ArtPrize

Artprize is heading into it's final week here in Graps. That means that a top 10 has been chosen by the over 35,000 registered voters of which I am not one. Though I am not a voter, I have enjoyed partaking in the excitement that is the worlds largest art prize. Thousands of people have filled the streets of downtown grand rapids and it's surrounding areas to view the 1263 artists in 159 venues. One of the artists is my neighbor, who threw 100,000 paper airplanes from the roof of a building downtown while roughly 25,000 people waited below. I even saw people walking dogs downtown which I have never seen before. While nobody knew just what to expect from ArtPrize, they should expect another ArtPrize to come. Laura and I headed downtown today with Liz and Ted to check out the finalists and see some of the other artists we missed last week.

Top 10 finalist - all thumbtacks

Top 10 finalist - made completely with nails

Top 10 finalist - I disagree with this one, but I guess it's fun. I jogged through here and there are weird sounds echoing from Nessie.

Top 10 finalist - Points for it's relevance to Graps

Both pieces are Top 10 finalists - They are both amazing and work well together

Top 10 finalist - This is by a Chicago artist who graduated from Kendall College of Art and Design in Graps. He is currently transforming blighted underpasses on Chicago's Lake Shore Drive. One of my favs.

Not a finalist, but Laura's favorite. These are photographs of locals found in chance meetings downtown printed on loose slabs of salt. They are meant to be temporary and slowly disappear over the duration of ArtPrize.

Top 10 finalist - I really like this one. I hope it's permanent. I have heard that many of these works will be. There are two lights on either side of the river that catch the reflective sides of the sculpture as it shimmies in the wind.

Top 10 finalist - Winddancer 2 by a Grand Haven artist.

This is an image of the Bob's venue. A Rockford artist transformed an entire side of the building. There was also a guy who built a five story easel on which he lived for a week before jumping off. Not sure how that all went down. I did not care for this venue due to large crowds and piped in music. Not top 10.

Someone projected an animation of a child swimming on the side of the GRAM. Pretty cool, not Top 10.

Just a picture from one of the many venues that was in a previously vacant building in downtown. I think this will end up being a good way to show off empty building spaces and maybe fill them in the future. Overall, I found the whole thing pretty cool. I recommend folks head down if they are within the area. It has clearly been a great thing for the local economy and I hope this means we will see more next year.