Catherine Grau on Blueprint for a Shared Meal

At a cafe in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, Berlin-based artist Catherine Grau talks about Blueprint for a Shared Meal, a social artwork created in fall 2011 in collaboration with Tracy Brewington and Desiree Duell as part of the Flint Public Art Project.

Blueprint for a Shared Meal

Will you join us for dinner? 

On November 11th the Rowe building will be transformed into a home. Artists Catherine Grau and Desiree Duell are collaborating with Tracy Brewington, program coordinator of the Rowe Building to organize a fundraiser for the Shelter of Flint. The artists will use this opportunity to construct an inhabitable installation and invite the public to a shared meal. With this project we hope to support the continuing growth of the movement towards local food production, socially engaged urban redevelopment and community outreach.

This installation aims to illuminate community solidarity through the involvement of numerous collaborators. While utilizing the furniture and household goods from the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store and the St.Vincent de Paul Thrift Shop, the Rowe building will also function as a temporary showroom for these stores, allowing these organizations to sell their furniture on site.

The meal will be served at 7pm. Cooking a dinner with only locally grown produce, the event aims to make visible and connect a number of Flint-based initiatives that are involved in organic, urban food production. The artists asked local farms to donate produce for the production of a vegetarian meal that will be served with bread from the local initiative Revolutionary Bread. The meals will be given out for suggested donation between 5 and 20 dollars. All funds raised from the meal will go to the Shelter of Flint, in honor of National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.

By producing this event within the context of the Art Walk and utilizing artistic strategies, the artists aspire to bring together people from various backgrounds and promote these initiatives as collective endeavors. This event will highlight the resources of Flint that are embedded in social engagement on issues of cultural and ecological sustainability. Inviting the community of Flint to come together under one roof and partake of a communal meal is a gesture of solidarity and collective resilience.

We will host a special art display from the children who live at The Shelter of Flint, as well as a photography exhibit in honor of National Homeless Awareness Month. We will have a silent auction with items from a few well-known local artists, as well as local handmade crafters selling their items with a portion of the proceeds to benefit the Shelter of Flint.