What happened to my art scene?

Downtown Flint Skyline. Photo taken by Sarah Razak. This photo was acquired through the Creative Commons License on Flickr.

I remember 3-years-ago how fun the art scene in downtown Flint was. Art Walk was always fun and the galleries were full, but there were small indie shows as well that brought in tons of people. Granted I can be some what biased in this, given that I have helped put together a good portion of indie shows myself. But it makes me sad that the art scene is so cliche and not at all what the artists in the city deserve. Not everyone wants to be a part of the bigger galleries, or sometimes they aren't able.

I am definitely not knocking the major galleries, because lord knows I appreciate them and what they are doing for the community, but I miss the grittiness of those indie shows. I miss the feel of those shows. You could tell that the people involved put everything they had into making something different, yet respectful, than the norm.

I wish the artists in Flint would stop for a moment, and think about those little shows and what they meant for artists who couldn't get their work out there, and how some of these indie shows helped them get where they are, how they helped them get noticed.

I will never give up my passion for these shows, cause I have been the one putting them on, and I have been the one getting their work out there because of them. So, artists in Flint, here is your chance, lets kick it old school and do what we do best; keep the arts alive, and give 'em one hell of a show!

"Few things are as heart wrenching as watching someone you love die but I can tell you that watching someTHING you love die can elicit similar pain and heartache. It is torture to watch something you worked on and poured your passion into as it dies, worse when you see it dying but can’t stop it.

For me right now that THING is community art and it is dying…but it doesn’t have to."

Chris Ringler, Flint Arts Activist

It's Baar Bazaar time!

The 2009 Holiday Baar Bazaar is just around the corner!

On Dec. 5 the Holiday Baar Bazaar will be at the Majestic Theater in Detroit. With 36 vendors thus far, patrons will be able to find handmade items, crafts, records, movies, comic books and books, jewelry, vintage and new clothing, just to name a few of the wares that will be available and to make great Christmas gifts.

The event goes from 8p.m.-2a.m.
Anyone who is interested in vending is asked to email Beth Nixon, one of the masterminds behind Baar Bazaar at bethany@rewarevintage.com.

Wanna see pictures from previous Baar Bazaars? Visit Flickr.

Will it stay or will it go now?

Buckham Gallery in downtown Flint has been one of the major staples of art that I can remember. The gallery was established in 1984 by a group of artists who felt that Flint needed a space for serious artists. But as of late, the gallery has been suffering, trying to keep it's doors open.

Buckham Gallery is an artist run, non-profit organization. Over the past 25 years, the gallery has depended on monies coming in from grants, donations, and dues from members. In this time also, the gallery has been host to hundreds of shows, poetry and performance art events.

Part of the problem this year for the gallery is that the State of Michigan has done serious budget cuts, cuts that leaves Buckham almost $15,000 short of what they get each year. That $15,000 only covered approximately one-third of their annual expenses.

Sam Morello, Buckham Gallery's treasurer told the Michigan Times (a student publication at UM-Flint) “We used to receive a good deal of money from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and it is the same department of the state of Michigan government which has been cut.”

Many other art organizations are also feeling the pinch of funds being cut in Michigan, but have managed to stay afloat. With the economy in the state that it is in, art sales and membership have been at an all time low. Buckham has seen dark days, and hopefully they will put through these.

Buckham Gallery is located at 134 1/2 W. Second St. in downtown Flint. Business hours are:
Wed. thru Fri. 12-5p.m. For further information on how you can contribute to Buckham Gallery email the General Manager Jennifer Sikora @ manager@buckhamgallery.org.

I heard Voices

I attended the Creative Alliance event Voices today and it wasn't bad. My original fears of the event being too long were unfounded. I arrived around 6p.m. which was about 4 hours into the event, with another 3 to go, but it was still going strong with a full house.

There was art and short stories and poems along the walls at Red Ink in downtown Flint. In one of the larger back rooms of the venues, writers were able to share their portion of the event at an open mic where they performed music, spoken word, read poetry and short stories.

