Upcoming Exhibit to Highlight Everyday Stories Throughout the Pandemic, Devastating Flood, Racial Injustice and Other Challenging Events of 2020

2020 was a year like most generations have never seen before, it is just a fact. But ‘What’s Certain About Uncertainty’ is the question that Midland Center for the Arts is asking of the community. The upcoming exhibit, What’s Certain About Uncertainty, is a traveling exhibition featuring objects from the Greater Michigan area that focus on the pandemic, historic flood in Midland County, racial injustice, and other life altering events through the lens of our friends and neighbors.

“This exhibit will explore the consequences of the pandemic, affecting the economy, health care and social norms across the globe, and then the devastation of a catastrophic flood that washed away the fabric of our community,” said Gina Schreck, Curator at Midland Center for the Arts. “We are calling upon our community, people of all ages and levels of art experience, to submit photos, drawings, paintings, sculptures and other mediums that they created and depicts the lived experiences of these situations – from the perspective of members in our community.”

Despite these devastating events severely impacting the residents and organizations in Midland County, the people in the community rallied together and with hope and inspiration sought to rebuild what was lost. As neighbors immediately jumped in to help one another, people all around the state began to step up to courageously help those in need.

This is a common story for the people in the Midland community, yet the pandemic has affected people not only across the State of Michigan, but around the globe. It is a real experience that each person navigated in their own way, and those are the stories Midland Center for the Arts is looking to portray in the upcoming exhibit. “So often members of our community come to the Center to see the art of professional artists on display, but in this unique community exhibit we wanted to share the stories of heroism directly from those that experienced it, no matter their skill level as an artist” said Schreck.

The exhibit, scheduled to take place April 12 – July 25, 2021 will start with a Storytelling & Art Reception at Midland Center for the Arts on April 17 and then the exhibit will travel to partners and various churches in Downtown Midland. The deadline to submit art online is Sunday, Feb. 7 at 11:59 p.m. at midlandcenter.org/Uncertainty. Youth and adults are encouraged to submit their work.