Over the years, I have offered a look back at the past 12 months from a
December perspective and given readers what I felt were the top six
events of the year in West Michigan.
Most magazine lists
typically categorize the best or worst persons, places, events or
things. For me, the process of creating a fair ranking among the events
of the past year became much harder with each passing month. This year,
my list couldn't possibly be limited to only six events, and it would be
meaningless without the context of the events I have chosen.
As
you read on, note that some of my selections were indeed game changers
for us all. While I feel they should have arrived sooner rather than
later, I do celebrate their arrival even if they feel a bit delayed.
For
2010, I have taken the big picture vantage point reviewing the best
events of our region, assessing where we are at this point, in order to
hopefully shine some light on what was good for us in our community.
So, with these minimal ground rules established, let's begin.
New festivals
were the big news of 2010, but it was a great year for those festivals
that came back for seconds, too. Festivals in this elite group includes
the ever-evolving (and ever-controversial) ArtPrize, Midwest Fest's
relocation to downtown GR, the return of the hyper-local and
all-volunteer-run Michigan Film Festival, and the always walkable
ArtPeers-fueled Wealthy Street Fall Arts Festival. There was also the
debut of the indie music love child of the city's band scene, Prospecto
and the quiet arrival of Style Battle, which really took the audience by
surprise during their hair-raising debut partnered with local arts and
businesses. Additionally, Rob Bliss' Electronic Music Night at Calder
Plaza got a huge boost in numbers this year, as attendees danced the
night away in the open air.
My big favorite of the year was
the get-out-of-the-big-box-franchise night and shop local event,
Fashion's Night Out. FNO arrived here only after Jim Murray of A.K.
Rikk's contacted Vogue Magazine's Anna Wintour. Ms. Wintour inaugurated
New York City's first Fashion's Night Out in 2009. She gave her blessing
and Fashion's Night Out Grand Rapids garnered national news coverage.
It was only for a few second -- but we were there for the country to
see.
The
streets of Grand Rapids
became a bit quieter in 2010 when a record number of people chose to
leave the cars at home and hit the streets of the city on their bikes.
All things people-powered on two wheels were the big winners as we
witnessed (finally) the debut of the city's first bike lanes and the
creation of our world class Bike Park. Mayor Heartwell dedicated the
park and immediately after his comments, took a test ride on the pump
track only to fall off his bike. I hope that was not a symbol of his
upcoming re-election campaign in 2011. Saddle Up, George!
The
return of Bikestock was certainly another positive biking event for the
city. For the sake of riders, I hope it will move to roomier Riverside
Park next year, where we can relax instead of being toasted under the
blazing hot sun of Rosa Parks Circle. We also welcomed dissent as a
community from a masked rider who became known as Bike Man. He organized
Grand Rapids latest round of Critical Mass rides, hoping that maybe in
2011, the motorists of GR would learn to follow the rules of the road,
leaving road rage out of the equation, respecting and watching out for
bikes and the people who ride them. And the summer urban bike rides
continued to mix education about our surroundings while having a good
time and an even greater brew at Founders Brewery Company.
The
LGBT community,
always seen by new urbanists like Richard Florida as the "canary in the
coal mine" for a city, have been quietly working behind the scenes to
transform our community through neighborhood improvement projects in the
Uptown area and other city locales but also appeared to be making huge
strides in other areas as well. The Queeries, a community-building event
disguised as a movie series for the LGBT community, debuted at Wealthy
Theatre, landing some national first-run films. These titles included
the documentary "Fagbug," the James Franco biopic of Allen Ginsberg,
"Howl" and the feature film debut of former GR resident Wendy Jo
Carlton's "Hannah Free," starring Sharon Gless.
West Michigan
Pride welcomed new leadership, increased their membership of gays and
straights as they moved the annual event to Riverside Park, a more
accommodative location with plenty of trees. The final LGBT chapter of
the year came to a close when Eve Lounge at The B.O.B., a predominately
straight bar, held the first gay-friendly fashion event in partnership
with local businesses, national brands (Stoli, Diesel, aussieBum,
Baskit, Rufskin) and the participation of Grindr, an international
social networking site for gays. The White Party fashion show benefited
WhiteKnot.org, a charity group that seeks fair treatment for the LGBT
population.
Art still mattered in our community in 2010, although
financial support is at a critical low for the Arts.