Given that this was a 7 hour event, the crowd "was pretty consistent" said Glen Birdsall, a poet from Flint.

I was impressed that the event had such a large turnout, but in the half hour I was there the MC kept the show rolling in such a way that I wasn't sure who was starting and who was finishing.

Over all any free events in the city are great, but it's even better when it's a free event and a fun event that is well put together.

A preview: Voices brought to you by the Creative Alliance

The Flint Creative Alliance will be holding it's annual event Voices tomorrow (Nov. 15)from 2-9p.m. at Red Ink - Flint located in Downtown Flint. This free event pairs up a writer and an artist and the duo make an art piece that incorporates the written word along with a visual art piece that compliment each other.

The first part of Voices passed on Friday when artists put their work up for the Nov. Art Walk, which is the second Friday of each month. With an opening reception on Art Walk Friday and the actual event on Sunday, I am excited to see how the Voices event has evolved. Voices is about bringing different artists together, but also tomorrow writers of short stories, spoken word, and poetry will get up in front of patrons and read their works. I like the way that this has been set up in the past, people can look at the art while the writer reads the companion piece, it's a very fun event.

My only concern with the event tomorrow is that it is roughly 7 hours long. The stretched out time span makes it more open for people to attend, but also may be longer than some people want to hang out. Some patrons may not want to stay around for the entire event. Hopefully the Creative Alliance has a schedule of events and schedule of who is reading so people attending have a better idea of when to be there so they don't miss the author they intended to hear.

A free Light in August

Photo taken by Stitch and acquired through Creative Commons License at Flickr.com





The Flint Public Library hosted a free concert tonight bringing in Ann Arbor local band Light in August. Light in August is away from my comfort zone of music, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I really liked them. If I were to give them a label or music genre to fit into, I would say that they are Indy and Earthy all wrapped into one. When I first heard them play tonight I thought to myself, "This music would be rad in a Wes Anderson film."

The band brought in a descent sized crowd given that there wasn't much publicity surrounding this free concert. I think that if the library would have gotten the word out more, that there would have been a significantly larger turnout, seeing that Flint is a large college community and did I mention the event was FREE?

Light in August just had a great feel to them. I don't think you can go wrong when you have a flute player in your band. I think that the flute player really gave the earthy feel, but without the cliche flute sound. The flow of the sounds came together in a way that was both haunting and invigorating, I found myself completely wrapped up in the music and moving my legs to the beat.
I certainly hope to see this band in Flint again soon, or I may just have to make a special trip to Ann Arbor or Detroit and throw down $5 for one of their CD's.

To hear Light in August check out their MySpace page.

Some punk rock kids with the idea to rummage

Churchill's Bar and Grill is the home of the Punk Rock Rummage Sale, a free event in downtown Flint.
Photo taken by Sarah Razak, acquired through Creative Commons License through Flickr.com.

The Punk Rock Rummage Sale popped up once again at Churchill's Bar and Grill in downtown Flint on Nov. 7. Founders Chris Ringler, Justin Zeglevski, Beth Nixon and Glen Birdsall once again have brought awesome music and hard to find items, best of all, it was free to come to.

The Punk Rock Rummage Sale was modeled after a similar event that Nixon has been a huge part of called the Baar Bazaar. Ringler, Zeglevski and Birdsall had previously been the sole group that put together the Guerilla Art Shows just down the street at 625, and decided that the shows weren't what they used to be and wanted something different. They came together in May of this year and did the first Punk Rock Rummage Sale, which brought in over 100 people. The show was free to the public and offered live music, hard to find collectibles and handmade crafts.

The show this past weekend offered all the same fine wears, but this time had the infamous DJ Michael A (Absher). Many people made their way through the event finding vintage clothing, DVD's, toys, and handcrafted jewelry just to name some of the radness of the night.

The group has decided to not make the shows a regular event in downtown Flint so that when they do come together it is something new and fresh. "We don't want people to get tired of us," said Ringler. "It's important to have a fresh and fun event."