A Decade After Water Crisis, Art Brings Hope and Healing to Flint

By Nadira Jamerson As the community rebuilds, Black artists like Keyon Lovett are helping by promoting unity and hope.  “Of course, there’s that feeling of dread because we still have a lot of dilapidated buildings and gray skies sometimes,” says Flint native Keyon Lovett, 34, a multi-disciplinary visual street artist, creatively known as& The Art School Dropout. “But the hopeful thing is knowing on Friday that we have the Art Walk downtown. You can go to the Farmer’s Market and get some good food and see a show.” Lovett didn’t plan to become an activist, but the water crisis changed the trajectory of his life. Around the time the crisis began, he left an arts program with Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan, which is located two hours west of Flint near Grand Rapids. Lovett says he was unable to return home to Flint because the emergence of the water crisis meant there were few opportunities for artists in the city.& “I didn’t want to come home because the only work that would have possibly been available was working at UPS or General Motors, and my family already did that. I wasn’t trying to be the next lineage of...