Beginning its 2nd year, ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, Michigan will host the largest publicly juried art event in the world. In 2009 1,262 artists participated in 159 venues. Forty one states and 14 countries were represented; 200,000 visitors attended over the 16 days of the event.
The promotional poster features color overlays of Alexander Calder’s La Grand Vitesse, a prominent art fixture in Grand Rapids. This sculpture is notable for being the first public work of art in the United States to be funded with federal monies. (Additional public art in GR includes Maya Lin, Robert Morris, Mark di Suvero, and others). As Michigan’s economy struggles, Grand Rapids is reinventing itself as a center for Health Care and art.
ArtPrize 2010 is expected to surpass 2009 in artists, venues, as well as attendance. Dates are September 22 – October 10. Could a renaissance of sorts be underway in America’s heartland?
Just another example of something Found
This week’s content contributed by John Kennedy, CMG
