After a two year hiatus, ArtPrize swooped back in to Grand Rapids.  

  It feels different from other years.  Smaller.  More crafty.  Lots of Michigan artists.  Fun but not so many “wows” as I recall 

I enjoyed what I saw none-the-less. I hope this is the beginning of a good run for the massive art extravaganza.  For blog posts about earlier Art Prizes, here are a few links.  

ArtPrize: Just what do you say when faced with 1700 works of art?

Making My Way Through ArtPrize

ArtPrize moves into the last week

There are lots more.  Just do a search in the box on the right hand side of this blog.

AS always there are some big eye catching statues.  The Tin Man on the corner of Monroe and Pearl will probably be most Instagrammed.    Makes you feel good.  I personally liked the huge Mouse at the Grand Rapids Public Museum.  Very creative.  I hope it lands a permanent spot.  

Speaking of the Public Museum, I loved the temporary faces installation that reminded me of ArtPrize efforts in the past.  When I was there the artists were still installing their images in the former student garden.  Loved watching their effort.  

These pieces are temporary.  To be enjoyed and then washed away in the rain.  This is like Rangoli in India.   

I also loved the colorful birdhouses with recording devices so you can talk to them.  I think this would be fun for the children on the tour.  

I observed that like other years many of the ArtPrize, art installations promote causes.  Here are a few: Red Glasses,  We Can’t Wait, and the huge graphic DisArt drawings on the four walls of the GRAM.  

https://redglassesmovement.org

DisArt

We Can’t Wait

My personal favorite is a wonderful display of dresses (remember I was once a Fashion Reporter) of made from Dictionaries in the lobby of the Amway Grand Plaza.  This is a local project.  The artist is a photographer in my Camera Club.  I am enthralled with her work.  

Also in the Amway lobby I got a kick out of the mermaid made with silverware and thought the horses from wire to be stunning.  The Mermaid offered fun opportunities for the photographer.  

I found an exhibit in the J.W. Marriott lobby of the soldiers killed on the last days of Afghanistan to be poignant.  Gut-wrenching.  

I have had an especially busy week so I didn’t get to many of the farther away sites but I did enjoy this one at the Downtown Market.  Don’t miss it if you go there.   

I noted lots of emphasis on outdoor exhibits.  UICA featured huge orange balls. I thought the dinosaurs near the Calder Plaza were fun.  I laughed at the phone booth on the Blue Bridge.  

Even cars got decorated this year.  

This guy in a store front on Monroe made me laugh.  I feel this way some days.

Some installations were just doggone pretty like a detail of  the plastic garden (recycled plastic, of course) in the Amway Grand Plaza Lobby.