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ArtPrize and Project 1 - Grand Rapids


GRDadof3

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I think it would be great if building owners along Monroe Center offered short term (1 - 2 month leases) in empty spaces. If we have a lot of people coming to GR, it'd be a good short term opportunity for retail and would add vibrancy to the city. ...

It worked for Super Bowl XL in Dee-troit, and that was essentially a one-week event.

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I think we might see a number of projected art entries. They're more versatile, probably create less liability because they're not attached to the structure, and you can do a multitude of images/performances with them.

I wonder if anyone has pondered doing an entry with the tower cranes? Put a giant dragon fly or bug on top of one of them, looking like it was going to carry it away. Or even uplighting the tower cranes in a synchronized light show. Donate a portion of the winnings (if it wins) to the Children's Hospital.

For those who didn't make it to the townhall meeting, they have it recorded on Ustream:

http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=...dHZf&ref=mf

Despite the crappy quality of the feed, there's a lot of territory covered at that meeting. Great info!

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how many hotel rooms does grand rapids have? This seems like it may be a issue if 500,000 people come here. Even if you count one person, per day, that still equals roughly 35 k per night. I would assume that many people will stay with friends or family and you can get several people in each hotel room but it seems like there will still be a need for 5-10k rooms.

That would be a nice problem for GR to have.

So, of the many projects under construction around town (Children's Hospital, VAI, MSU, Gallery, GR Ford Airport, etc.) which ones will be complete or mostly complete by the time this rolls around? In other words, how's the city going to look to someone visiting?

And hey, remember when the art museum put on the exhibition from the Renaissance artist Perugino a few years ago? If I recall correctly, that drew people from around the country and had long lines of people waiting to get into to the old art museum location in the former post office. So in a way, that does indicate that people will come to GR to see art.

:dontknow:

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  • 2 weeks later...

300 registered artists and counting!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/ArtPrize/736...3890&ref=mf

I love the idea of plotting on a map from where the artists are coming.

I also hear that several groups of artists are forming "collectives" and will do entries that way. I'm really pumped to see what ideas come out of this. Downtown GR will be a crazy buzz for two weeks.

Also, google returns over 45 pages now for "artprize" grand rapids:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%...amp;btnG=Search

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The rules have been changed/updated: http://blog.artprize.org/2009/05/08/offici...-rules-revised/

here's one that tempers my excitement a bit, at least as far as it relates to "the masses" coming to GR to present their work.

People still have to physically be here to vote and if an artist really wants to win, they're gonna be here presenting and competing for attention. This changes little in my opinion.

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The rules have been changed/updated: http://blog.artprize.org/2009/05/08/offici...-rules-revised/

here's one that tempers my excitement a bit, at least as far as it relates to "the masses" coming to GR to present their work.

If anything, I would think not forcing artists to make travel arrangements would increase submissions a little. But like dragt said, the ones who care about winning at all should come anyway.

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People still have to physically be here to vote and if an artist really wants to win, they're gonna be here presenting and competing for attention. This changes little in my opinion.

In my opinion, what it changes is the splash the event can make.

International artists (for the same of example, I'll randomly pick one of my favorites, Dale Chilhuly as an example) may be more likely with this new rule to enter their works.

BUT, you no longer also guarantee that Mr. Chilhuly is here to display his works, drinking beers and eating meals around town and generally raising the visibility of the event.

It's like movie premiers without the stars attending (ahem... Chaos Experiment)... outside of the town where they occur, nobody takes notice unless the famous folks are there to participate.

One of the side effects I was personally hoping for was that we'd have famous international artists actually taking up residence in G.R. for a few weeks this fall. I think the new rules minimize those odds.

Oh well... in the end I think this'll still be a huge event.

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Well if Chihuly were being featured at the GRAM or FMG, he would probably come for a few of the events, but not sit and present his work for the entire two weeks. I agree that I think it might actually open up the field a bit for artists who can't commit to be here every day for two straight weeks.

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Having attended the premier of Chilhuly's PBS "Chilhuly Over Venice" program in Seattle a number of years ago, I can say first hand, the likelyhood of him rolling into town sans apperance fee is pretty low. The program was one of the first high-def efforts produced by the network, very high profile and he could barely be bothered to stay through the introduction. That's not to say he's not a brilliant artist or an engaging personality, just that there's a price to pay when the circus comes to town the same way that I wouldn't expect to see Christo personally planting umbrellas along the banks of the mighty Grand River.

