Brad Kik is the co-founder and co-director of Crosshatch Center for Art & Ecology. Brad’s varied background—film study, environmental activism, graphic design, community organizing, traditional music, ecology and permaculture—plays a key role in directing the intention behind Crosshatch’s work in the community. Brad also serves on a number of boards reflecting Crosshatch’s diverse approach to community building: Earthwork Music, a collective of Michigan musicians; Grass River Natural Area, a 1000+ acre wetland preserve in Antrim County, Michigan, near where Brad calls home; and the Alliance of Artist Communities (AAC), who support and advocate for artist residency programs. Brad also acts as the co-chair of the ecological residencies cohort for the AAC, and helps convene and present their Emerging Programs Institute each year.

“I founded Crosshatch in part to create a laboratory for community building. The purpose isn’t just to build a suite of meaningful programs, but to remain curious about how to work the levers that move communities toward deep and long lasting change. In a way, Crosshatch is my lifelong art project.”

Here is Brad’s story from the January 2017 event…