As an organization that exists to promote and grow creative pursuits in Flint and Genesee County, it should come as no surprise that the Greater Flint Arts Council (GFAC) has out of necessity been creative with its physical space itself over the years.
GFAC moved into its current building, which formerly housed Peerless Furniture, in 1998. From the beginning, there were some challenges. The building had originally been scheduled for demolition after a 1995 fire caused significant damage. But community outcry to save it because of the iconic Vernors Ginger Ale mural on the north side of the building, combined with a modest fundraising campaign to make the necessary repairs to the first floor for event, community, and office space led to the building becoming GFAC’s home in 1998.
In the years since, GFAC has made due with the space, an often difficult task considering the diversity of artists, performances, and community events typically hosted in the building could benefit from more flexible or customizable environments. But those limiting factors within GFAC’s building will soon be coming to an end after nearly $3 million in renovations are completed, possibly by next June.
“I’m really excited, it’s going to be amazing to have appropriate space for artists and space for the staff to spread out a little bit,” said Greg Fiedler, who has been president and CEO of GFAC for 32 years.
Some Starts and Stops Over the Years
The GFAC building is actually 18,000 square feet, with three floors and a basement. But since moving in, only a fraction (about 6,000 square feet) of that has been usable space. The second and third floors and basement were all not in good enough condition for anything other than some storage, and even if they were, the building’s old freight elevator wouldn’t meet accessibility requirements.
There has long been a vision to maximize the space available there, but those plans have regularly been delayed by outside factors.
Fiedler said they’d received a grant from the Community Foundation of Greater Flint in 2008 and were on the verge of launching a capital campaign when the stock market crashed.
Then, in 2013, they’d completed some needed repairs to the exterior walls of the building and replaced the roof, which positioned them to be ready to do interior upgrades. But the Flint water crisis diverted local funding priorities to support the many residents who were heavily impacted.
Another delay during the COVID-19 pandemic put the vision on hold once again. But everything aligned shortly after the country began opening up venues again and recovering from the pandemic.
“In 2023, it all kind of came together for us financially and we were able to partner on a big grant from the state of Michigan with several other agencies,” Fiedler said.
Those state funds, amounting to just over $1.3 million, came through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) and were matched by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Other funding has since come in from the City of Flint Community Block Development, Community Foundation of Greater Flint, Michigan Arts and Culture Council, the Arthur G. Bishop Charitable Trust, and the Anna Paulina Foundation, which has pushed GFAC near its goal of $2,985,300 for the campaign.
“I’m only $40,000 from my goal, which is exciting,” Fiedler said.
A Glimpse at the Future
GFAC has been working on renovations since 2023, but the building has remained open during the work. Currently, the most noticeable – and one of the most important – renovations is directly visible when visitors walk in. They’re replacing the freight elevator with a new, accessible one that will make it easier for people to get to the upgraded second and third floors.
“Right now, our working conditions are pretty crazy,” Fiedler said. “We don’t have any storage right now because all of our (previous) storage spaces are under construction.”
Some of the renovations are vital, but not things that will be visible to the public. A new water line had to be run to the building from Fourth Street because the previous one wouldn’t be sufficient for a fire suppression system to cover the entire building after the upgrades are completed. They’ve also had to install a larger HVAC system and make significant electrical upgrades because more space is being utilized.
Other completed renovations are perhaps not as vital to the building, but are extremely important to the community – the Vernors mural, which GFAC has continued to steward, was restored and repaired over the summer.
Inside, there will soon be more space to accommodate a much wider range of artists, musicians, and programs.
The second floor will have a new office cluster to provide adequate space for the GFAC staff, which has grown since initially moving into the building. That floor will also include multi-purpose art rooms and spaces that can be used for classrooms or other needs, with flexibility as the main goal.
“I never know what the artists are gonna ask me for, so they’re (the rooms) for whatever the artists want to use them for,” Fiedler said.
There will also be a smaller, secondary gallery space on the second floor. Fiedler said that the main gallery on the ground floor is often scheduled out for events and exhibitions two years or more in advance, so the secondary gallery is intended to be able to house more spontaneous things that come up more often than they can now.
“I like being able to say ‘yes,’” he said.
The third floor is sure to provide significant excitement for several community groups, as it has been transformed into a theatre and dance studio space, so GFAC will be able to house more performing arts events and groups. They do often have performances in the main gallery, but the seating capacity is limited, the stage area is small, and the space was not really designed for those types of events the way the new theatre will be. The new theatre will seat 150 people. Previously, they could only set up seating for performances in the main gallery for about 30 people.
Buckham Alley Theatre, a local itinerant community theatre group, is already planning to make use of the space when it is finished. Fiedler also said that Tapology, a local tap dance group for kids through adults, will possibly be making use of the third floor.
“It’s going to be a busy space,” Fiedler said.
There is also work being done to renovate the building’s parking lot and make some building repairs to prevent water and moisture from getting into the basement. Once those are completed, they’ll be able to make more use of the basement for storage and potentially even create some additional studio or other space for artists down there.
Growing the Arts
GFAC’s mission, at its simplest, is to grow the arts in Genesee County. Having adequate space for visual and performing artists is vital to that goal, and the renovated building should enhance those opportunities.
“It’s all about improving access,” Fiedler said. “Improving access as creators. Improving access as audiences. We try to support the careers of local artists. We work with local arts agencies on their sustainability issues like funding, marketing, things like that. We work with arts educators to help foster the next generation of creators in the community, and we do mass marketing of programs, so the public will know more about what their options are. So everything we do programming-wise fits into one of those four areas.”
Several signature GFAC programs regularly help bring more art and performances directly to the community, including the yearly Music on the Bricks series, the Flint Jazz Festival, Art Walk, and the Parade of Festivals. Those ongoing programs, combined with new opportunities as the new spaces in the GFAC building are completed next year, are aimed at continuing that legacy of providing opportunities to engage in the arts for local residents.
“I wanted to grow the Arts Council and make it a household name when I first took over,” Fiedler said. “We had people who were very confused about who we were and what we did in the community, and what our purpose was (when I started here). That was my, my first goal, to make us known in the public, do some high profile kinds of things.”
GFAC also licenses a public radio station, WFAH 102.1, that promotes arts programming and artists to the community. The station is in the process of getting an expanded signal. Fiedler thinks that could be in place by spring pending FCC approvals. He also envisions turning the radio studio into a more modern recording studio that can support more than just the radio broadcasts.
Saving the Vernors mural was a big first step in building goodwill and awareness with the community, and the new renovations are helping with the organization’s next chapter.
“I’m incredibly excited and I’ve been trying to do this ever since we moved into this building,” Fiedler said. “Creativity is a magical thing. It’s spiritual. Your creativity and your spirituality are housed together in the right brain. I just get this wonderful feeling being around all these creatives, I love the process, I love watching other people go through it. In many ways, the process is way more important than the finished product.”
Correction: A previous version of this story said that GFAC produces the Music Around Town series. That is incorrect as that series is produced by the Flint Institute of Music. GFAC produces the Music on the Bricks series on the first Friday of each month.
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