Beyond Streaming: A Sound Mural for Flint

The Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum invites Chicago-based artist Jan Tichy to participate in the MSU Federal Credit Union Artist Studio Series this fall. Tichy has become increasingly well-known for his large-scale, community-based initiatives that respond directly to local, contemporary issues. For this residency, Tichy has been invited to address the Flint water crisis, which came to the forefront of regional and national consciousness in 2014 after the Flint water supply was switched to the Flint River—the results of which led to high-levels of contamination and health problems for many residents. Still today, the crisis remains a daily reality for many affected citizens who no longer have direct access to clean, safe water. While many initiatives have been launched in response to the crisis, Tichy and the museum join together in a shared belief in the power of art to offer more nuanced and poetic ways of coming to terms with the situation in Flint.

After a period of intense research, outreach, and many hours of conversation, the artist intends to create a literal and figurative pipeline between the greater Lansing area and Flint through the residency. Tichy will work closely with nearly eighty high school students from Carman-Ainsworth High School (Flint) and Everett High School (Lansing), convening joint workshops to explore how different forms of creative expression can be used to communicate ideas and messages, while also touching on themes of social and restorative justice. Through these engagements, the group will develop content for the exhibition to be on view at the museum this winter, in the hopes of providing greater visibility to the Flint water crisis through the amplification of voices previously unheard.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website