Art Prize Autumn

Another year another...ArtPrize! This was the third year of the ginormous art contest and my second year in attendance (and my mother's second year participating). Last year I managed to visit during the first week, so was able to participate in voting. This year I went right at the very end so wasn't able to vote, but did attend the finalist party where the winner (of the major public voting prize) was announced in addition to several juried awards. I spent the next day walking all over town looking at art with the fam for 6 hours or so, with a pit stop at Reserve to refuel. The weather was amazeballs so I basically spent the entire weekend outside, topping it all off with donuts at Robinette's (again!) and a trip to the beach. Now, after a lengthy delay (while I looked up details of everything that I took photos of!)...I present: A Fall Weekend in Western Michigan.


Mom's painting The Four Horses


Detail of Mom's painting - nail polish used in the highlights


Rain by Lynda Cole


Serial Reproduction by Meir Lobaton


The other perspective


Look and Learn, Little Girl Series by Jess Larson


Branches Unbound by Wendy Wahl


Salvaged Landscape by Catie Newell


Detail of the charred wood salvaged from a Detroit house hit by arson


A former location of Junior Achievement utilized by Site Lab as a gallery


Wall detail


Disappearances - An Eternal Journey by Shinji-Turner Yamamoto


Detail of Disappearances


View from the opposite direction


Tele-present Water by David Bowen


Glass Totems by Todd Kime


Prosciutto pit stop


Early birthday candle


Art walk at sunset


Robinette's! Donuts! Sugar!


Have you ever seen a bluer sky?


Grand Haven, MI


GH Pier


The Big Lake

Say Yes to Michigan!

I used to be called "The Hub"...back when I actually knew what everyone was up to and no one else did. I think I'm out of the loop now so thank goodness that there's a building that now claims all of my knowledge. (I feel so much less pressure.) Here's a brief rundown (there are over 1200 artists so this is but the tiniest sliver) of the ArtPrize extravaganza that I attended in Grand Rapids, MI last weekend.

FREDERIK MEIJER GARDENS AND SCULPTURE PARK


A Chihuly sculpture...completely separate from the ArtPrize competition...but still totally rad.



Vessel by Amanda Katz


I'm a sucker for anything typographic.


Conductivity by Julia Rogers

DOWNTOWN GR


The artists' reception at Bethlehem Lutheran Church. My mom in the foreground right, my sis in the background right. My one-dimensional self in the center background: Tina by Char Anderson.


More of the artists' reception.

DOWNTOWN GR: AH-NAB-AWEN PARK


Burial Mounds by Flinten Sackett. Read about it here.


More Burial Mounds


Detail of Burial Mounds


Dream Big by Pete Fecteau made of 4242 Rubik's Cubes.


Detail of Dream Big.


Art break: Reserve, the all new GR wine bar/art viewing-pit stop slice of fabulosity, the perfect downtown destination in which to sample over 100 wines by the glass. (Not all at the same time!) While sipping a Cremant D'Alsace I also sampled a Michigan sparkler. Not bad! There are also some tasty prosciutto/jamon/queso/formaggio options (I was so busy eating that I forgot to take photos) as well as other sorted snacks. You really can't go wrong. Wine and cheese is the perfect meal!

GRAM


Chroma Passage by Janice Arnold


Baby Calder: La Petite Vitesse


Dreamscape by Kathy Stecko

INTERSECTION


Extremely random ArtPrize festivity: The Shaolin comes to GR. GZA at Intersection. For realz.


GZA up close and personal. I'm pretty sure that he and I were the oldest people there.


The winning ArtPrize entry from last year (Open Water No. 24) gracing the bar at the brand spanking new wine bar/small plate eatery extravagana: Reserve. The end.

Go (mid) West!

So I'm heading off to the fair city of Grand Rapids, MI where I will be visiting the fam as well as looking at a bunch of art and...voting on my mother's entry in ArtPrize! (ATTENTION GReeps: My madre's fabulous painting above is on display at Bethlehem Lutheran Church downtown, mere blocks away from some of the other big art viewing and voting destinations!)

What is ArtPrize you ask? Why it's "a radically open competition. Open to any artist in the world who can find space. Open to anybody in Grand Rapids, Michigan who wants to create a venue. Open to a vote from anyone who attends - Part arts festival, part social experiment--this international contest is decided solely by public vote." (By the way, that orange squiggly thing in the ArtPrize logo is a graphic depiction of the most iconic piece of sculptural art in Grand Rapids by Alexander Calder, just turned on it's side.)

I'm also planning to check out the über-recently opened restaurant, Reserve, the latest to join the ranks of wine bars serving small plates and locally sourced menu items like Lake Superior whitefish, smoked steelhead roe, and Evergreen Lane Farm Chevre to name a few (according to the website). The wine list looks pretty straightforward but the draw will be the over 100 wines available by the glass as they have employed ye olde tap...well, more or less. I'm thinking it will be like this but I'll be sure to visit and report back!