I don’t write about Grand Rapids much and that’s silly because this growing and vibrant metropolitan area has a lot to offer  residents and tourists. 

It’s actually a pretty cool place to live, other than November and March.  I don’t like those months because of the number of gray days, but have learned to live with them or choose those times to escape to sunnier climes. 

I recently realized how interesting Grand Rapids actually is when I took a tour with Caroline Cook, owner of the Grand Rapids Running Tours company.  

Did I have to run?  Nope. Thank heavens.  

The energetic woman with the body of a long distance runner—thin and wirey—says about half of her tours are walking.  The other 50% are divided among running, step aboard bus tours and in house presentations.  The latter are typically at retirement communities and programs like Olli at Aquinas College. 

The topics range from public art and history, architecture, diversity, notable women, churches, and ghosts in the cemeteries. Here’s the link for the complete list.  It is impressive. Grand Rapids Running Tours. 

I met her because I’m a Docent in Training at the Grand Rapids Art Museum and we were offered the opportunity to take one of her tours.  

It was great.  Wildly enthusiastic and full of interesting facts and trivia, Caroline lead us around the downtown area near the GRAM.  

What did we see?  

The newly installed LOVE sculpture by Robert Indiana.  Turns out this “seen everywhere” graphic is actually one of six the artist made.  All others you see around the world are copies or knock offs.  Thanks to the Frey Foundation we have an original.  The design was originally created for a Holiday card for the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in 1965.  It was on a 8 cent postage stamp in 1973.

Not too far from that is a wild piece.  Tall, brilliant blue and wavy, it represents the Grand River. The 33 foot high installation is sponsored by West Michigan Dental Foundation in honor of fact that Grand Rapids was the first city to have fluoridated water. This was in 1945.  Kinda funny, actually, but the sculpture is cool and perfectly situated right by the Grand River across from the Grand Rapids Public Museum.  

Another interesting sculpture that I have often walked by and not paid any attention to is Rosa Parks standing in front of a bus seat on Monroe kitty-corner from the Amway Grand Plaza.     I think this is curious for two reasons.  Rosa Parks has no connection to Grand Rapids and she’s known for sitting. Instead here she is shown in bronze refusing to give up a seat on a bus to a white man in Montgomery, Ala. in 1959

Evidently the city leaders at the time that Maya Lin was commissioned to create the park in the city  wanted to promote diversity and picked Rosa.  Makes sense. All good. 

Not too far away is our Calder, the logo of the city.  It stands in a large plaza that needs benches, fountains, maybe a playscape and lots of greenery, but stark as it is, us Grand Rapidians love our Calder.   Caroline pointed out the human size Calder replica not too far away.  Admirably it is designed with braille plaques. 

And then there’s the city logo. It has three parts—the Calder, a blue wavey line  to represent the water around us and yellow for sunshine. 

Sunshine? Hah! What’s that all about?

Caroline said she contacted the designer about his choice of sunshine yellow because no one would ever call Michigan the Sunshine State.    He responded that the bright yellow represents the positive attitude that folks in Grand Rapids have.  Hallelujah.

  For more information abut the myriad of tours Caroline Cook offers and details for how you can sign up to join one or organize a group, head to her web site at grandrapidsrunningtours.com.