RESOURCES:
University of Michigan Poverty Solutions
Guaranteed Income to Grow Ann Arbor (GIG A2)
No Strings art exhibit explores personal impact of guaranteed income
TRANSCRIPTION:
Caroline MacGregor: People who receive traditional public benefits are often met with scrutiny, distrust, and suspicion. A new traveling art exhibit called "No Strings" is curated by University of Michigan's Poverty Solutions and is working to flip that narrative. I'm Caroline MacGregor, and today, I am talking with Lauren Slagter, U of M Poverty Solutions Director of Communications and Public Engagement. And this art exhibit is part of the Guaranteed Income to Grow Ann Arbor, or GIG A2, pilot program. Welcome, Lauren!
Lauren Slagter: Thanks for having me, Caroline!
Caroline MacGregor: Lauren, I know that the Guaranteed Income to Grow an Ann Arbor, or as it's referred to the GIG A2 program, has been operating for more than a year now. But tell me a little bit about this traveling art exhibit and how this plays into the program.
Lauren Slagter: Yeah. So, Ann Arbor's Guaranteed Income pilot, GIG A2, ran for two years, from January 2024 to December 2025, issuing monthly payments to 100 people during that time. And so, the No Strings art exhibit is a way to get more people to pay attention to the pilot and the related research findings. Poverty Solutions at U of M is continuing to evaluate the impact of GIG A2, and we'll be releasing more of those findings. So, the art exhibit just calls attention to that. It gets people to consider the concept of guaranteed income in general and invites them to compare and contrast that with traditional public benefits, like housing vouchers, food stamps, and just get people hopefully thinking more about the personal impact of guaranteed income and no strings attached cash.
Caroline MacGregor: We'll come back to the exhibition that's taking place this weekend, but tell me a bit more about this Guaranteed Income to Grow Ann Arbor pilot. What initiated this program?
Lauren Slagter: Yeah. So, this was an effort by the City of Ann Arbor. They used some of their federal pandemic aid dollars to fund the pilot program. So, it was something that City Council brought forward based on feedback that they had gathered from residents showing an interest in some type of universal basic income or guaranteed income pilot. So, the city put out a call for proposals of what would this pilot look like. And they also wanted to have an evaluation component because they wanted the impact to extend beyond just the time-limited pilot and to be adding to the broader knowledge base of the impact of guaranteed income. And so, Poverty Solutions at U of M submitted a proposal that was ultimately selected. And kind of the new thing that GIG A2 does is it focuses on gig workers, entrepreneurs, self-employed people with low incomes. So, that's unique compared to other guaranteed income pilots across the country.
Caroline MacGregor: And as far as the participants, how did you go about choosing the participants? Who are these people?
Lauren Slagter: Yes. So, the main selection criteria for GIG A2 was you had to be a resident of the City of Ann Arbor. You had to be a gig worker, entrepreneur, self-employed, which was very broadly defined. We didn't want to put a lot of restrictions or checks on exactly what type of business are people running. We wanted to keep that pretty open. And then, there is an income threshold, which is part of the requirement for how the federal pandemic area aid could be used. So, that's where that income threshold came from.
Caroline MacGregor:And the suspicion and distrust of people receiving benefits, tell me why you think this is so prevalent, or is it still prevalent today, that attitude?
Lauren Slagter: Yeah, I think those attitudes about people who use public assistance often lie kind of under the surface, unexamined. It's not something that might be at the forefront of our minds. But I think just looking at the ways that public benefits programs are set up. You see that that suspicion and distrust is really embedded into how those programs operate. So, there's often really burdensome application processes. There are different eligibility checks that might be annual or more frequently, where people have to keep proving that they still need the assistance. And then, depending on the type of assistance program, there are often restrictions on how people can actually use the benefits once they go through that process of proving that the qualify and need them. And so, all of that just adds up to this sense of suspicion and the government needing to direct people on how to meet their own needs. Guaranteed income offers a different approach.
Caroline MacGregor: So, the art exhibit really highlights what people are going through, but you've also pinned down exact expenses, what people spend, that was part of the program. How does the art exhibit reflect on the plight of people today who are struggling to make ends meet?
