Locations mentioned:
- Amway Grand Plaza Hotel
- Grand Rapids Art Museum
- Gerald R. Ford Museum, Ah-Nab-Awen Park
- Blue Bridge
- Grand Rapids African American Museum
ArtPrize is the egalitarian dream of the art community.
Grand Rapids is a large city in Michigan touring with art critics on any available slab of sidewalk, square of grass, or art deco style building that lines the streets during the fall months. Art is encouraged to be exhibited by anyone internationally. The critics can be average joe citizens. The prize is the largest in the world. The creator of ArtPrize, Rick Devos, is from Ada, Michigan. The Lucas Howard Group of Keller Williams is based in Ada, Michigan. It’s hard to imagine that someone from our very own city could create an event that would catalyst into being world-renowned.
ArtPrize originally began as a social experiment in 2009 to see if the public would engage and vote for artists’ work in a city wide competition. This year, they are expanding into towns slightly outside of Grand Rapids. It seems as though ArtPrize one-ups itself annually, which is why it has shifted from an experiment to an institution. Grand Rapids doesn’t compare in size to New York or even Detroit, but It can still be intimidating to navigate the hotspots worth seeing through the jungle of beige neoclassic buildings, and the many outdoor spaces that exhibit art for the contestants. Here is a compiled list if you want to know the must-see locations to view during the competition, and how to find your way around:
1. Amway Grand Plaza Hotel
187 Monroe Ave NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, indoors and outdoors, face masks reccomended
The sheer interior beauty of the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel itself will blow you away, let alone its art installments during ArtPrize. Visiting grandee and affluent business folks were the most common types of people to congregate the hotel when it was first built. Richard M. DeVos co-founded this luxurious hotel in the heart of Grand Rapids renaming it from “The Pantlind Hotel”, and it is a member of the Historic Hotels of America. When you walk through the doors into the lobby, it will be hard to not notice the immense Czechoslovakian chandeliers adorned with sparkling Austrian crystal hanging from the ceiling to your right. The ceiling is a dome form covered in the largest gold-leaf material wallpaper in the United States. On the back wall behind the chandelier is a wooden sun-burst crafted in Venice, Italy. During ArtPrize, contestants usually integrate their art around the historically opulent interior elements.
A portrait of Abraham Lincoln made out of 24,000 pennies made its way into the Amway lobby, and won a public grand prize in 2017. This year, a gazebo is being installed around the circumference of the round seating area that normally has a fountain and flowers in the center of it. The blown plastic that hangs in the display will compliment the hand-blown glass of the crystal chandelier overhead.
There are several floors and shops to explore within the hotel. Some shops in the hotel will be selling ArtPrize merchandise. The Amway Grand Plaza is a short walk from the Blue Bridge in the heart of the city, and there are lots of outdoor displays on the way to the hotel.
3. Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM)
101 Monroe Center St NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, outdoors
Rosa Parks Circle is located right in front of this museum, but unfortunately, they won’t be displaying any entries this year due to construction. The good news is that the Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM) will still have an outdoors only ArtPrize Installation and does not require museum admission. Correspondingly, The Grand Rapids Public Museum will have 22 sculptures installed onto its grounds in an outdoor exhibit.
GRAM usually opens its sleek modern gallery space exclusively for ArtPrize exhibitions, but the experience of the Covid-19 pandemic has it looking a little different. The difference in this year’s ArtPrize will be heavily symbolized in the collaborative piece that GRAM is putting up along all four sides of its building. Oaklee Thiel and Disart, a GR-based disability art organization, started the My Dearest Friend project in early 2020. Disabled people were encouraged through an Instagram post to share what their experience was like living through the pandemic. This work highlights the themes of marginalization and quarantine on the black and white banners of artwork. The goal of the project is to work towards dismantling ableism.
4. Gerald R. Ford Museum/ Ah-Nab-Awen Park
303 Pearl St NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49504, 220 Front Ave NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49504, outdoors
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum will be closed to the public inside, but many outdoor artworks will be displayed. Normally, you would be able to learn about President Gerald R. Ford, shop a pop-up shop of ArtPrize merchandise, and even watch video based entries in the cinema for free. The outdoor experience around the museum has always been spectacular, so it’s still worth visiting this location. Stretching right beside the Gerald R. Ford Museum is the Ah-Nab-Awen Park on the bank of the Grand River. You can see sculptures that are mainly nature themed around the Ford Museum. The park is hosting a 3D piece called Project Unity which will symbolize the contrast between digital media and natural landscaping.
5. Blue Bridge
near 954 Fulton St E, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, outdoors
The Blue Bridge is an icon of Grand Rapids. The bridge connects the center of the city on the east side to the Grand Rapids Public Museum. In past ArtPrizes, there have been artists who construct their pieces in the water for people to look down on. Artists are also allowed to stand their pieces right on the street of the bridge. For example, there is an installation of a phone booth named “Before You Go” in which spectators walk into to hear audio clips this year.
6. Grand Rapids African American Museum & Archives (GRAAMA)
87 Monroe Center St NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, indoors
If you’re interested in African American-focused art, history, and culture then the Grand Rapids African American Museum and Archives (GRAAMA) is worth seeing. The GRAAMA museum is the perfect location to see culturally diverse art that centers on it. Their displays are usually only community-based memorabilia and artifacts, but during ArtPrize, they accept international entries. They won ArtPrize’s most outstanding venue, and despite their small size, they still maintain their dominant position. Five black artists have entered to host at Gramma with their mixed media masterpieces. This year’s GRAAMA artist statements are very educational on the subject of anthropology.