cbscreative
09-12-2013, 04:18 PM
The new thread about Where in the world are you? got me thinking I'm in the best place to be, especially right now. Next Wednesday begins the world's largest art award event for the 5th year and it quickly became my favorite event of the year. Prior to ArtPrize in 2009, the largest award was $75k and ArtPrize has a first place award of nearly a quarter million. This draws international artists and turns our entire downtown into an art venue. The really unique feature is that the winner is chosen not by art snobs but public vote.
Even if you have only a casual interest in art, the energy created by this atmosphere involving about 1500 artists and hundreds of thousands of visitors during the 19 day event will refresh your spirit. Large crowds are not my favorite thing, but I still would never want to miss ArtPrize. It is hands down th best time to be in Grand Rapids.
You're not just looking at art either. Because it's a contest with everyone wanting to win, the artists are on site with their works. It's easy to get caught up in talking to them and have less time to see the other works (no way could you do it in one day) but they are fascinating to talk to. One thing that especially impacts the participating artists who are not from this area is the kind of community Grand Rapids is. It is exceptionally friendly especially for a city of this size. And we love art. I've talked to a lot of artists who have been floored by their experience here.
If you are anywhere near Grand Rapids, or can be, between Sept 18 and Oct 6, I assure you that the experience will astound you. Let me know and I can recommend the best places to eat. Oh yeah, GR is growing exponentially in food variety and in the early stages of rivaling Chicago or NY. Professional chefs are beginning to be able to make a good living here now because more and more people are discovering there's more to life than burgers and pizza (but we have the best of those too).
Find out more about ArtPrize (http://www.artprize.org) and I hope you can be here to experience it.
Even if you have only a casual interest in art, the energy created by this atmosphere involving about 1500 artists and hundreds of thousands of visitors during the 19 day event will refresh your spirit. Large crowds are not my favorite thing, but I still would never want to miss ArtPrize. It is hands down th best time to be in Grand Rapids.
You're not just looking at art either. Because it's a contest with everyone wanting to win, the artists are on site with their works. It's easy to get caught up in talking to them and have less time to see the other works (no way could you do it in one day) but they are fascinating to talk to. One thing that especially impacts the participating artists who are not from this area is the kind of community Grand Rapids is. It is exceptionally friendly especially for a city of this size. And we love art. I've talked to a lot of artists who have been floored by their experience here.
If you are anywhere near Grand Rapids, or can be, between Sept 18 and Oct 6, I assure you that the experience will astound you. Let me know and I can recommend the best places to eat. Oh yeah, GR is growing exponentially in food variety and in the early stages of rivaling Chicago or NY. Professional chefs are beginning to be able to make a good living here now because more and more people are discovering there's more to life than burgers and pizza (but we have the best of those too).
Find out more about ArtPrize (http://www.artprize.org) and I hope you can be here to experience it.