We put together our stories about arts and the economy in the state to create an hour-long documentary called The Cost of Creativity. On today's podcast, we'll hear the second installment of the doc.
And because Artpod is about all things Michigan, all the music you'll hear on The Cost of Creativity is by Michigan artists. The musicians featured on today's podcast Luke Winslow-King and The Red Sea Pedestrian.
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/michigan/local-michigan-951051.mp3
We'll start the podcast with a trip to the Smart Shop Metal Art Center in Kalamazoo. A place where everyone used to visit and take classes -- from girl scouts and artists to "firemen and the Mayor and the guy that runs the auto repair shop down road and the beer distributor," says Smart Shop's Holly Fisher.
Then we'll head to the tiny, rural town of Cross Village, where a group of woman started up a cottage industry of rug making to help locals like Jasmine Petrie sustain themselves during the lean, winter months:
"If you would've asked me a year ago if I'd was going to have a loom and weave rugs, I would have thought you were crazy!"
Plus a conversation with a construction worker turned juggler, and a former factory worker named Russ Hicks who turned to writing to help him cope with the loss of his job and his wife:
"As I'm remembering these things it's not like I'm cast into the sea adrift by myself with no control anymore, it felt like that for a long time. But these memories are helping me to make connections between my past and my present and it's helping me come to grips more with how things are now."
Tune into next week's podcast for the third and final installment of The Cost of Creativity!
