Regina Martinez and Emily Augsburger, from the Pulitzer’s Community Projects department, stand in front of The Heidelberg Project in Detroit, MI.

Two weeks ago we traveled to Detroit to attend the Rust Belt to Artist Belt III conference. The mission of the conference was “to create the foundation for a sustained dialogue that connects an entire creative supply chain; from creative practitioners such as individual artists and designers, to creative sector business owners, to advanced manufacturers and prototypers”. The mission alone piqued our interests, and once we glanced through the panel topics, we knew we had to go. The conference started two years ago in Cleveland, Ohio, a city also grappling with its post-industrial identity. The conference moved to Detroit as the city has some words to offer on the matter. As native St. Louisans, we have witnessed a similar identity struggle here. But as we learn to address the challenge and what it means to be a post-industrial city, we are provided an amazing opportunity for transformation.

Rust Belt to Artist Belt provided a framework in which we could view the myriad of issues facing rust belt cities and how these issues can be addressed by using the resources within the creative community.  As conference participants we were asked to re-think artists and the creative community by acknowledging their very active role in our future-making. We agree that artists play an essential role in the revitalization of landscapes and the vibrancy and cultural connectedness of a place. The conference, however, focused so heavily on building the creative community by calling for new individuals to cities, that we feel it did not fully recognize the creative assets already present. We must recognize, support and connect the creative assets already alive in our cities.

Individuals participating in a panel discussion entitled “The Power of Race in Placemaking and Community Development” shared our sentiments. Not only was this particular panel discussion vital to understanding a community, the conversation is key to many Rust Belt cities. We all have prejudices.  Art is a means of facilitating conversations and social issues that have destroyed and isolated us in the past.  Artists express, artists can be anyone, and art has the capacity to build bridges across all divides.  Art and life are not so separate, and it can be through our collaborative storytelling that we grow to greater connectedness and understanding of one another. 

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Regina Martinez is currently a practicum student at the Pulitzer and is pursuing a Masters of Social work at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

We will be hosting a table at the EarthWays Green Homes Festival in Grand Center this Saturday, September 25th. Our table will be open from 10am-4pm (the festival continues through 6:00pm). We will offer activities inspired by the Pulitzer’s current exhibition, stylus.

Engaging the hand as a symbolic link between community members, we will continue the dialogue started within the exhibition as we make and talk together. Roll up your sleeves and form a likeness of your own hand using natural glues and recycled papers as together we investigate the imagery of the wave between neighbors. In a gesture of reaching out towards the earth, finished paper hands will be filled with seeds and soil, ready to be taken home and planted.

Come visit us, get your hands dirty, and learn more about other interactive elements of the exhibition stylus!