Blue Wall Gallery

Richard M. DeVos Center, Building B
Robert C. Pew Grand Rapids Campus

August 12 – November 3, 2016






 

For directions to the Blue Wall Gallery  CLICK HERE

What do you do when life’s basic actions are impacted by something far
beyond your control?

You get home from school and grab a big red apple from the kitchen table. You go to the sink to wash your apple and remember: you can’t use the water. The news said there is lead in the water. You grab one of the plastic bottles Mom got from the donation center. Maybe tonight you’ll be able to wash up, after pouring a few precious gallons into the bathtub.

During the winter semester of 2016, Grand Valley State University graduate student, Stephanie Smedley worked with student artists at the Linden Charter School in Flint, Michigan, exploring their reactions to the contaminated water crisis in their city.

Ms. Smedley sought to discover how the young people of Flint are coping with the water crisis and the international media attention? The idea for this exhibition started with a simple question:

The prompt for this project was “How has the detection of lead in the public water system impacted your life?” Although the students of Linden Charter Academy are too young to vote, they do have voices. They have their own perspectives on their reality.

There is something so emotional, jarring, and honest about the artwork submitted by these middle schoolers. The bold use of color, the prevalence of water bottles, the recurring use of the word “help” and the slogan Flint Lives Matter all leave a lasting impression. This artwork helps tell their stories, and the stories of their hometown.

~ Stephanie Smedley