Art Prize 2014 - Sunday Afternoon in Downtown Grand Rapids

If you don't know what Art Prize is, it is a little hard to explain. The rules for winning the prizes have evolved over the years, but there is always a popular vote, juried awards and various categories. It is the largest event of its kind, attracting artists from all over the state, the country and the world. And there is big money involved.

The big winner this year seemed to please everyone, the first to win both with the people and the "jury," so on this, the last day of Art Prize, I spent a sunny Sunday afternoon in downtown Grand Rapids, standing in a long line at the GRAM to see this work:

Intersection - a carved box reflecting patterns throughout the whole room.

I have mixed feelings about Art Prize. There were 1,536 entries at 174 venues this year and the experience is a bit hit or miss as you attempt to see some of the best of the imaginations of the art community that is assembled here every year now for 6 years. The sheer amount of art that invades the downtown area is overwhelming. And the crowds can be as crazy as the art. One man was parading around in his outfit made up of at least a 100 neckties. He said he enjoys attention. Really.

I am always impressed with the time the artists devote to their work--such a labor of love, often for little reward. One woman worked on a 9-room miniature castle for more than 21 years. All the tiny candles and lamps in the castle were electrified. And she didn't win a thing.

Ryan Spencer Reed documented one army battalion, through training and deployment to Afghanistan, over a period of two-and-a-half years in order to compile the many images and sounds that comprised his entry, also at the GRAM. His work was one of the finalists.

There are always a few pencil drawings. This year the 900-hour work "Gabriella (a finalist) impressed me:

 

Not a great photo but Google Armin Mersmann for more info.

So this year I spent just two sunny Sunday afternoons walking around in and out of venues in downtown Grand Rapids. Sometimes the things you see along the way, including a new-to-me gourmet pasta shop, or just yesterday--entering the old shared bank/hotel vault in the basement of the Morton House, not generally on public tour and soon to be renovated--are all part of the adventure. The vault was also part of a time-based art prize entry incorporating live dance, which I didn't entirely understand.

The old vault door

There always seems to be some "junk sculptures" (one was made entirely of brass instruments--I have a few of those) which make me think that I could make some art out of out of things in my basement! But they are fun and imaginative and I am not. And where would I display them?

And of course, a break at Founders--sitting outside under a heater to keep us toasty in the October breezes, with a beer and a shared Reuben sandwich--sure beats sittin' home watching football with the husband.

Founders was a venue too, with a church member's entry hanging from the ceiling just inside this door. A 35 million dollar expansion plan has just been announced for this popular "beer city" spot.

My fantasy football team did pretty spectacularly without me, even though I missed the Thursday deadline to bench an injured running back. I will win once again, probably remaining in second place. But the husband has had two of the most phenomenal weeks in fantasy-land and may soon rise to the top of the league. It could get ugly here. He is now becoming that obnoxious winner that I was accused of being last year!

Anyway, back to Art Prize. It is all available to see on-line if anyone cares and so what photos I take (perhaps badly) are really not important--but I share here a tiny sample of what I saw. I also made it a point of seeing the entries of a few friends. The husband's golfing buddy had an entry:

One figure in a large installation, this one representing a teacher

An impressive and enormous oil painting (again bad photo and light) "Autumn's Passage" by the Dutch-born Frits Hoendervanger was another finalist:

We spoke at length with the creator of this sculpture which I read will be bought for a Ripley's Believe It or Not, every part of which was made from the nests of the yellow jacket--is that a hornet? The artist has named each carefully crafted face. She collects the nests after they are vacated!

If you have the time, going to Art Prize with friends is a fun (and exhausting) free experience. The chance to meet the artists and discuss how they accomplished their work is a bonus. All the voting? I leave that to others.