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ArtPrize and Project 1 - Grand Rapids


GRDadof3

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Let me say that this is a BIIIIGGGG deal!

How big? Not sure, yet. But it is big!!!

How fast does news travel these days? Well, I have two buddies that live in NYC who have artists in their families. I have received 3 emails already about where to stay in Grand Rapids WHEN THEY COME HERE!!!! They have never been to Michigan, much less the midwest! They told me that the artist community in NYC is absolutely buzzing about this thing. And I quote his email:"...the blogs are blowing up out here! Are you serious: 250K for first place?!"

It is 9:23 am as I write this and already it has made it to the East Coast. I am not by any means connected to the arts community. The fact that I am receiving emails about this is just crazy... and, for that matter, pretty cool!

Yeah, this is an awesome thing! If you work downtown, this is going to be a great thing to get involved in! I am sure that there are some that wanted some bricks and mortar. But this is so much cooler!

Way to go, Rick. And good luck! You actually surprised me today!

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.......ArtPrize, eh? OK then. Sounds interesting. Could be fun. I like the feel of a citywide event that gets people out and about and visiting different parts of town. It could become the midwestern, small town, family values version of Burning Man. I'm looking forward to it. Rock on.

:thumbsup:

Burning Man passed through my mind while listening to the announcement too. I like the de-professionalization of the judging process. Encourages active participation by all.

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I was at the press conference and the idea is awesome! Imagine a 3 square mile area of downtown as one giant canvas for 2 1/2 weeks. Otterness meets Burning Man meets Rothbury. The river, rooftops, over streets, sides of buildings, in lobbies of office buildings, the skywalk, parks, sidewalks, plazas, you name it. And any kind of art: performing, sculpture, paint, giant toasters made of ice (Rick's example), etc.. And imagine the scale of some of the entries with artists being given this kind of canvas to do basically whatever they want. And then citizens texting their votes in for their favorites.

It was totally not what I expected, but it blew my expectations out of the water. Apparently this is the largest art contest "purse" in the world, and invitations have already gone out to 1000's of artists groups around the world. Sweet!

*Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with this project at all, so my excitement is genuine. :)

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I was at the press conference and the idea is awesome! Imagine a 3 square mile area of downtown as one giant canvas for 2 1/2 weeks. Otterness meets Burning Man meets Rothbury. The river, rooftops, over streets, sides of buildings, in lobbies of office buildings, the skywalk, parks, sidewalks, plazas, you name it. And any kind of art: performing, sculpture, paint, giant toasters made of ice (Rick's example), etc.. And imagine the scale of some of the entries with artists being given this kind of canvas to do basically whatever they want. And then citizens texting their votes in for their favorites.

It was totally not what I expected, but it blew my expectations out of the water. Apparently this is the largest art contest "purse" in the world, and invitations have already gone out to 1000's of artists groups around the world. Sweet!

*Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with this project at all, so my excitement is genuine. :)

I'm not "artsy" either, but I do LOVE people downtown so this excites me too.

Question, do you need to typically have a "permit/license" of sorts to perform on the streets like in some cities? If so, I wonder if that's going to be waived during this

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Let me say that this is a BIIIIGGGG deal!

How big? Not sure, yet. But it is big!!!

How fast does news travel these days? Well, I have two buddies that live in NYC who have artists in their families. I have received 3 emails already about where to stay in Grand Rapids WHEN THEY COME HERE!!!! They have never been to Michigan, much less the midwest! They told me that the artist community in NYC is absolutely buzzing about this thing. And I quote his email:"...the blogs are blowing up out here! Are you serious: 250K for first place?!"

It is 9:23 am as I write this and already it has made it to the East Coast. I am not by any means connected to the arts community. The fact that I am receiving emails about this is just crazy... and, for that matter, pretty cool!

Yeah, this is an awesome thing! If you work downtown, this is going to be a great thing to get involved in! I am sure that there are some that wanted some bricks and mortar. But this is so much cooler!

Way to go, Rick. And good luck! You actually surprised me today!

There have been a number of times where I can't help thinking that you're a PR plant. I know there are a couple of folks on here that post about their stuff anonymously and I always thought you were one of them. But you got the number wrong so I guess you must be legit. I looked for five minutes and couldn't find a single blog entry from outside of the region, nothing on twitter either. I don't get it.

For my money, this is a cool little project but I can't see it being any more meaningful to the local economy than any of the other events we have. Maybe it'll raise awareness among the artistic community, but I think it'd be in the way that Herman Miller raises awareness of Zeeland. There was actually an international sculpture festival here last fall, anyone remember that?

I really wonder how Festival of the Arts is looking at this. I have a hard time seeing how another major arts event could be a good thing for them.

Edited by DSchoon
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There have been a number of times where I can't help thinking that you're a PR plant. I know there are a couple of folks on here that post about their stuff anonymously and I always thought you were one of them. But you got the number wrong so I guess you must be legit. I looked for five minutes and couldn't find a single blog entry from outside of the region, nothing on twitter either. I don't get it.

For my money, this is a cool little project but I can't see it being any more meaningful to the local economy than any of the other events we have. Maybe it'll raise awareness among the artistic community, but I think it'd be in the way that Herman Miller raises awareness of Zeeland. There was actually an international sculpture festival here last fall, anyone remember that?

I really wonder how Festival of the Arts is looking at this. I have a hard time seeing how another major arts event could be a good thing for them.

