Not only did a variety of art fill the streets, walls, bridges, and buildings of Grand Rapids, but, thanks to this piece, the art also took also took to the sky. Do you know where this piece was anchored?
Photo Taken By: Matt Burrows
This photo is part of the ArtPrize® 2010 “Where’s this?” series on the blog. The photos are taken by photographers working independently. They do not reflect the opinion on ArtPrize organizers.
Today is the last day to cast your vote for the winner of ArtPrize 2010. However, in the meantime, the spotlight awaits. Can you guess what ArtPrize Exhibition Center is home to this bench and some other great pieces of furniture for guests to kick back and relax in?
Photo Taken By: Matt Burrows
This photo is part of the ArtPrize® 2010 “Where’s this?” series on the blog. The photos are taken by photographers working independently. They do not reflect the opinion on ArtPrize organizers.
You don’t need to wait for the sun to set to wish upon these stars. Do you know where to find them?
Photo Taken By: Matt Burrows
This photo is part of the ArtPrize® 2010 “Where’s this?” series on the blog. The photos are taken by photographers working independently. They do not reflect the opinion on ArtPrize organizers.
Nicole Caruth is a freelance writer and curator living in New York and frequent contributor to the Art:21 blog. ArtPrize hired Nicole to chronicle the 2009 event, and decided to bring her back this year. Nicole’s thoughts and opinions are her own and in no way represent an endorsement or objection from ArtPrize toward an individual artist or venue.
Greeting Card to the World was the first piece I laid eyes on when I first arrived in downtown Grand Rapids. Ironic, right? An official entry into the Guinness Book of World Records, this sort of Hallmark-cum-Godzilla art (and I use that term loosely) speaks to what is perhaps the most unfortunate aspect of ArtPrize: the attention-hogging Lady Gaga’s of the event who are just out to get attention or only in it to win it. This was briefly addressed during the Wednesday night Speaker Series events when a panelist suggested that more artists have made work for this year’s competition with the sole goal of wowing and winning, a shamefully narrow agenda that drives the bigger-is-better approach to the creative process. And looking at the entries that dominate the top fifty spots of the competition this year, it is obvious that size and visibility continue to influence the popular vote. The good news is that there’s a flicker of hope for a better future demonstrated by this year’s top ten finalists. Dare I say that voting crowds have already learned to look a little deeper?
Now, the differences between the top ten artworks this year and last are subtle. Glowing-eyed spectacles, land animals, and kitsch mosaics are still in the lead. But you also have Salt & Earth (Garden for Patricia) by Young Kim, Lure/Wave, Grand Rapids (Lure/Forest) by Beili Liu, and Cavalry, American Officers, 1921 by Chris LaPorte that are all, at the very least, thoughtful and engaging. With these works in the top ten, the finalist pool has become slightly more diverse in material and form; shows that voters are paying attention to works of art that draw you into a space rather than intrude on yours, and are starting to value works of art that transcend quantitative efforts. Have the masses developed new criterion as a result of last year’s event? Has the participation of the Grand Rapids Art Museum, a centrally located perceived authority on art, influenced this year’s votes? Have criticism and press made voters more cautious or attentive? Or is it just the sheer fact that more people are voting? These are hard if not impossible questions to answer, and we could spend the entire next year speculating. But the mix of budding talents and one hit wonders, excellence and eyesores, in the current top ten suggest to me that ArtPrize audiences have already started to think more critically about art and look beyond the surface of things.
ArtPrize will have to continue for many years if we want to know its real impact on how the masses look at art and decided what is prize-worthy. But a girl can dream. Imagine what the top ten of ArtPrize 2015 might look like if the small differences from this year to last really constitute deepened awareness among voters. The Ryan Spencer Reeds and Mark Wentzels of the competition, underdogs of this year, will overcome the 20-foot kinetic green-eyed barking dog sculpture that I’m predicting for The B.O.B. parking lot next year.
Earlier this week, a local family expressed to me, as many others have, fear that ArtPrize and the city of Grand Rapids is the laughingstock of the art world, because gimmicks continue to rise to the top and are a poor reflection of the city’s talents and ongoing engagement with art. Luckily, the Gaga’s of ArtPrize are small parts of a bigger and better picture though I hope that they will, like a photograph, start to fade with time.
Somewhere, Leonardo da Vinci is smiling. Can you guess where this bird and the rest his flock take flight?
