In August 2017, the fifth annual Free City festival will address themes of ecology and technology, inviting collaborations between artists, designers, scientists, ecologists, and engineers that explore environmental remediation, interactive installations, citizen science, organizing tools, wearable technology, DIY robotics, and other emerging fields at the intersection of art, ecology, and technology. Free City 2017 will be the last year of the event at the Chevy Commons prior to its final phase of landscaping, which will transform this former manufacturing site into a shared public space for the entire city. Flint Public Art Project is proud to have supported the City of Flint‘s efforts to reimagine this EPA brownfield for the use of residents.
Free City is a large-scale public art festival that temporarily reclaims the former Flint-Chevy manufacturing site along the Flint River for public use. The festival features dozens of music, dance, and theater performances, and art installations – all free and open to the public – to reconnect residents to the Chevy Commons site and its future potential. A critical mass of temporary activities turns the abandoned industrial property into an active public space, highlighting the ongoing transformation of Flint.
Since the first festival, the Chevy Commons site has attracted nearly $3 million in grants to support its transformation into a year‐round public space. The festival has been covered by Abitare, Architect’s Newspaper, Art in Odd Places, East Village Magazine, the Flint Journal, Next City, and WDET’s Craig Fahle Show. The event has attracted thousands of visitors from the region to activate the sprawling city-owned landscape at the curve of the Flint River.
Dates: Aug. 18-19, 2017
To send proposals for projects, email us by Mar. 1 2017 at info@flintpublicartproject.com with 100-word descriptions, sample images, and budgets including artist’s fee, labor, and materials of no more than $1,000.
Free City is produced by Flint Public Art Project and Amplifier Inc. with support from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the Greater Flint Arts Council’s Parade of Festivals.
