Flint Cultural Center

Last updated
Flint Cultural Center
campus
Flint Cultural Center.pdf
The campus of the Flint Cultural Center
CountryUSA
State Michigan
County Genesee
City Flint
Area
  Total13.37 ha (33.04 acres)
Website www.flintculturalcenter.com

The Flint Cultural Center (FCC) is a campus of cultural, scientific, and artistic institutes located in Flint, Michigan, United States. The institutions located on the grounds of the FCC are the Flint Institute of Arts, Flint Institute of Music, Sloan Museum, [1] Flint Public Library, Buick Gallery & Research Center, Robert T. Longway Planetarium, The Whiting, and the Bower Theatre. The campus and some institutions are owned by Flint Cultural Center Corporation.

Contents

The campus is 33 acres in size and is owned by the Flint Cultural Center Corporation. [2] The Flint Public Library owns its own building. [3]

Flint Institute of Music (FIM) and Flint Institute of Arts are non-profits independent from the Flint Cultural Center Corporation, but lease their buildings from the cultural center. [2] FIM consists of the Flint School of Performing Arts, Flint Symphony Orchestra [4] and Flint Repertory Theatre. [5]

History

Development

The City of Flint School District in 1920 purchased the old Oak Grove sanitarium and 60 adjoining acres plus later added other private lots. In 1946, the College and Cultural Center campus was started by C.S. Mott after he learned of University of Michigan President Alexander Grant Ruthven indicated the possibility of forming university branches in other areas of Michigan. Mott pledged a match towards developing a four-year college if Flint city voters pass a $7-million bond issue, which they did. Plus Mott donated land, 32 acres in the early 1950s and additional 6.25 acres in 1955 for a new campus. The first building constructed in 1954 for the new college campus was Ballenger Field House. With UM talks dragging on, Flint Community Junior College moved to the campus in 1955. [2]

In the early 1950s, Flint Journal editor Michael A. Gorman felt that educational and cultural opportunities should be available to residents given its status as a factory town. Gorman was involved with an informal group that met at his home on Calumet to play cards and discussion Flint's future. This group was thus called the Calumet Club. The club changed into the Committee of Sponsors for the Flint College and Cultural Development. Leadership of the Committee was: executive director Robert T. Robison, president Robert T. Longway, Buick vice president and assistant general manager from 1929–32, first vice president F.A. "Dutch" Bower, Buick's chief engineer from 1929–36 and executive committee chairman Gorman. Honorary chairman were Mott, GM president Harlow H. Curtice and retired (1929) Buick engineer Enos A. DeWaters. [2]

The Flint Board of Education was chosen by the founders to oversee the cultural campus and its reserve funds. The reserve funds were raised to go towards annual operational and maintenance costs. However, these funds were insufficient to upgrade buildings or fund new programs. [2]

The committee set a goal of $25 million for their initial fundraising goal. In honor of its 50-millionth car, General Motors contributed $3 million in starter funds. Starting in 1954, donation was open to the public but in $25,000 increments. 400 individuals and 100 corporations, businesses and organizations donated at this sponsor level with most giving over the minimum. The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation shifted its annual gift, started in 1928, from the Flint Institute of Arts to the Flint Cultural Center. [2]

In 1958, Gorman died before the campus was finished. Cultural center buildings did start to open that year while the last of the original buildings finished in 1967 and were named after automotive pioneers. [2]

Operating

In 1973, the Sloan Museum started hold its annual Sloan Auto Fair. [6] The Committee of Sponsors continued fundraising until the 1990s, but did the bulk of their fundraising in its first ten years. The Flint Cultural Center Corporation was established in 1992 after the Flint Board of Education and the Committee of Sponsors had done some strategic planning with community participation. At first, the corporation managed the grounds on behalf of the school district, under a lease management agreement, and was governing body for Longway Planetarium, Sloan Museum and Whiting Auditorium. [2]

A major capital and endowment campaign to support the FCCC, the FIA and FIM was started in 1995 and raised over $33 million. While $7.1 million was used to renovate The Whiting, a project completed in 1999, the remained where placed into endowment funds. [2] Longway and Bower were connect via a $2.65-million 2000 addition consisting of classroom and rehearsal space. [2]

Beginning in 2010, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation made annual grants over $3 million, of split between the Corporation and the two other private Cultural Center organizations. [7] [8] [9] [10]