Photo Taken By: Matt Burrows
This photo is part of the ArtPrize® 2010 “Where’s this?” series on the blog. The photos are taken by photographers working independently. They do not reflect the opinion on ArtPrize organizers.
If you can guess the location and title of this piece, you'll understand that it is truly a sight to be "seen" (pun completely intended).
Photo Taken By: Matt Burrows
This photo is part of the ArtPrize® 2010 “Where’s this?” series on the blog. The photos are taken by photographers working independently. They do not reflect the opinion on ArtPrize organizers.
The Grand River is a unique venue involving multiple factions from the City of Grand Rapids. Artists wishing to place art INTO THE RIVER (parks and bridges do not apply) must follow a unique process with unique deadlines, detailed below.
Artist applications to ALL OTHER VENUES will begin with Artist Registration April 19-May 27. Artist/Venue matching will take place from June 1-July 1. (Venues register March 15 – April 15.)
GRAND RIVER PROPOSAL PROCESS
Proposals must include:
The City will convene two panels to review the proposals. The first panel will review the aesthetic merits of the work, and the second will review the engineering and technical merits. The artists that are chosen will be instructed by the City to develop and pay for a permit application to be filed with the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE).
Submit all proposals by email to Jose Reyna
jreyna [at] grcity [dot] us
616.456.4075
Proposal Deadline: April 1, 2010
File DNRE Permit application: April 7
Public Notice Period: April 21 – May 11
Artist Registration on artprize.org (all chosen artists must register): April 19 – May 27
Period for Notice of Public Hearing (if required): June 11 – June 20
Additional Comment Period (If public hearing required): June 21 – June 27
Determination/Approval by DNRE: June 28
One of the venues that has opened up for ArtPrize is the West Michigan Center for Arts and Technology (WMCAT). The facility was built as a next generation learning center by global office furniture leader, Steelcase. It’s an open space with a gallery integrated into the central meeting area. One of the central functions of WMCAT is to take at risk high school students within the city and engage them in art, film and design to explore not only their creative abilities but their own identities and where they fit within a larger community.
What’s interesting about WMCAT when it comes to ArtPrize is they will be looking for artists who are open to engaging their students. They are looking for some kind of connection in the work with community, be it a commentary on local community or exposure for the students to a global community.
We’ll be uploading a video of the space in the near future to help artists get a better feeling for the opportunities and limitations of the space, but I wanted to write about it now as we’re on the eve of artist/venue matching becoming available on the website. If you’re an artist who has desire to engage students like the ones WMCAT works with, be sure to try and connect with WMCAT in the coming week.
I was speaking with Caroline Older, Executive Director of Arts Council of Greater Grand Rapids. She has opened up their small gallery space for ArtPrize and her building is located north of 196. (For out of towners, check out the Orientation post that just went up).
Caroline mentioned that her building is outside the main thoroughfare for a lot of the venues and was wondering if ArtPrize would organize certain neighborhood walks on different nights. My response was, “Wow, that’s a great idea.” Unfortunately, we’ve got a lot to do between now and September and organizing neighborhood walks on top of the different educational events and parties may prove to be a bit too much. (Or not, we’ll have to see.) However, that does not prevent venues from getting together to organize simultaneous events to pull people into their neighborhood.
For instance, Arts Council may open their doors on opening night, but save their catered reception until, say, the Thursday after opening night. On that same night, there could be receptions for the artists showing in the parks north of 196 and at the Boardwalk Condominium lobby down the street, which has a nice bar, JD Reardon’s, which could host a party as well (hypothetically). Now, if several venues got together to organize such an evening during ArtPrize, we would certainly help publicize that evening and make sure it is in the schedule for the event.
Thanks, Caroline.
The photo at the top is from The Library of Congress 1930′s-1940′s pictures in color, called “Operating a hand drill at Vultee-Nashville, woman is working on a “Vengeance” dive bomber, Tennessee (LOC)”
For those of you unfamiliar with Grand Rapids, I want to give you a little orientation. To best understand how a venue is situated amongst other venues and how foot traffic will flow from one to the other, buckle up, get your map handy and keep reading.
The section of the city that falls within the ArtPrize boundary is divided into several neighborhoods. The city itself is divided into four quadrants from a central intersection, but also neighborhoods are divided by some large geographic “interruptions.” I’ll start by explaining the four quadrants of the city and then get into the natural dividers of the neighborhoods. Read More »
