{"id":2002,"date":"2015-09-12T22:42:43","date_gmt":"2015-09-13T05:42:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/?p=2002"},"modified":"2015-09-12T22:42:43","modified_gmt":"2015-09-13T05:42:43","slug":"artprize-provide-unique-atmosphere-in-grand-rapids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/library\/2002\/artprize-provide-unique-atmosphere-in-grand-rapids","title":{"rendered":"ArtPrize Provide Unique Atmosphere in Grand Rapids"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Art<\/a>

“Intersections” won the public vote and tied for the juried top prize in 2014 Courtesy: ArtPrize.org<\/p><\/div>\n

Until now when people in Michigan thought \u201cart fair,\u201d they likely thought of Ann Arbor\u2019s giant elephant ear and crafts event each July. But now Grand Rapids has upped the ante and stolen the show. Chic, disruptive, and unorthodox are the typical descriptions of the madness known as \u201cArtPrize.\u201d<\/p>\n

ArtPrize converts Grand Rapids into a free, city-wide, indoor-outdoor gallery September 23 \u2013 October 15<\/span> when over 1,600 artists from 48 countries, hope to earn the approval of the voting public and a panel of expert critics to win a share of the world record half-million-dollars in award money. They will do so by displaying, and sometimes manning, their inspired creations at 160 venues within a three-square-mile area of downtown. \u201cIt\u2019s an incredibly energetic combination of art museum, street fair, and public forum on \u2018what is art?\u2019\u201d says Tom Kaufmann, from Traverse City, who has entered twice \u2013 camping out with his interactive musical exhibits throughout the entire three weeks of competition to greet and talk with potential voters.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone participates by voting on smartphones for the works they like best. You can get great conversations going because no one has a monopoly on meaning,\u201d says Dana Friis-Hansen, director of the Grand Rapids Art Museum. \u201cCome whenever you like. Wear comfortable shoes, apply sunscreen, get a map and pick your priorities. Start at the center and work your way out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rick DeVos, grandson of Amway Corporation founder and billionaire Rich DeVos, founded ArtPrize. Rick\u2019s father Dick ran for Michigan Governor. \u201cI am blessed to come from a family of doers and people who are always talking about ways to create value in the community, says DeVos. \u201cThe family dinner table taught me how to dream big. I was a constant eavesdropper when a meeting was going on so I could listen and learn.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greg McNeilly, who has an office in the city, says even while stopping for a bite to eat you\u2019re likely to experience an instillation. The art, whether it\u2019s a mural, sculpture, or paining, is everywhere. The inaugural Art Prize winner (2009), a mural of waves dubbed \u201cOpen Water,\u201d rolls in above the bar at The Reserve, a chic farm-to-table eatery with a magnificent wine list. Those waves may be seen for real at the sandy, shark-free, freshwater beach and pier perfect for a Lake Michigan sunset 30 miles west at Grand Haven State Park and City Beach.<\/p>\n

McNeilly advises sampling some suds, too. \u201cGrand Rapids is known as \u2018Beer City USA\u2019 and is the heart of Michigan’s artisanal beer revival.\u201d\u00a0Founders Brewing Company allows visitors to view the beer-making process and even created a beer dubbed \u201cInspired Artist\u201d Black IPA, to mark the occasion. \u201cIt\u2019s delicious,\u201d says Christian Gaines, executive director of ArtPrize since 2013.<\/p>\n

During ArtPrize the artists, and the voters, are the toast of the town!<\/p>\n

Visit www.ArtPrize.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Michael Patrick Shiels may be contacted at\u00a0<\/em>InviteYourself@aol.com<\/a>. His talk can be heard and seen weekday mornings in\u00a0Lansing\u00a0on 92.1 FM. <\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Until now when people in Michigan thought \u201cart fair,\u201d they likely thought of Ann Arbor\u2019s giant elephant ear and crafts… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":2003,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3665],"tags":[2833,1044572,629,88399,998756,88400,2834],"class_list":["post-2002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-library","tag-grand-rapids","tag-art","tag-beer","tag-artprize","tag-devos","tag-rick-devos","tag-michigan"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2015\/09\/Art-Prize.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2002"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2004,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2002\/revisions\/2004"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}