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Thursday, October 4, 2012

ArtPrize

Every year the city of Grand Rapids is the site of the biggest art competition in the country.  It's going on right now and I have to warn you that I have lots of pictures to share with you.
This year there were 1517 entries, set up at 161 venues, covering 3 square miles.  Artists come from all over the world to take part in this.
It runs from September 19 to October 7, and I've been there 3 times during that period.  It means lots of walking, but it sure is fun!


This is one of the outside venues that had a lot of entries.  Look at all the people!


Here's a few of the entries that I liked, that didn't make the top 10.
This was a favorite, especially for the kids.  Each bone was individually crafted and then put together.


 I really like this fountain.  It's called Living Water.


Simply amazing quilts!  This is a set of 4, depicting the 4 seasons.


This one was titled "Friends".  It's one that just makes me happy!


This was made of junk.  When the artist pushed a button, the wheel turned and the bells made music.  It was playing Ode to Joy when we were there.


 The Davidson family - made of Harley Davidson pieces.


This was a display of a bunch of little monsters - but they were cute monsters.


This picture was made of dryer lint!  It wasn't colored in any way, just used as it came from the dryer.  It's been purchased by the Ripleys people and will go into one of their museums.


Penguins splashing in the fountains!  This is another favorite.


I thought this was really neat.  The artist took populations of different cities and graphed their population changes over the last 20 years.  He then blew a glass shape to correspond.  They were all hanging in a row and most were pretty stable as you can see by the ones on the side.  The center one is Houston.  Hootin' Anni - thought you would appreciate that!


Nice dragon!



"Impressions"  This is like the toys with the metal pins that you can make impressions with, but on a much larger scale.  There were a brother and sister leaning into the pins from the other side, to make this impression.


You see the mosaic picture on the left.  The close up on the right shows what it's made of - Jelly Bellies!


This wood carving is titled Lifted.  It's from Psalm 40:2 - "He lifted me from the slimy pit, out of the mud and the mire.  He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand."


This was an old man and woman fishing, made completely of metal.


A bigger than life wooden gnome.


This was made of a whole bunch of framed pictures.   Each had the same picture of a little boy sitting on the bottom, but the background was the different and when it was all put together you could see the picture of the man.

There are so many more pictures I could share, but it would be the longest post ever!
Next week I'll share the top ten and the winner.

24 comments:

Just Mom said...

Hmmm.... I should start saving my dryer lint. ;-)

I love when you share the artwork that was on display at ArtPrize. .

sara said...

oh my word, that is so cool..all of them!!! the dryer line, the jelly beans, the picture frames....I just can't believe how creative people are. I wish I had known of this when I lived in south bend, I would love to see all of it!

Connie said...

Thanks for the tour........Great pictures.

Sadie said...

I always LOVE these posts! I am not into art, but this is FUN art! What a neat place to go! LOVE the lifted one!

Kari said...

i love these kinds of art shows. There are some seriously cool stuff there. no wonder you've been 3 times. looks like a lot of fun.

thanks for sharing.

Life and Breath and Everything Else said...

I wish I was there and could walk through this art show. It looks incredibly fun!

Are We There Yet! said...

Oh what fun crafts!! I love the water fountain but they are all great.

Unknown said...

Oh my goodness. This is incredible! I want to come and see the art. So fantastic! WOW! Each new item was my favorite : ) Totally smitten with the jelly belly art!

Penny said...

Wow, how cool!! You live in such an awesome place with so many neat things nearby!

Pat said...

Just one more great reason to visit Grand Rapids!
How about I meet you in Marshall next year for the home tour, then we'll meet again in GR for this art show! LOL!

Brooke said...

love it!! similar time frame to the GR marathon...maybe i'll have to come up for an extended vacation :)

Vicki said...

WOW!! I would LOVE to visit grand Rapids during the are competition!! Love this kind of stuff.

I'll be back to see the top 10 and winner.

Thanks for sharing!

Betty W said...

Amazing!! And these didn't even win! I love the quilts, they looked like a LOT of work!
I remember you doing a similar post last year and loved that one too. You are lucky to be able to go to this spectacular exhibition!

Hootin Anni said...

Oh my goodness Mari.....Mari, this is one super share. What a day that musta been!!! I probably would have spent hours and hours there, just marveling. My goodness what fantasy, what imagination, what talent!!! To think that work of art came from dyer lint! I think, tho, my favorites would have to be the "Lifted" and the dinosaur. This was a thrill....and mentioning of Houston and Hootin' Anni....that brought my attention quickly. You're sweet to think of me.

Hope your week has a been a good one. You certainly made MY day!!!

Betsy Brock said...

wow...those are just amazing! I forgot they weren't in the top ten until you said that at the end! haha...really? I can't imagine there are others neater than these!

Unknown said...

Thanks Mari, I didn't get down there this year, so enjoyed this post.

Mari said...

I went there last Saturday and passed on by...way too crowded for this chicky. I'll enjoy your pics instead! Thanks for sharing!

Jean said...

Incredible!!! Such creativity! I look forward to seeing the top ten!

Anonymous said...

That looks fun and I enjoyed seeing your photos. John and my brother visited the Ronald Reagan Library and there is a jelly bean photo of Reagan!

Jenny said...

I was hoping for more pictures! I always enjoy when you come back from this event, Mari.

Brenda said...

Dryer lint art--who would've thought. Although I have heard of making a type of play-dough using it.
The quilts were beautiful.
Amazing the talents people have, just wish God would get more of the glory for them. Just sayin'.

LL Cool Joe said...

Oh wow I love all this amazing art! My mother-in-law is penguin mad so she'd love the fountain one. I love the monsters holding the garden gnome! :D

Marsha Young said...

That is amazing - and fascinating, too! thanks for sharing.

Marianne (Mare) Baker Ball said...

Love the Lifted sculpture. So many amazing pieces though...