Dude, I am the farthest from a PR plant, but I appreciate that I may sometimes get ahead of myself... :thumbsup:

I don't blog, either. However, apparently there were people out east who were sent invitations? Looking at an article on line, looks like they sent over 1000 invitations to artists coinciding with their announcement.

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For my money, this is a cool little project but I can't see it being any more meaningful to the local economy than any of the other events we have. Maybe it'll raise awareness among the artistic community, but I think it'd be in the way that Herman Miller raises awareness of Zeeland.

Perfect summary. Will be fun, but so were the giant fish a few years back.

I would just also add that for a project about "public art" and involving more people, this announcement was done with little actual involvement of the "public" -- with the exception of the typical old white guy crowd. Hope the rest of the community isn't turned off as a result.

The families who will benefit the most and should be the most excited are working or in school. Bad execution.

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But why hold it so late in the season? Why not late July?

Why not hold it in conjunction with Festival?

When are they planning on holding it? I have not read that yet...

The contest runs from September 23 though October 10

I'd like to know why they picked Leonard, College, Wealthy and Straight/Alpine for the boundaries. I'd like to submit my front yard as a venue, but I don't quite fit...

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But why hold it so late in the season? Why not late July?

Why not hold it in conjunction with Festival?

When are they planning on holding it? I have not read that yet...

I read it from the WZZM story.

Organizers of the first ArtPrize art competition hope to receive thousands of entries vying for more than $400,000 in total prize money, including the top prize of $250,000. The event will run from Sept. 23 through Oct. 10 at perhaps hundreds of venues throughout a three-square-mile area of downtown Grand Rapids.

A pretty lousy time for something that will need lots of people outdoors to participate in some of it. Could be warm still. Could also be in the 50s and rain.

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Ok, biggest art prize in the world is nice. I'll even brush off the old oil paint and give it a go.

But why hold it so late in the season? Why not late July?

Why not hold it in conjunction with Festival?

I'll give it a go at some answers (without any background knowledge, mind you)...

But why hold it so late in the season? Why not late July? - I'd rather hoof it around the concrete city to view art on a September day than a July day. Plus, West Michigan is awesome in the fall (don't get me wrong, Summer too). And don't forget Pulaski Days the first week of October. Now if that doesn't make an impression on an out-of-towner, I mean come on.

Why not hold it in conjunction with Festival? - Two different events. This is new, it wants its own identity. Let's spread the attractions out. Someone visits for this and we tell them, "Hey if you like this you should come back for our Festival of the Arts next Summer." Plus this event will probably be a little more clown-free than Festival - and I'm not just talking about the face-painted type.

That's just my two-cents. I can't even guarantee I'll attend this shindig but I like the idea.

Edited by wingbert
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I read it from the WZZM story.

A pretty lousy time for something that will need lots of people outdoors to participate in some of it. Could be warm still. Could also be in the 50s and rain.

I actually that is a great time to do it -- late Sept/early October is usually awesome in West Michigan.

If anything, it seems a week too short, actually.

Edited by 201test
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If this event is really as big we are projecting it in our imaginations, are we going to have the space to hold all of these people? I know we have new hotels planned. Hopefully this get the gears rolling on those projects. I guess if we do not have enough, I will be renting out that extra room in my house--I wonder if he had this in his mind when he was talking about connecting technology, entrepreneurs, and art.

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...Question, do you need to typically have a "permit/license" of sorts to perform on the streets like in some cities? If so, I wonder if that's going to be waived during this

Veloise the Oracle (and erstwhile street performer) knows the answer: You do not.

For a while the Planning dept/DDA was looking to develop an ordinance. Presently there's no permit, no requirements, no auditions. (Hence Bad Sax Guy #1 ... #n, Bad Blues Guitar Guy, Classical Violinist with the Amp, et al) This goes for DT and other areas/events. Yes, it's permissible to bring a euphonium to a street demonstration and play stuff on it.

The only caveat: if someone complains, you need to move/change/dial it down. (I guess it might depend on who does the complaining and to whom.)

If Favorite City suddenly sprouted a lot more open horn cases on the sidewalks, code would likely be drafted and enacted fairly quickly.

HTH

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I heard that the city is embracing this event quite openly, except for closing down streets for that long. The main challenge is going to be matching up artists with the venues. As they put it, it's going to be like a dating site at artprize.org, where you register as an artist and as a potential venue.

As far as enough rooms go, there's no way you could get a hotel built in time for this year's event, and barely enough to hit next year's. Plus, you wouldn't build a hotel betting on one big event, unless maybe it were the Olympics.

I can't believe people are comparing this to the fish exhibition downtown. Not even on the same planet. I also see this being completely different from Festival. Festival to me is taking every church singing group, local band, and kids dance troupe and throwing them on stages, mixed with face painting and hot dogs on a stick. It's like an art festival thrown by Mormon's.

Here's a comparison. Alys Beach, Fla is throwing the second annual of what they are calling the "World's First Outdoor Projection Art Festival" this June. They have entries from as far

away as Israel, Austria, Canada, Germany, London, India, France, Italy and China. Best of show is $2500, with $6500 total in prizes. Now multiply that by 10.

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=alys+be...;fp=RgodfiivdiU

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Just out of curiosity, anyone think they did any number studies to see what this event will bring to the table? When I heard Dunlap and his talk about young people, I was struck by his language. This goes for both Devoses and son. Almost like they know from a numbers standpoint what this will do for the city and metro area. That might help explain why there was a private meeting with local business people earlier this morning.

Edited by Rizzo
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