Taking A Peek At ArtPrize

Jane Stroschin sits among "Kindness – Newaygo County"

Story and photos By Marianne Boerigter

On a quick trip to Grand Rapids last week, I wanted to stop and take in at least a part of ArtPrize before the venues closed for the night.  I stopped at the home of ArtPrize entry "Kindness – Newaygo County", at the City Water Building by the Richard App Gallery, located at 1101 Monroe Avenue near Leonard, and was pleasantly surprised by not only the number of artists showing there, but also the variety of work at this venue, which is on the northern fringe of ArtPrize.

The City Water Building is a venue that has been re-purposed for ArtPrize and is full of nooks and crannies, small rooms and big spaces.  With 34 artists at this venue, it is well worth stopping off during your ArtPrize visit.  Two pieces at this venue are on the ArtPrize jurors short list and several others have made the ArtPrize top 100 through the public vote.  

The entries at this venue that made the top of my "wow that is interesting" list were:
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1. "Kindness – Newaygo County" – Ok, so of course this one is at the top of my list - a collaborative project with artist Jane Stroschin, NCRESA, Spectrum Health and NCCA-Artsplace. The project is a community effort to make kindness more common.  The collaborative multimedia exhibit features six panels of acrylic paintings, each panel 8 feet wide by 4 feet tall and depicting various shoes, arrayed around letter blocks that spell out “Walk a mile in my shoes.” The multimedia installation includes a brief documentary with searing and heartbreaking testimony from victims of bullying, as well as dozens of individual pairs of shoes donated by families and individuals throughout Newaygo County, artfully decorated by Newaygo County students.  
2. “Autism: A Visual Journey” - is 3,650 collages created during the ten years that followed the diagnosis of autism of the artist's daughter. This 100-foot-long art installation by artist Ann Vencenti-Michelma is beautiful, intricate and powerful.  
3. "The Presidents' Rug" – a 10' in diameter piece of artwork made of plastic toy soldiers and paint on wood by artist Larry Thompson. "The Presidents' Rug" is modeled after rugs designed for the Oval Office.  At first glance the toy soldiers are not noticeable on this piece, but the closer you are, you realize their presence.  
4. "Autumn Waterfall" – an encaustic wax art piece by artist Theresa Dark that is strikingly colorful.  
5. "Mr. E" – you may know Kevin Kammeraad from his books and puppetry…well Mr. E is one of his characters and he has made a whole room for you to step into and so you can be in Mr. E's world. Click on his name to watch a short video of this imaginative installation.

The first floor of the building Richard App Gallery is also featuring work from a variety of artists, including singer/songwriter and now woodworker/artist, Drew Nelson.  His small tables are chunky, thick and all have a cool factor to them.

On my next trip down to Artprize, San Chez Bistro will be one of the stops to check out Newaygo photographer Mark Andrews' display "People Places and Things of Old Havana, Cuba".  His collection of photos from his travels to Cuba capture pieces of everyday life on this interesting island.

Take a day, take a few hours, or even a few minutes to experience ArtPrize in Grand Rapids.  Soak in whatever amount you can and enjoy the creative atmosphere of ArtPrize!

ArtPrize runs through October 8 with venues throughout the  downtown Grand Rapids area and beyond. For more information you can go to http://www.artprize.org/ or visit their facebook page.