The Big Read is...

The Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum is one of 61 organizations nationwide selected to receive a 2021-2022 NEA Big Read grant. The grant will support a community reading program focusing on the book “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros between September 2021 to June 2022. An initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest, the NEA Big Read broadens our understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book.
 
The Community Read project titled, “NEA Big Read: Great Lakes Bay Region,” is centered around the theme “neighbors/neighborhoods” and is designed to bring together communities from three different counties in the Great Lakes Bay Region – Saginaw, Bay, and Midland. With programming and events to take place in each of the three counties, this Community Read is unique and innovative both for its variety of partnerships as well as the variety of programming that expands beyond book discussions to include community story sharing and art making. 

How are books selected for the NEA Big Read library?
For the NEA Big Read, the National Endowment for the Arts looks for: books that can unite communities through lively and deep discussions and innovative programming; stories that provide glimpses into personal lives, told through the lens of universal themes; writing that sings on the page, with the potential to entice reluctant, lapsed, and avid readers alike; authors who speak to the issues of our times and the country we live in; and choices that offer a range of voices, genres, settings, perspectives, and experiences. We particularly welcome books that support the Endowment’s effort to reach individuals whose opportunities to experience the arts are limited by geography, ethnicity, economics, or disability. You can suggest a new NEA Big Read title at arts.gov/neabigread.

Where can I find more information about the NEA Big Read?
For information on the NEA Big Read in Great Lakes Bay Region please contact the Marshall Fredericks Sculpture Museum at [email protected] or calling 989-964-7125.

This website will keep you up to date of all the events and activities surrounding the NEA Big Read.  The calendar of events will be updated with all programming and events throughout the 10 month program. ​