YMMV

On a lighter note, one more lit up building:

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I'm kinda confused on this new rule.

It could mean that this new rule change omits artists who HAVE to be in Grand Rapids because their art piece requires them to be here. Like a interpretive dance routine.

Or it could mean that artists don't have to be here to present their work if they don't want to be.

My take is this:

Old rule: You have to be here the entire 2 weeks to be part of the competition

New rule: You do not need to be here if you don't want to be.

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I'm kinda confused on this new rule.

It could mean that this new rule change omits artists who HAVE to be in Grand Rapids because their art piece requires them to be here. Like a interpretive dance routine.

Or it could mean that artists don't have to be here to present their work if they don't want to be.

I would say that if you're an artist where you are integral to the piece (interpretive dance for instance, or a poetry reading, or any kind of performance piece starring the artist), you would pretty much have to be here for the two weeks. If you do something like sculpture or painting, you can leave your art at the venue and not have to be here.

I haven't seen a lot of new venues added to the list. I imagine there could be a lot of costs associated with it for some venues (security, off hours utilities, clean-up, management, etc.).

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I would say that if you're an artist where you are integral to the piece (interpretive dance for instance, or a poetry reading, or any kind of performance piece starring the artist), you would pretty much have to be here for the two weeks. If you do something like sculpture or painting, you can leave your art at the venue and not have to be here.

I haven't seen a lot of new venues added to the list. I imagine there could be a lot of costs associated with it for some venues (security, off hours utilities, clean-up, management, etc.).

They plan on updating the venue list later this month. I thought the same, but apparently the amount of venues signing up keeps climbing.

Edited by Rizzo
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They plan on updating the venue list later this month. I thought the same, but apparently the amount of venues signing up keeps climbing.

Hopefully there are enough to choose from.

If you think of an artist half-a-world away, they're going to look for cool venues before actually committing to the contest (I'd assume). That venue list is crucial to the success of the event.

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  • 2 weeks later...

My organization is an ArtPrize venue--- matching started on Friday and there are over 800 artists registered that we, as a venue, can browse thru. It is kind of like facebook- if you are interested in having an artist at your venue- you can click on a button that says "MAKE A CONNECTION" - it is pretty nice. There are still a couple of bugs that they need to work thru- but I think they'll take care of it soon.

Only issue--- the artists are a bit slow to put things on their pages - examples of their work, artist statement, etc.

EXCITING!

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My organization is an ArtPrize venue--- matching started on Friday and there are over 800 artists registered that we, as a venue, can browse thru. It is kind of like facebook- if you are interested in having an artist at your venue- you can click on a button that says "MAKE A CONNECTION" - it is pretty nice. There are still a couple of bugs that they need to work thru- but I think they'll take care of it soon.

Only issue--- the artists are a bit slow to put things on their pages - examples of their work, artist statement, etc.

EXCITING!

I am leading the venue info for my organization and I have the same complaints as you... lack of info in the Artist's profiles. I'm going even going to bother perusing the profiles for another week or so to allow more artist time to flesh out their profiles.

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My organization is an ArtPrize venue--- matching started on Friday and there are over 800 artists registered that we, as a venue, can browse thru. It is kind of like facebook- if you are interested in having an artist at your venue- you can click on a button that says "MAKE A CONNECTION" - it is pretty nice. There are still a couple of bugs that they need to work thru- but I think they'll take care of it soon.

Only issue--- the artists are a bit slow to put things on their pages - examples of their work, artist statement, etc.

EXCITING!

800! Wow! I think we're gonna need more venues. :unsure: Some interesting venues I saw listed were the Castle on Cherry St and Vanderhyde Mechanical on Scribner NW. :thumbsup:

I did see that you can peruse venues by type. Are they doing the same for artists?

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You can filter the artists down from the list based on type of artwork and their venue needs (indoors, electricity, a/v equipment, etc)

But like I mentioned, a lot of artists haven't finished (or put ANYTHING in) their profiles yet

And on that same note, there are a lot of venues that have not got their info or pictures up. We're contacting--and have been contacting--both artists and venues to remind them to get their information up on the site, but please help us spread the word.

And if you work at Design Plus, high five from me

Paul Moore from ArtPrize

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Keep in mind everyone that this is the first year they are doing something like this. It has never been attempted at such a large scale with this many artists across an entire city before. I think it is awesome and there are bound to be some hick-ups. 800 artists and their fan bases would be a pretty cool event downtown though. I know I wouldn't want to drive around town at that time.

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