Inspired by Shepherd Fairey's HOPE poster, “Still Here” features Mari Copeny (Little Miss Flint) and examines the ongoing and long-lasting effects of the Flint Water Crisis on children specifically.

I grew up 10 miles away from Flint, Michigan. Lucky for me my water source was the Huron river rather than the Flint river. But that’s just all I am, lucky. There’s nothing separating me from the thousands of children and families living next door to me who were poisoned. During my time in a special needs teaching program called Peer Connections at my High school, I worked with a girl named Lucy. Lucy had significant cognitive impairments due to living with poisoned water in Flint before she was adopted and moved to my town. This reality was shocking to me and forced me to see that this problem was very present. This poster highlights Mari Copeny (nicknamed “Little Miss Flint”) who has been at the forefront of activism surrounding the children in Flint. Mari represents the thousands of children who faced horrendous challenges over the past few years and will have to live with the long-term effects of lead poisoning and legionnaires disease that took over their city. This is a reminder that this crisis is not a thing of the past. Even with the new infrastructure and pipes in place, the community's distrust in their water will be forever. The long-term effects of this crisis will and have impacted these people every day, and will continue to for the rest of their lives. Shepard Fairey's artistic style is very high contrast, posterized, and bold. I wanted to showcase Mari Copeny in this way because it centers the children and paints them in strong light, rather than as innocent beings. Innocence has been taken from them because they were forced to go through a water crisis that resulted in real pain, hurt, and even death for members of their families and communities. They are still here, and their voices deserve to be heard.