There's Still Time!!!! ArtPrize 2012

ArtPrize!!!!!

If it's at all a possibility for you, drop everything and make your way to Grand Rapids, Michigan in the next few days and experience ArtPrize.

What's Artprize?

It's 1571 pieces of art, in 161 venues, covering 3 square miles.

ArtPrize was conceived as an experiment - anyone could enter, any space could be a venue and the public would vote for the winner - it turns most conventional art exhibits upside down, with no experts making the choices.

The venues range from restaurants, book stores, and beauty salons to traditional museums and galleries.

The materials used by the artists are equally to diverse, ranging from traditional paints to more unusual such as wire:

Or thread and buttons:

 There are monumental works, immense yet detailed:

And that often have a surprising element!

Some are such a perfect fit for their venue, that it's hard to imagine that they'll be gone in just a few more days.

The response has been overwhelming, people of every age, every income bracket, every social niche out and about enjoying art - it sounds cliche, but you really can feel the energy as you move about the city.

The prize money is overwhelming too, a total of $560,000 in awards!

ArtPrize ends on October 7th, so there's still time - view the art, pick your favorite and vote for winner.

Roadtrip 2011 - ArtPrize

ArtPrize - what an incredible experience!!!

It's over for 2011, but I can't wait for next year - ArtPrize is about art obviously, but it's also an experiment designed to engage every aspect of society in participating in art - as an artist, as a viewer, as a critic, as a participant.

Grand Rapids, Michigan is the location for venues as diverse as the Grand Rapids Art Museum to a beauty salon, a great location for this painting of Barbie

Some pieces require viewer participation, like this one that can be viewed as is or through hanging prisms:

This one is literally a puzzle:

Here, you are building the exhibit:

Some artists have a statement to share, whether regarding the environment, such as this piece constructed of discarded junk:

The whale leaping from a sea of plastic bottles was quite impressive!


As, was this field of sunflowers, which represents a mere 4.5 seconds of plastic water bottles usage in the US:

These gigantic birds, formed of tires picked up off the highway, were visually stunning - both in their forms and material.

Many artists chose to work with unusual materials - how about Post-it notes?

Or drywall?

Or Lego's?

Some pieces just make you smile!

Some make you think or wonder:

The most unique part of ArtPrize is the method of choosing the winners - we, the public, decide.

And the top prize is $250, 000!!!

We spent two full days and while we saw close to 1,000 pieces, we missed nearly 600. We saw work that made us think, made us smile, made us laugh out loud - and as a result we definitely plan on attending next year. I hope you do too!

Touring Michigan - Grand Rapids Public Museum

We had to catch a 7:30am train to Chicago last week out of Grand Rapids, so we arrived the previous afternoon and took in a couple of museums, including the Grand Rapids Public Museum. The entry hall is visually exciting, with a gigantic working steam engine, a biplane, an entire suspended whale skeleton and a huge clock tower.

There is a huge range of exhibits and items on display; I was especially intrigued by the following displays:

Anishinabek: The People of This Place

This hall shares the stories of the original Ottawa, Potawatomi and Chippewa people of West Michigan; many direct descendants still live in the region today.

Unlike many exhibits of this type, there was no effort to sugarcoat the past; the experiences of the people, both good and bad, is presented, in their own voices.

The artifacts on display are fabulous, such as this quill work basket:

and a photograph of the maker with her beautiful creation:

Many pieces of beadwork too:

Streets of Old Grand Rapids

This display is a 3/4 scale detailed re-creation of Grand Rapids in the 1890s, including eleven shops based on actual businesses and buildings. The storefronts and interiors are stocked with real merchandise from the past. My favorite was the Voigt-Herpolsheimer Department Store, with this interesting advertising piece:

And look at the shoes!

Also parasols, ribbons, lace, and other fancy work - I wish I could go shopping there, at 1890 prices, of course!

Admission includes a ride on the 1928 Spillman carousel - I love carousels!

The current temporary exhibit is "Bodies Revealed"; the exhibit shows 14 full body human specimens and over 200 organs and is rooted in the historical precedent set by anatomists as Vesalius and da Vinci. The body specimens ares dissected to reveal the function of each anatomical system and to show that system’s relationship to the body as a whole.

The key to this exhibit is the polymer preservation process; a technique in which human tissue is permanently preserved using liquid silicone rubber. The end product is a dry, odorless specimen that resists decomposition.

This isn't the type of exhibit that will appeal to everyone, but I found it to be fascinating. It was requested that no photographs be taken, which I respected. However, there are many photographs online if you're interested.

Luckily, this steampunk sculpture was not part of the exhibit - he's fascinating too.

We also visited the Grand Rapids Art Museum; they were between major shows, but it was still an enjoyable visit.

It's still possible to see some of the Art Prize 2010 pieces throughout the city; we saw enough to convince us that we MUST make it to Art Prize 2011.