Many artists with long careers in this region departed our area for
greener pastures. Fortunately, new leadership is emerging within the
vacuum as our local artists' marketplaces, from the Avenue for the Arts
to the gallery scene to the artist cooperatives, all find new ways to
organize and raise awareness of our wonderful Arts community.
Exhibitions like "Their Daily Bread" highlighted a new way to connect
with our city's past, while groups like The Division Avenue Arts
Cooperative began "Sunday Soup," an international mini-grant program
created by a former DAAC member in Chicago. Interest and dollars have
grown with each gathering.
Facebook and Twitter were important
new tools for artists, helping to provide the social juice needed to
drum up excitement for the Arts within our community. The tiny upstart
called Kickstarter, a web-based fundraising site for the creative
community, is the one that really made a difference for so many artists
here and around the world. The big winner locally was the Super Happy
Funtime Burlesque troupe. The group was able to take their act on the
road to California and back after raising the tour money on Kickstarter
with contributions from investors made up of individuals from our
community.
The
Grand Rapids comedy
scene kept us laughing in 2010. Hollywood actor Aziz Ansari found time
between takes of "30 Minutes of Less," filmed in GRap, to book two sold
out shows for his huge stand-up act at The B.O.B.'s Dr. Grins. But for
every big moment in 2010, there were hundreds of laughs being produced
all over town by smaller troupes with improvisational shows. The Dog
Story Theater VIP show features a revolving door of local comics who,
with Medical Mile precision, focused a comedic microscope to lampoon the
life stories of some our most colorful area personalities. Without a
doubt, the Gilda's Club of Grand Rapids' successful launch of LaughFest
for 2011 will benefit all of us. I want to send a big thank you for all
the hard work of those who invested so much time in 2010 to make us
laugh next year.
Finally, Grand Rapids proved once again to be a place where
generosity flows like the mighty Grand River.
This past year, we mobilized quickly to help the people of Haiti with
the West Michigan Benefit For Haiti Relief, a fundraising music event at
the Intersection Lounge, and victims of the oil spill both human and
animal with similar events at Billy's Lounge. We also witnessed the
awesome power of local indie musicians' ability to come together (and
often) for the Tribute Concert series. The series showcases local
artists who gather to play music from the catalogue of a variety of
beloved musicians (Bruce Springsteen, The Beatles, David Bowie among
others) while simultaneously raising money for local charities. Juliet
Bennett Rylah, the producer of these shows, has captured the hearts of
the Rapid Growth team after being hired as our Managing Editor in the
summer of 2010.
But the one fundraiser that caught everyone off
guard, and in doing so had every major event planner scrambling months
after to duplicate, was the festive and fun Juice Ball. The premise of
the event was pretty simple: Invite a lot of your friends to come out to
a night of cafeteria-style service of gourmet food, book a solid band
and then make sure you turn up the volume really loud while showing
everyone that by having fun, you are also making sure a group of
children in our community will not go with out a meal. Never before has
anyone hitched their event so closely to the mission of the non-profit
(in this case, Kids Food Basket) and done so with such style, fun and
energy. They not only met their goal, they doubled it!
As you can
see, a lot of cool things did happen in 2010. While we laughed, we also
felt some pain. But living through this past year with all it threw at
us, we know as we come to the end that we have created and been a part
of a very special year. Remember, life is not scripted and our days are
numbered….and the past travels with us to the future. The future needs
us to be present.
So, the best advice I can give for 2011 would
be if you have a choice between sitting at home on the couch or
venturing out into the unknown, I can say having been there, take the
chance and be part of our community.
Grand Rapids is all about
community, but a community is only truly fulfilled when you leave the
comforts of the sofa and explore the varied experiences our city has to
offer you.
Rapid Growth is off until Jan. 13. See you next year. It has been a great one spent with you.
The Future Needs All of Us (to remember the past travels forward).
Tommy Allen, Lifestyle Editor
Click here to continue to this week's G-Sync events.Bonus
RG Featured Event: Our photographer, Brian Kelly, will be a guest on stage at
the Dog Story Theater's VIP show on Monday, Dec. 20, 8 PM.Feedback:
[email protected]Twitter Feed: @
TommyGSyncPhoto of Tommy Allen provided by Terry Johnston of
TerryJohnstonPhoto.com
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