What's not to love about the Flint Cultural Center?…read more Home to the Flint Institute of Arts, Applewood/Mott Estate, Whiting Auditorium, Sloan Museum, Longway Planetarium, Buick Research Gallery, Flint Public Library, Flint Youth Theatre, Flint Institute of Music/MacArthur Recital Hall, Flint Symphony Orchestra, Flint School of Performing Arts, Whaley House and more, the cultural center in downtown Flint is a hidden gem. If you want to soak up some culture in the city, then look no further. This little niche arts community, situated between the College Cultural and East Village neighborhoods, has more than its share of cultural happenings going on throughout the year. I love everything about the cultural center, from its many free or low-cost festivals hosted throughout the year, namely the annual tree lighting near Applewood every December and the Sloan Auto Fair and the Flint Art Fair during the summer, to productions at the Whiting, like the Nutcracker, FSO performances, Holiday Pops, etc, and free lectures, foreign films and exhibitions at the FIA. There's always something for everyone of all ages. On several occasions during the fall and winter, the MacArthur Recital Hall even plays host to free classical music concerts, based on first-come, first-served basis. These intimate concertos are super nice for families or students trying to stretch a buck in a city often plagued by money woes. These days, the doors to Applewood Estate have been thrown open for tourists at no cost! Yep, free tours of the estate and grounds for all ages throughout the summer and fall. Most events at the FIA are free or low-cost, including "Free Saturdays" sponsored by Huntington Bank, which allows for free admission to the museum's temporary Hodge Gallery exhibitions (admission to the rest of the museum's exhibitions is always free). Recently, Sloan held its Titanic exhibition, which proved so popular that it was extended by many months to accommodate the number of visitors flocking to it. The area also plays host to food and wine tastings, beer tap takeovers, and fundraisers. The money goes to charity and it's fun to participate, sample the wares and give to a good cause at the same time. Some of the nicest events in the city take place on the grounds of the cultural center, which I think is actually nicer than similar cultural center areas in other, larger cities. If you've never visited the grounds of the Flint Cultural Center, then I think you probably don't know what you're missing. The area always looks impressive and is incredibly well-maintained. Sometimes, it's hard to imagine this fantastic little area is located in Flint. It's like its own little "cultural slice of heaven." It's sort of like it's a different city, indeed, free of the more blight and crime issues that people complain about in the city. Another plus? Parking in the cultural center is free, unless you're using valet parking for events, of course. Essentially, I'd say the cultural center has been somewhat of a boon to the community for years and is a bright spot in an otherwise not so-happy town. For both people of means and cash-strapped families and students, as well as everyone in between, there are fun things to do here that fit any budget. Even the museum and symphony tickets aren't that expensive and student tickets are super cheap. Other events are outright free to the public. You can't beat free, right? I just attended the local Christmas tree lighting ceremony this year as part of the city's Holiday Walk. It was amazing, with all of the trees lit up/decorated for the holidays and all. On top of that, the recent performance of the Nutcracker this year was top-notch, as usual. For a town that has garnered such a bad reputation, and deservedly so for a litany of reasons, there are still fun, even low-cost cultural activities for the family to be had and most of those involve the Flint Cultural Center, a rare gem to be found, no matter which way you slice it. Seriously, it's pretty easy to bag on this city, with all of its issues (blight, crime, poverty, lead water, etc), but the downtown cultural center is a bright spot, one that seems almost like a carved-out little niche tucked away for locals to run back to every once in awhile as a sort of "artistic reprieve" from the rest of the city and its outlying areas.