Living Room is a durational public and performance art piece that sources community knowledge and experience to share, learn, and heal in Flint.

Living Room functions as a both a public and private space for Flint residents to find comfort and reflection beyond the Flint Water Crisis. Historically, the living room in the home is a multi-functional room for solitude and communal gatherings both formal and informal.  

Living Room examines meta questions about what it means to live and living within the larger civic narrative in Flint by creating a comfortable safe space for intimate gatherings and solitude. A space where residents can knowledge share their experience and skills from various generational, racial, socio-economic, and professional backgrounds.

Living room is a mobile space that would travel throughout the city with programming for social bridging and healing desperate neighborhoods in Flint. Living Room would be used for book clubs, block parties, meetings with civic leaders, art workshops, potlucks, mother’s clubs, storytelling, taking a nap, getting a massage, relationship building, granny tours, and the Flint Living talk show.  

Living room is a performative act of movement building for a healthy Flint both publicly and privately. All movements are built through one on one conversations that contribute to a larger public narrative. Living Room seeks to build a movement of healing and care among the residents of Flint for themselves and each other.

Programming:

Flint Living: A weekly talk show hosted by Desiree Duell that highlights positive happenings in all part of the city. Each week, she would feature a different neighborhood and a guest that lives in that area doing great work. She would be featuring entrepreneurs, community leaders, artists, domestic laborers, small business owners, civil servants, youth, and our elders. Flint Living is cultivating neighborhood pride and celebrating each neighborhoods unique culture.        

Granny Tours: Granny Tours would pair elders from different neighborhoods to give tours of Flint in the Living Room. Learn about Flint’s history through the stories of elders.

Park ‘n Planning: City of Flint Planning Department, City Council, and the Mayor can have open office hours at the Living Room.

Self-Care: Massage Therapists, Holistic Healers, Cosmetologists, and other wellness practitioners would render their services on certain days for the public free of charge (paid for by Living Room). Those who can afford the services can have the option to pay. Self-Care could also checking the space out to read a book, take a nap, do yoga, or meditate.  

Tiny Concerts: Local musicians and vocalists can hold an intimate gatherings for children.

Talk to a Friend: Invite community members to volunteers to be a friend for a hour. Meet someone new, visit with someone you know, spend time with a relative.

Game Night:  Learn a new board game or play one that you love. Bond with your friends, family, and neighbors.

Sharing Family Rituals: Share and swap your rituals for celebrating life and your family. What traditions have you created or inherited?   

Show and Tell: Local Artists and artisans share their work and talk about their process as an artist. This would include traditional and craft based artists. Artist may facilitate a workshops with participants.

Meet A (Insert Profession): Have you ever wondered what a scientist, electrician, city planner, community organizer, police officer, lawyer, professor, chef, council member, or journalist actually do? Learn about their professions and maybe you could do that too. For all ages.

Date Night: Dinner delivered + date in the living room with your sweetheart new and old.