Life can get routine in the middle of semester, especially in a town with nothing to do.
"Mid-Michigan is an 800 area code, everything is the same everywhere you go. A sense of local flavor is needed to preserve culture," explained Sloan Museum Curator of Programs Jim Berry. Berry believes Flint offers the same amount of culture as a city like Chicago or Detroit.
The Sloan Museum is part of the Flint Cultural Center, which offers a wide range of activities for citizens. Students in the area rarely take advantage of the center's services.
Charity Cooper is a sophomore at the University of Michigan-Flint. Charity would like to make use of the Cultural Center's services, but complains she is simply unaware of them. She feels better advertising might increase awareness and bring the growing local market of college students pouring in.
Whiting Auditorium, the Flint Public Library, the Flint Institute of Music and Art, and the Sloan Museum make up the Cultural Center.
Berry believes a trip to the center helps people orient themselves towards the community. "People come and find out about Flint's past and are shocked, they leave with a great sense of pride," stated Berry.
The sense of pride and community people leave with is an important step in the rebuilding process for the Greater Flint Area. What does the Center have to offer?
Sophomore Corinna Covert recently attended a concert by the Flint Symphony Orchestra at Whiting Auditorium for a class. "I thought I would fall asleep, but ended up really enjoying it and now want to return for more events."
Covert feels the advertising of the Cultural Center is poor. It was only after attending the concert that she learned about the great line up of events Whiting has booked.
In October the Charlie Daniels Band played Whiting Auditorium. The devil came up from Georgia for that show. Other major events at Whiting include the Temptations and the Broadway spectacular, "Cats."
Ryan Ekleberry, Marketing Director of the Longway Planetarium believes the Planetarium is not on the radar map for entertainment.
"People basically think we do not exist any more," stated Ekleberry. Enhance your state of mind and check out a show sometime. Shows start at 7:30 p.m. and last an hour, which leaves you enough time to make other plans. For five dollars you can check out laser light Metallica, Weird Al, or Nirvana.
You can view beautiful artwork at the Flint Institute of Art. The FIA has interesting exhibits and insightful works of art. The gift shop carries great items for Christmas shopping.
A teacher visiting with her class in the gift shop stated "I could spend my whole check in here." The FIA is a great place to take a date or a loved one for a relaxed evening out. The gift carries items that make unique Christmas presents.
At present, the nightlife and entertainment faire in downtown Flint is perceived as bland and uninteresting. However, an increase in community awareness, achieved through aggressive target marketing, might be the spark needed to get things going.
The Cultural Center is not the complete solution. But it can spice things up and provide local residents with a viable option to dinner and a movie. Who knows, maybe Flint can once again be somewhere to go, instead of somewhere to be from.
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