long memory project

The Long Memory Project’s mission is to cultivate the passing down of our community’s stories. Not just the ones considered worthy enough to make headlines and history books, but the small acts of courage, action, good governance and community building—the songs, poems and stories that help us understand where we came from, who we are, and what we envision for our future—both regionally and beyond.

Farmland

Our third edition of The Long Memory Project is in collaboration with MSU's Broad Art Museum and their Farmland exhibition.

The project began with elders who have ties to the state's farming history and participating artists visiting the Farmland exhibition in East Lansing to kick off this pop-up residency.

The artists and elders gathered again for the Northern Michigan Small Farm Conference to steep themselves in the farm community. Afterward, elders shared their stories with artists during a series of facilitated conversations.

Art inspired by these stories will be shared with the public in Spring 2026.

2025

Three people in a gallery reading the context for an exhibit called Farmland

Group of elders and artists eating lunch together alongside Glen Lake

Elder farmer and younger artists sitting together on blue chairs outside, talking

black woman's hands holding a ceramic necklace with the text "and so I continue a black woman who would be an agent for change"

elder and artist sitting on a bench talking

PRIDE

In February 2024, community elders gathered with community artists—all members of the LGBTQ+ community—to pass down their stories. This day-long listening session led to a pop-up artist residency, where the artists created visual and performing art in response to the stories the elders had shared; stories about the power of the queer community to survive and thrive in spite of homophobia and transphobia.

The work created by the artists was on view in an exhibition at Commongrounds Cooperative (414 E. Eighth Street in Traverse City) from June 8 - July 14, 2024. An opening reception included a gallery show of the art, a panel of artists and elders, a performance by spoken word and song artist Madeline October, and a concert from musician Blake Elliott.

2024

Group photo of artists and elders from Pride Long Memory Project

Two women with arms around one another looking at artwork

Group of artists and elders on stage at The Alluvion during the Pride Long Memory Project Presentation

Group of people looking at textile art and talking

circle of artists and elders having a conversation

activism

In October 2018, Crosshatch orchestrated a gathering of community elders alongside younger regional musicians and writers. The goal: to retell the stories of little-known social and environmental issues from our region's past, and to transform them into new poems, songs and stories. On Sunday, December 9th at the Kirkbride Hall, musicians Seth Bernard, Sam Cooper and Zach Watson, and writers Jaime Delp and Amber Edmondson performed original pieces inspired by these stories and the elders that lived them.

The histories told covered upholding native fishing rights, opposing the Big Rock nuclear power plant, stopping waterfront development of the Bayview Mall and strengthening the international peace movement. As they were happening, many of these campaigns received poor coverage in the press, and now risk being lost to time. “We realized that we couldn’t go to Wikipedia or Google searches to get the details right,” said Sam Cooper, a musician born and raised in Traverse City, “the only place we could go is to the elders themselves.”

After hearing the stories, the artists spent four days in residency at the Neahtawanta Inn, shaping new work.