In September 2013, the FCCC purchased the Sarvis Center and Central Kitchen from the Flint Community Schools for $150,000 despite some community opposition thinking that the price was too low and there was no other bidders. [11] For the 2018 Sloan Auto Fair, it was moved from the center campus to Genesee County Parks' Crossroads Village and Huckleberry Railroad given issue with Flint Institute of Arts' expansion. [6]

On May 14, 2018, the center corporation submitted a request to vacate parts of three public streets on the campus. This a preliminary move to make way for a possible arts and science focused charter school. [1] Grounding breaking on the K-8 charter school, Flint Cultural Center Academy, took place on June 26, 2018 with expectations that the school be open for the 2019-2020 school year. [12]

At the August 2018 primary election, Genesee County voters approved a 10-year arts millage that the bulk of the proceeds would go to Flint Cultural Center institutes. Additional Flint groups receiving fixed funding are Friends of Berston Fieldhouse and the New McCree Theatre. [13] The Greater Flint Arts Council grants out the remaining funds to other Genesee County art organizations through Share Art Genesee. [14]

The Flint Institute of Music's Flint Youth Theatre changed its name to Flint Repertory Theatre ("The Rep") on August 13, 2018 to become a regional theatre while Flint Youth Theatre would become a program of the Rep's education department. [5]

Flint Cultural Center Corporation

Flint Cultural Center Corporation
TypeNonprofit corporation
Founded(1992 (1992))
Headquarters
Key people
  • Mark Sinila (COO) [1]
  • Todd Slisher
  • (Executive Director, Sloan-Longway)
  • Jarret M. Haynes
  • (Executive Director, The Whiting)
Revenue$6 million (2014 budget) [3]
Number of employees
  • 50 full-time
  • 75-100 part-time
  • (2014) [3]
Divisions
  • Flint Cultural Center Academy
  • Sloan-Longway
  • The Whiting
Website fcccorp.org

Flint Cultural Center Corporation (FCCC) is a non-profit corporation that manages the Flint Cultural Center. The FCCC is responsible for all aspects of governance and operation of Longway Planetarium, Sloan Museum, and The Whiting. [1]

The Flint Cultural Center Corporation established in 1992 after the Flint Board of Education and the Committee of Sponsors had done some strategic planning with community participation. At first, the corporation managed the grounds on behalf of the school district, under a lease management agreement, and was governing body for Longway Planetarium, Sloan Museum and Whiting Auditorium. [2]

The Flint City School district transferred in July 2003 the Flint Youth Theatre program to the FCCC. Except for the Flint Public Library and the Sarvis Center, the Cultural Center campus was deeded over to the corporation in October 2004. In 2005, former Citizens Bank president Howard Gay established a family foundation supporting the Flint Cultural Center Corporation. [2]

In September 2013, the FCCC purchased the Sarvis Center and Central Kitchen from the Flint Community Schools for $150,000 despite some community opposition thinking that the price was too low and there was no other bidders. [11] In 2018, the corporation started its public charter school, Flint Cultural Center Academy. [1]

Sloan-Longway

Robert T. Longway Planetarium Flint July 2018 12 (Robert T. Longway Planetarium).jpg
Robert T. Longway Planetarium
Sloan Museum Sloan Museum July 2018 01.jpg
Sloan Museum

Sloan-Longway, stylized as Sloan*Longway, is an operational division of the Flint Cultural Center Corporation. The division operates three venues Alfred P. Sloan Museum, Robert T. Longway Planetarium and Buick Automotive Gallery and Research Center. [3] The Sloan Museum Automotive Collection consist of 100 vehicles some of which rotate between being on display at the Sloan Museum and the Buick Automotive Gallery. [15] In 2004, the Flint Cultural Center Corporation formed the Sloan-Longway division from the operation of Sloan Museum, Longway Planetarium and Buick Automotive Gallery. [16]

On November 16 and 19, 2012, the Flint Journal donated and transferred its archive to the Sloan Museum. The papers' records were placed in the museum's Sloan Archives at the Buick Gallery building. [17] In 2010, fundraising began for a portable dome theater so that planetarium style presentations can be taken to local schools. By 2013, the Portable Dome Theater was purchased. Its first year (2013/2014 school year) of travel cost were partially covered by a grant from Community Foundation of Greater Flint's Flint Community Fund, Sarah E. Warner Endowment for the Arts Fund and Jean Simi Fund for the Arts to the Flint Classroom Support Fund. [18]

The Whiting

TheWhiting,SPOTLIGHTS.JPG

The Whiting is an operational division of the Flint Cultural Center Corporation that operates The Whiting auditorium and the downtown Capitol Theatre.

