“Pop-Up Shop 2017”

UM-Flint Art lecturer and architect Kurt Neiswender explored the feasibility of pop-up (temporary) retail spaces built out of shipping containers for placement in Flint’s Civic Park neighborhood and at a vacant brownfield location in the rural town of Sebewaing, located in Huron County 58 miles from Flint on the shore of Lake Huron.

The collaborative project identified a scalable labor force, through the Urban Renaissance Center’s Rebounding Force Work Readiness Program, and the potential to scale across the 7-county I-69 Thumb Region, state, nation, and globally. A fundraising campaign was designed with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation crowdfunding platform, Patronicity, which provides a 1:1 match for all dollars raised. The team anticipates the first Pop-Up Shop launching in 2018, providing training and construction jobs for local residents. This initiative has high potential for economic development that integrates Placemaking, ingenuity, and grassroots community participation and promotes future entrepreneurship ventures.

Partner:

Pastor Robert McCathern, Joy Tabernacle Church and Urban Renaissance Center

Faculty Member:

Kurt Neiswender

Lecturer in the Department of Geography, Planning, and Environment, College of Arts and Sciences

Student Research Assistants:

Janice McCoy

Janice McCoy is a senior at the University of Michigan-Flint studying Visual Arts Education (B.S.) and General Studio Art (B.F.A.) with a concentration in painting and a minor in Art History. She is a member of the University of Michigan-Flint honors program and has interests in the transformative power that art has on the community and within education. She is an artist member at Buckham Gallery and exhibits her fine art frequently in the Flint area.

Natalie Roland

Natalie Roland is a sophomore at the University of Michigan-Flint majoring in Operations and Supply Chain Management. She is a recipient of the university’s Branstrom Freshman Prize and one day hopes to own her own business.