Lauren Slagter: Yeah. So, the art exhibit really zooms in on these personal uses of guaranteed income, and it's based on things that GIG A2 participants said in interviews with the researchers about ways they use the money that were especially meaningful to them. So, the art, in many ways, kind of supplements the research that U of M Poverty Solutions is doing related to GIG A2. And part of that research includes a survey just asking people, overall, how did you spend the monthly payments. And the most common uses are necessities, so food, household supplies and personal care products, rent and mortgage, clothing, utilities. We see that people are spending this money on necessities, even though there are no restrictions. They can spend it on anything they want. And that's how they're, overall, are using it. So, to kind of add onto that, the art zooms in on these individual uses. And we saw themes in terms of how people answered that question of what's an especially meaningful, heartwarming use of the money. A lot of people wanted to provide more opportunities or resources for their kids. That was something that felt really meaningful to them. They talked about just feeling like they were able to take better care of their mental health because they had this little more flexible cash, little more disposable income. They talked about being able to invest in their businesses. And so, we chose specific quotes from those research interviews. And then, that's what directed the artists, in terms of what the pieces that they were created. So, they were each tasked with illustrating this quote, kind of imagining a story or a scenario around it, and then bringing that to life with their own artistic style. And so, those are the pieces in the exhibit.
Caroline MacGregor: So, art is essentially another way to depict the plight of these people or the needs behind these monthly payments. How does art serve to showcase that the pilot program are basically the benefits that people are receiving?
Lauren Slagter: Yeah. So, the artists that we worked with are all University of Michigan students. So, Poverty Solutions put out an open call for student artists. It was not limited to art majors or people studying art, so that was kind of an interesting component. We ended up selecting a group, working with a group of six artists, who then went through the series of workshops together under the guidance of Katie Hammond, who's a local artist and Ann Arbor native. So, they were really conceptualizing their pieces together, giving each other feedback, offering critique along the way. So, Poverty Solutions Faculty Director, Kristin Seefeldt, put together the proposal for how to design GIG A2, the focus on gig workers, entrepreneurs. And then, she has led up the research effort, so overseeing the surveys and the research interviews and the analysis of all of that.
Caroline MacGregor: Before I come back to the art exhibit taking place this Saturday, given that we are facing inflation, more and more people are struggling. And there's also an effort by the government to cut down on public benefits. Does this make this exhibit and your mission even more important, considering people are needing help more than ever today?
Lauren Slagter: Yeah. I hope that people will consider guaranteed income as a viable option. I think we see this as not replacing traditional public benefits programs, but as a supplement to it, as another way to just get people the resources that they need. I think just the response to GIG A2 highlights how much need there is, even just within the Ann Arbor community. You know, we are seeing just this affordability crisis, and this was a small scale pilot program. Only a hundred people could be accepted. We got hundreds of applicants. And so, there definitely is a need, an interest, in having more support for people who are just trying to make ends meet in Ann Arbor. And I think it's also worth noting that GIG A2 was not limited to just people who are actually living in poverty, like according to the federal poverty line income threshold. It's for people who are above that line and still struggling to keep up with the cost of living in Ann Arbor.
Caroline MacGregor: Now, back to the traveling art exhibit, No Strings, this is taking place tomorrow, Saturday, May 30th. Tell me a little bit more about what the public needs to know.
Lauren Slagter: Yes. So, there will be a reception from 1 to 3 PM on Saturday at Ann Arbor Artist Studios, which is on Jackson Road on the west side of Ann Arbor. The studio is run by Katie Hammond, who is the artist who worked with us on the No Strings project and provided the guidance for the U of M students whose work is part of this exhibit. So, anybody is welcome to come by between 1 and 3. We will have some remarks from Katie around 1:30 if you want kind of a behind-the-scenes look at how this project came together. And part of the exhibit really invites viewers to share their responses. So, we're very interested to hear from people. Which of these pieces do you relate to the most? Which uses of the money maybe spark some of that skepticism in you? How do you feel about no strings attached cash as a supplement to traditional public benefits? And just what do you think about guaranteed income in general? So, we really wanna gather that community feedback and hear from people. So, we hope they will come out to this event. The exhibit is also available online if people want to engage with it that way. And it will be hosted throughout the Ann Arbor community and other spaces in the coming months. One that we have lined up right now is the Ann Arbor District library, the downtown branch, for June to July.
Caroline MacGregor: And is there a cost to attend this exhibit?
Lauren Slagter: No. No cost. Anybody's welcome.
Caroline MacGregor: I've been speaking with Lauren Slagter, U of M Poverty Solutions, Director of Communications and Public Engagement. Lauren, thank you so much for joining me today!
Lauren Slagter: Thank you! I hope everybody can come check out the No Strings art exhibit!
Caroline MacGregor: And for more information about the art exhibit, visit WEMU.org. This is 89.1 WEMU FM Ypsilanti, your community NPR station.
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