Last Friday, the 24th, was my day to fully experience Art Prize. I decided to be a responsible citizen and park my car at the nearest Meijer and take a city bus downtown. Besides being a responsible citizen, it was cheaper to buy a wristband ($5) than to park in a lot ($7.) Wore my Scottevest that had been so handy in Europe and it proved to be handy again today. Inner pocket held my guidebook and (by the end of the day) lots and lots of artwork voting cards. One side pocket held my sandwich & water, another held a banana. And my camera occupied another inside pocket, though I had it out much of the time.
Arrived to find the bus already there so hopped right on. They only come every half hour so I got lucky! Different than the last bus I was on (in Paris) but worked out ok. Got off at the Woman's Club, one of the downtown venues, only to find it didn't open until noon and it was about 11:15. So walked around a bit in the drizzle, not quite enough for an umbrella, and ended up at the UICA (Urban Institute for Contemporary Art) which was another venue. Lots of interesting art there, wish I could post all the pictures. One picture of note was a picture that had been taken by a camera which had HIV-positive blood running past the lens. Not quite sure how they did that one. Ate my sandwich while there and was good to go for a while. Then walked around the area some more, eventually headed back to the Woman's Club and saw quite a few more good pieces of art both 2D and 3D. From there I headed toward the Grand Rapids Art Museum. Saw many neat works there, too - one that stands out there was a collection of rockets made from vintage vacuums and other such items. Steve would have liked that one. Also entered into a drawing to win tickets to the Diana show in November. Keeping my fingers crossed!
Visited several smaller venues and finally made it to the BOB. (Big Old Building) where there were some spectacular 2D and 3D art. One is pictured above, the two mirrored faces. Really liked that one, also the giant steam pig, a dragon, and many more. Also got the chance to play one of the many pianos painted and placed around downtown as an Art Prize entry. Ok, so I only know how to play the cleanup song from preschool teaching. But I still played.
Headed toward the Museums - stopping at the JW Marriott along the way where I saw a mosaic of the seven days of creation made entirely from pieces of crayon. Crossed the river, entered the Grand Rapids Public Museum which was free during Art Prize, a nice touch. Many more exhibits there. Then to the Gerald R. Ford Museum, with some nice exhibits as well. Getting tired by now - and knowing I was tied to bus schedules, decided to start heading for home. Walked back to the Public Museum where there was an ArtPrize shuttle bus. Took that to the bus stop, only to find the bus was already there but the shuttle stop was NOT a bus stop so the bus driver wouldn't let me on. Had to walk a couple of blocks to the nearest bus stop, then wait about a half hour (minus walking time) until the next bus. Made it back home about 6 p.m. Figured at this point I've about a third of the entries, maybe a few more. There are around 1700 all together I believe.
Check out the competition at http://www.artprize.org.
No comments:
Post a Comment