Step (February 8). These four were thoughtfully chosen by a committee whose members represent all walks of life. What began as a list of thousands of films was narrowed down and passionately discussed before coming down to the final four. “The discussion includes topics that are affecting the African American community today, and topics like economic development and social justice, that are consistent with our programming at Communities First, Inc.,” Glenn adds.
Youth who are detained in Genesee Valley Regional Center (GVRC) can become very quiet voices in a society that finds it easier not to think about them, let alone give them a platform from which to speak. But, The GVRC Share Art Program, a partnership with Buckham Gallery, gives these kids a space where they can cultivate and develop their voices. It’s a place to find positive relationships and a way to express themselves, to learn from the voices of historical figures and role models, and also think critically about themselves and their environment.
Michael Littlejohn, 62, is not interested in marketing his artwork. “I have a distaste for it,” he says. “I don’t put a lot of stock in pushing into the art scene … I’ve always had a day job so that, at night, I could come home and indulge myself with my work.” Littlejohn’s entire house is his art studio, with a painting room upstairs where he spends hours on the acrylic paintings that have been his artistic mainstay, while the bottom floor is a dedicated art space, as well, featuring his completed work along with workstations for the glass mosaics that have occupied much of his labor for the last three years.
Transcendental Depths,” a recent exhibit at Buckham Gallery, featured a series of nature-inspired prints by Nancy Pennell, 62, long-time member of Buckham Gallery and Flint Artists Market.
Guy Adamec started out at Knox College in Illinois as a pre-med/chemistry major. When he was invited by a fellow musician and dormmate to watch him throw clay pots, Adamec tried working with clay – and never looked back. His parents might have worried a bit about his decision not to pursue medicine and become an artist, “but, when they saw that you can be successful in any field, and when I got into Cranbrook Academy of Art for my master’s, they weren’t as concerned,” he recalls.