In 1993-94, the corporation launched the Showcase Series at the Whiting Auditorium with five shows in the lineup. The Spotlight Series, formerly the Showcase Series, had 27 shows in 2008. [2] A major capital and endowment campaign to support the FCCC allocated $7.1 million to renovate The Whiting, a project completed in 1999. [2]

In April 2015, the Uptown Reinvestment Corp. purchased the downtown Capitol Theatre from Troy Farah. Uptown Reinvestment announced on October 21, 2015 that they had partnered with The Whiting with Uptown restoring the theater and The Whiting managing its operations. [19] On December 7, 2017, the theater reopened. [20]

Buildings

Flint Public Library Flint July 2018 16 (Flint Public Library).jpg
Flint Public Library
Original (constructed 1958-1967) [2]
The Whiting The Whiting.jpg
The Whiting
Additional

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flint, Michigan</span> City in Michigan, United States

Flint is the largest city and seat of Genesee County, Michigan, United States. Located along the Flint River, 66 miles (106 km) northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the region known as Mid Michigan. At the 2020 census, Flint had a population of 81,252, making it the twelfth largest city in Michigan. The Flint metropolitan area is located entirely within Genesee County. It is the fourth largest metropolitan area in Michigan with a population of 406,892 in 2020. The city was incorporated in 1855.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genesee County, Michigan</span> County in Michigan, United States

Genesee County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 406,211, making it the fifth-most populous county in Michigan. The county seat and population center is Flint. Genesee County is considered to be a part of the greater Mid Michigan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kettering University</span> Private university in Flint, Michigan, United States

Kettering University is a private university in Flint, Michigan. It offers bachelor of science and master’s degrees in STEM and business fields. Kettering University undergraduate students are required to complete at least five co-op terms to graduate. Students gain paid work experience in a variety of industries with Kettering's more than 550 corporate partners, and graduate with professional experiences accompanying their degree.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Michigan–Flint</span> Public university in Flint, Michigan

The University of Michigan–Flint is a public university in Flint, Michigan. It is one of the two regional universities operating under the policies of the University of Michigan Board of Regents, the other being the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Stewart Mott</span> American businessman and politician (1875–1973)

Charles Stewart Mott was an American industrialist and businessman, a co-founder of General Motors, philanthropist, and the 50th and 55th mayor of Flint, Michigan.

The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation is a private foundation founded in 1926 by Charles Stewart Mott of Flint, Michigan. Mott was a leading industrialist in Flint through his association with General Motors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flint River (Michigan)</span> River in central Michigan, United States

The Flint River is a 78.3-mile-long (126.0 km) river in the Flint/Tri-Cities region of Michigan in the United States. The river's headwaters are in Columbiaville in Lapeer County and flows through the counties of Lapeer, Genesee, and Saginaw. The cities of Lapeer, Flint, Flushing, and Montrose are along its course.

Flint East was an automobile component production complex owned by Delphi Corporation in Flint, Michigan. The complex, parts of which were over 100 years old, was located on Dort Highway, stretching along Robert T. Longway Boulevard past Center Road. The plant produced numerous automotive components, including instrument panels, instrument clusters, spark plugs, filters, air meters, fuel pumps and other parts. Flint East once employed nearly 14,000 people, but by 2007, the number was down to nearly 1,100 hourly workers. The plant closed entirely in November 2013 and the remaining buildings were razed. In 2017, Phoenix Investors, a Wisconsin-based commercial real estate firm, purchased the land.

The East Village is a neighborhood located on the East Side of Flint, Michigan, bounded on the west by Downtown Flint, particularly I-475, north by the same expressway, east by Crapo Street and the south by Court Street and the Fairfield Village neighborhood. It is the site of Flint Central High School, the Flint Cultural Center and their affiliated institutions. The neighborhood is occasionally confused with the Eastside, due to their proximity and similar names. Along these lines, East Villagers sometimes identify themselves as East Siders. The East Village term is included by some residents as the College and Cultural neighborhood, which is the wealthy enclave to the south east of the 4 square blocks that define Flint's East Village.

