My very own “Artprize”

Today will mark the final day of voting for Artprize, the giant art contest that has taken over Grand Rapids for the last couple weeks. It was an experiment that went very, very right, destined to become a fixture in GR.

We have made the trip downtown to look at artwork a few times with the kids, which they thoroughly enjoyed. They both had their favorites…Parker liked the “dragon”, which is a huge Loch Ness Monster made out of styrofoam and plunked in the Grand River. Madi was a fan of the giant portraits made out of thousands of colored pushpins and the mosaic mural on the side of the children’s museum.

While I was also pretty partial to the pushpin portraits, there were some less flashy works that were equally stunning, like the entry made up of dozens of beautifully crafted journal pages, each with a thought-provoking statement…or the bench made out of many different pieces of reclaimed wood, each a different shade and shape.

One of the wonderful things about it, at least for our family, was having the opportunity to expose our kids to so many diverse means of creative expression. They might not want to trot around a traditional art gallery, but they were intrigued with the giant balloon sculptures and the life sized moose made out of nails.

It was also great to see so many people in downtown Grand Rapids. I have never seen that many people wandering the streets, ducking into storefronts to look at the art displayed there, eating at the downtown restaurants…all very good for GR.

Last weekend, we went down to the Artprize headquarters where a few of the top ten entries were located. It was absolutely jammed. I knew it would be busy, but not squeeze yourself through the crowd, hang on to your kids for dear life kind of busy. We looked at the painting of open water, the helmets made out of jasmine rice, and the infamous pushpin portrait. The artist’s wife was there with him, greeting the crowds, and as Madi and I looked at it, she leaned down and said to Madi, “Do you recognize who is in the picture?” (It was her.) Madi looked up at her, not answering, but that was one of the things she remembered later…probably why that was her top pick.

But my absolute favorite Artprize moment was when I was carrying Fiona in my sling through one of the venues. People always give us a second look when I am carrying her in the sling, since she is all snuggled up next to me, and then they usually smile at us. (This is just a little awkward, because I never know if I should just walk around with a perpetual grin on my face or ignore it.) Anyways, we were making our way through the exhibits, and we round a corner to come face to face with an older couple. The man looks at Fiona, then up at me, and says…

“Now THAT is a work of art…”

So true…a beautiful creation, made by the most talented Artist around…my very own “artprize”…

— Post From My iPhone