building up pride month

Founded in 2014, Up North Pride hosts one of the largest, participant-driven LGBTQ+ Pride Month celebrations in Michigan. When they postponed their normal parade and festivities due to COVID-19, they partnered with Birtten’s BoxPop® team to create an immersive, outdoor art exhibit, known as Catharsis, that would safely bring the community together.

BoxPop® donated three 10’ x 20’ shipping containers, each prepped with standard electrical equipment and a base layer of paint. After hand delivering the container canvases to three venues, local artists transformed them into full-scale art exhibits. Using paint, sculpture, and video, they created massive art installations that symbolized joy, reflection, and release. Throughout June, people travelled to see the colorful exhibits and celebrate the new take on Pride Month.

“In a year where so much was up in the air and life dealt many hands, we felt that people were really yearning for a sense of community,” says Nick Viox, Director of Programming at Up North Pride. “Britten and BoxPop® were instrumental in helping us provide safe and accessible spaces for our friends and families to gather, celebrate, explore, create, and of course, be proud.”