Flint Community Schools is a school district headquartered in Flint, Michigan, United States. For the 2011-2012 school year, the Flint Community Schools had both middle schools, four elementary schools and one high school placed in the bottom 5% of all schools in the State of Michigan based on student achievement and attendance. The school district accommodated a total student population of about 30,000 students. It included two early childhood education centers, 18 elementary schools, and three secondary schools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flint, Michigan auto industry</span>

Flint, Michigan is a city which previously relied on its automotive industry, and still does to an extent. Over the past several decades, General Motors plants in Genesee County have experienced re-namings, management shifts, openings, closures, reopenings, and spinoffs.

The Crim Festival of Races is an annual road running event with several races and walking events. The original distance was 10 miles and is the marque race as "The Crim" with its infamous Bradley Hills and blue line to keep runners on course. The Crim has been held in August in Flint, Michigan since 1977. It draws runners from around the world from countries such as Kenya, Russia, and Ukraine. The race attracts approximately 50,000 people each year. The festival is one of the Flint Parade of Festivals.

Mott Community College is a public community college in Flint, Michigan. It is named for politician, businessman, and philanthropist Charles Stewart Mott. Its district is the same as the Genesee Intermediate School District and is governed by an elected board of trustees. The college offers 61 associate degrees and 40 pre-associate certificates. It also has satellite campuses in nearby Clio, Fenton, Lapeer, and Howell. The majority of students come from Genesee, Lapeer, and northwest Oakland County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Courtland Center</span> Shopping mall in Michigan, United States

Courtland Center, formerly Eastland Mall, is an enclosed shopping mall in Burton, Michigan, a suburb of Flint, Michigan, United States. It opened in 1968, two years before the larger Genesee Valley Center on the other side of the Flint metropolitan area. Courtland Center includes four anchor stores: JCPenney, Dunham's Sports, Staples, and Jo-Ann Etc., plus an exhibit space operated by Sloan Museum.

Michael Brown is the former city administrator and former emergency manager of Flint, Michigan, US. He also served as temporary mayor and city administrator of Flint after the resignation of Don Williamson.

Back to the Bricks, is an annual car cruise run by a group of the same name, in Michigan, USA. It is one of the events that celebrates the old tradition of teenagers cruising from hangout spot to hangout spot. For Genesee County teens these included A&W, Varsity, Colonel's and Walli's, most of which resided on or close to Saginaw Street. Most of the buildings are long gone yet the tradition of cruising continues, especially during five days out of the year at the Back to the Bricks and Under the Arches car cruise. The celebration began as a one-day event in 2005 on Saginaw Street in Flint, Michigan with only a few hundred cars and spectators, and has grown to expand beyond these boundaries. By 2008 Back to the Bricks had rapidly grown to over 25,000 car participants and over 250,000 spectators over a five-day span.

The Flint Institute of Music, also called the FIM, is located in the Flint Cultural Center in Flint, Michigan. It is ranked as the 8th largest community music school in the United States. The FIM is made up of The Flint Symphony Orchestra, Flint School of Performing Arts and Flint Repertory Theatre; as well as the Whiting Auditorium and Capitol Theatre. The Flint Institute of Music offers lessons, classes, ensembles, and camps for all levels for ages 3 years to adults. Students perform in the dance and performance ensembles such as Flint Youth Symphony Orchestra, Flint Youth Ballet Ensemble, Flint Youth Theatre, Dort Honors Quartet, Imrpov Squad, among several others. The Flint Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Conductor Enrique Diemecke, performs a full season of classical concerts as well as free Music in the Park concerts at Genesee area parks in the Summer season. Additionally, the FIM sponsors the Holiday Pops concert every holiday season, featuring the Flint Symphony Orchestra, Flint Festival Chorus and local choirs. FIM's production of the Nutcracker ballet has been a local tradition for over 30 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sloan Museum</span> Museum

The Sloan Museum of Discovery is a nonprofit, public hands-on and interactive discovery museum located within the Flint Cultural Center in Flint, Michigan. The museum has four interactive primary galleries, including a hands-on earth sciences hall, an early childhood learning gallery, a local history gallery focusing on Genesee County and the Flint area, and an 11,000 square foot vehicle gallery featuring rare and historic vehicles built in Genesee County. The museum, named in honor of longtime General Motors chief executive officer Alfred P. Sloan, also operates rotating special exhibitions and celebrations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flint Public Library (Flint, Michigan)</span>

The Flint Public Library is the public library serving Flint, Michigan. It was founded in 1851, and its current building on the Flint Cultural Center campus was built in 1958. It has hosted the Michigan Storytellers Festival since 1981 and the Julia A. Moore Poetry Contest since 1994. During the Flint water crisis, the library played a key role supporting the community, and in the aftermath it partnered with StoryCorps to create oral history interviews of residents' experiences.

