Art Prize 2010

An amazing free event is going on right now in Grand Rapids, MI. It's called Art Prize and it has invaded the city like nothing I've ever seen before. As you stroll around town, I guarantee that there are many, many people there that have NEVER gone to any type of art event ever. It is getting the average Joe interested in art rather than just having the usual artists and art lovers attend.  People of all ages were swarming over the city.

It has been compared to American Idol because the viewers vote on the "winners". This means that the most "artistic" piece might not make it to the top but the most "appealing or impactful" piece might. That's ok with me because we get to enjoy it all. With over 1300 entries, the work is up all over the downtown area. If you can get there before it all comes down on October 10, do so. You won't be disappointed.

Here are pictures that I took of some of my favorites. I'm sorry that I didn't make note of the names of the artists or the titles of their pieces.  Lots to show you so this will be a long post!

This was my favorite of everything that I saw.  It made it into the Top 25 but not the Top 10 so it is out of the money.  Can you tell what it is made out of?  The artist, from Olympia, WA is a fiber artist.  The entire, ginormous piece is felt!



A close up of the piece. 



A full size coffin made out of thousands of cigarette butts.  Notice the cigar handles.

This artist made the Top 10 last year with his entry of a moose.  This year he also made the Top 10 with a savanna scene.  There is a lioness and her cubs outside the picture.  It is all made from welded nails.  I liked the moose better.

I can't believe that I got a picture of this with only one viewer blocking the the work.  Usually there were so many people in front of this you had to wait your turn to get close.  This entire piece, picturing a WW1 Calvary troop, was drawn with a pencil.  The sheer size of it is impressive and the drawing skills required are substantial.  However, by the 20th guy, I'd have thought the artist would be wondering when this thing would be finished!  This is in the Top 10.

A close up.

I find it odd that with my love of color, some of my favorites were done with only black pencil.  This elephant made me laugh.  I stood in front of it quite a long time.  Notice the sneakers, the belt, the hair pick, the bling, the hat, the expression.

Creepy huh? 

These guys were either getting ready to jump the little rabbit and have him for dinner or were very intent on protecting him.

This is a Top 10 piece.  Huge, impressive, all made from glass.

A close up.

Also a Top 10 piece.  This artist is from Florida and obviously used local materials.  This was a commentary on the BP oil disaster and the fragility of the life cycle. 

Here it is in its entirety.  Can you see the wonderful things emerging from the branches?  A turtle, fish, coral and other water life on the bottom and land animals as you work toward the top.

I'd like to be able to paint in this style.  This artist set up a working studio so that people could watch him paint.

This was titled "The Gatherer".  I'm not sure why I liked this one as he certainly isn't pretty but it has lots of emotion.  This was created by Brent Harris of Kalamazoo.

If you'd like more information you can go to ArtPrize.  Also, here are my write ups on last year's inaugural event, ArtPrize 2009 and ArtPrize Quiz and Grand Prize Winner.  The Quiz is a fun lesson on using everyday materials in different ways:  always a good topic for me! 

Lorrie