Crossroads Village is a living history museum in Genesee County, Michigan, near Flint. It is operated by the Genesee County Parks and Recreation Commission alongside the Huckleberry Railroad. Initially proposed as a Flint River recreational area and a farm museum, it was opened as a historical village in 1976.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Fonger, Ron (May 16, 2018). "Flint Cultural Center street vacations could clear way for possible charter school". Flint Journal. MLive Media Group. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Azizian, Carol (July 11, 2008). "Community supporters made Flint Cultural Center a reality". Flint Journal. MLive Media Group. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Ketchum III, William E. (February 27, 2014). "Flint Cultural Center Corp. seeks new leader after president and CEO resigns". MLive.com. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  4. Fonger, Ron (October 1, 2014). "Flint Cultural Center gets $5 million-plus from Charles Stewart Mott Foundation". Flint Journal. MLive.com. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  5. 1 2 "Flint Youth Theatre Will Become Flint Repertory Theatre". American Theatre. Theatre Communications Group. August 13, 2018. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
  6. 1 2 Jackson, Zoe (June 15, 2018). "Sloan Auto Fair moving to Crossroads Village". MLive.com. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  7. "Mott Foundation Awards $3.25 Million to Flint Cultural Institutions". Philanthropy News Digest. Foundation Center. July 28, 2010. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  8. "Mott Foundation Awards $3.6 Million to Flint's Cultural Center". Philanthropy News Digest. Foundation Center. September 29, 2011. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  9. "Mott Foundation Awards Grants Totaling $3.8 Million to Flint Cultural Center Institutions". Philanthropy News Digest. Foundation Center. August 3, 2012. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  10. "Mott Foundation Awards $3.7 Million in Support of Flint Cultural Institutions". Philanthropy News Digest. Foundation Center. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  11. 1 2 Keller, Andrew (October 17, 2013). "Flint School Board agrees to sell Sarvis Center". WNEM.com. Meredith Corporation. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  12. Jackson, Zoe (June 26, 2018). "New Flint Cultural Center school to serve 650 students". Flint Journal. Mlive Media Group. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
  13. Acosta, Roberto (August 8, 2018). "Genesee County arts millage on way to approval". Flint Journal. Mlive Media Group. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
  14. Keefer, Winter (May 21, 2019). "Genesee County arts millage yields $440,000 for local organizations". Flint Journal. Mlive Media Group. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
  15. "The Classic Vehicles at Flint's Buick Automotive Gallery Are En Route to a Temporary Offsite Home". The News Wheel. February 26, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  16. Kates, Kristi (October 7, 2017). "Cars, Stars, and History at Sloan*Longway". Northern Express. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  17. Thorne, Blake (November 20, 2012). "MLive-Flint Journal donates archives to Sloan museum, historic records available for public view". Flint Journal. MLive Media Group. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  18. Aldridge, Chris (November 14, 2013). "Community Foundation $9,000 grant helps Longway Planetarium bring Portable Dome Theater to Flint schools". Flint Journal. MLive Media Group. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  19. Ketchum III, William E. (October 21, 2015). "Uptown, The Whiting partner for Capitol Theatre relaunch in downtown Flint". Flint Journal. MLive Media Group. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  20. May, Jake (December 7, 2017). "Tour Flint's newly-restored, historic Capitol Theatre". Flint Journal. MLive Media Group. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  21. Azizian, Carol (May 7, 2008). "Astronomical awe: Flint's Longway Planetarium celebrates 50 years of giving patrons the moon, stars". Flint Journal. MLive Media Group. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  22. Acosta, Roberto (February 25, 2018). "Repairs at Buick Gallery moving classic vehicle display to Flint-area mall". Flinrt Journal. Mlive Media Group. Retrieved May 28, 2019.

Coordinates: 43°1′21″N83°40′44″W / 43.02250°N 83.67889°W / 43.02250; -83.67889