Normally our girls would not be too concerned about facing Hammer Time until you look at what is really at stake in the ring this time. They’ll enter Rivertown Sports for the first time since the spring floods that not only destroyed much of their gear but also forced them to relocate as the track has to be rebuilt. The last time our Grand Raggidy Roller Girls faced off in the rink, it was in September 2009. And while they came out on top each time, Hammer City is ranked much farther below our team, which recently was awarded the #40 spot in the world rank of all derby leagues – ...

What’s not to love about Bottom40 – a pop-up dance party event that was born out of a basement in a Eastown house in 2006 and has been booty poppin’ the nightclub scene with some of the best smiles a venue could hope for ever since. If you need proof, then just Google them and look at the fun photos from over the years. “Basically, ArtPrize dominates our city and it’s everything people talk about for a few weeks in the fall,” says Bottom40 co-creator Jonathan Bell. “We felt like it was only appropriate to keep the theme going for everyone, so this ...

Each year at ArtPrize new surprises appear in the city, and some of the best ones are those not necessarily created by an artist but by a team of individuals with a commitment to continually upping the ante on the event’s programming. One area that has always delighted many in our city has been the lecture series but, as Kevin Buist, ArtPrize’s Director of Exhibitions, points out, this year there are some important changes and a new, purrfect addition. “The ‘Can Art Save Cities?’ panel, which is kind of the centerpiece, is designed to question some of the ...

Grand Valley State University’s Kutsche Office of Local History has partnered with Grandville Avenue Arts and Humanities and other organizations, including the Chicago Young Lords – a historically significant organization that is credited as one of first Latino Civil Rights groups in America – to commence a new year-long program beginning on Monday, September 23. Adopting the Chicago model of capturing the oral history of the Young Lords movement, this one-day kick off event will begin in Grand Rapids at the Cook Library Center with a walking tour of the Grandville Hispanic ...

The organizers of the newest installation of the Duncan Littlefair Great Speaker Series knew when they planned their event that its kick off had to be something truly out of this world to compete with ArtPrize. Sure, the kick off night of the Power of Music, referred to as the “Prologue,” is a free public screening of the very first best picture Academy Award winner Wings (1927), and this silent classic will be accompanied by the original score, Catherine the Great, played on the church’s Austin/Allen Pipe Organ by Dr. Steven Ball – a scholar with extensive study in ...

As an adult, when you revisit any one of the classic bedtime stories from popular childhood authors Grimm, Anderson or Aesop, you have to raise an eyebrow (as I did) as to why we would share such things with children right before we turned them over to the darkness of bedtime. Even I, without kids, have to wonder if these tales of yesterday are suitable for bedtime stories – and, if so, then why we don’t just jump the literature line heading straight to Edgar Allen Poe? Admittedly, what attracted me to the play The Pillowman is not that it is the only play (to the best of my ...

Since 1980, Actors' Theatre of Grand Rapids has provided our region with innovative dramatic productions that are quite often on the cutting edge of what is happening. Its productions encompass not only the American Theatre wing of culture and arts through the subject matter they present, but often also feature award-winning works from those much-lauded playwrights as soon as they become available for regional theatre’s programming. Coming off the heels of a series of historic U.S. Supreme Court cases concerning the nations' LGBT is this timely and dramatic play Love! Valour! ...

Every nonprofit has a fundraiser that seeks to not only showcase their mission but, in hosting their annual gala-like event, hopefully raise some serious cash to expand their mission. For the Avenue for the Arts that event is their newly created A Lot of Art (ALOA), held in a parking lot behind San Chez but also inside the restaurant’s two spaces, the San Chez Bistro and Café, where the public will have a first look at the eatery’s 2013 ArtPrize entries. The ALOA organizers also want you to think of this as San Chez’s gift to the Avenue; not only are the staff members ...

It has only been a few weeks since the announcement, but already the air has been electrified with news of the saving of UICA via a partnership with Kendall College of Art and Design. While some may still be mulling over the ramifications as well as the events leading up to this merger, it is worth noting that under this new format, UICA is embarking on a new journey with many exciting days ahead. Part of this journey is the return of their annual Odd Ball – an annual gala that began upon their arrival in the new space on West Fulton Street. This fundraising gala event devoted to the ...

Every neighborhood has its flashpoint moment. Heritage Hill saw the approaching shadows of wrecking balls and mobilized to save their grand old estates from becoming strip malls. Creston watched one of their last financial institutions prepare a final withdrawal before gathering the troops to create an engaging and vibrant corridor. And Eastown, the site of the 40th anniversary of the Eastown Street Fair, had its moment years ago when area residents became alarmed over the massive white flight and sought to stabilize their community by encouraging neighbors to come together via a street fair. ...

On the eve of ArtPrize, many local organizations either brace for the onslaught of competition or dive in full-on and headfirst, hoping a bit of the spillover excitement will come their way. It is no secret that my favorite part of ArtPrize is the speakers arriving in town over the course of the 18-day event, but this year, building on the excitement of their programming, is an independently organized conference from ArtServe of Michigan that opens the weekend prior. Resonant 13 is a Creative Many Statewide Summit that will include leading voices from the Midwest and the nation who are ...

If you were going to write a book about the original settlers of Division Avenue in modern Grand Rapids history, you would have to include the drag queen scene that has ruled this street for decades. (Yes, decades.) Another occasion to celebrate their legacy is on Sunday, Sept. 8 when local entrepreneur Bradley Briegel, creator of the PowerDiva Production, celebrates PowerDiva's 10-year anniversary. PowerDiva is a talent booking agent working with more than 30 different venues as well as a client roster that includes over 400 different entertainers across the U.S. In what is promising to ...

Two artists will converge at the Avenue for the Arts' Craft House gallery and, as a result, will produce something truly wonderful and unique. For starters, both Matt Loeks and Krystle Formsma are accomplished in their emerging art careers as furniture makers. Yet, they tossed caution to the wind when carving out for this week-long exhibition, providing an opportunity to see the power of furniture making as so much more than just the creation of the object. Their work is the result of their collaborative process of discovery within the realm of manufacturing. But unlike mass production, ...

For some people, getting from point A to B to C (and sometimes back to A again) can be quite a struggle. Lucky for us readers, we have plenty of writers and artists in this region who have discovered that they can help define such complexities by opening a window into their lives end using their prose to persuade us to take a closer look. Wildly popular literary publication The Bandit Zine takes us on that journey. At their next volume release party at the newly opened Have Company (136 S. Division Ave.), attendees will have a chance to secure the new issue as well as hear a few writers share ...

How do you keep a classic fresh? Through reinvention, of course. But reinvention is only part of the solution; as with any revival, it has to have that freshness that made the classic so hot in the first place. Sweeney Todd, Stephen Sondheim's example of how that rare mix of the horror genre and musical theatre can give birth to something truly unique, will be reinvented under the direction of veteran stage director Fred Sebulske of Circle Theatre.   In this production, Sweeney Todd is stripped clean of its original 1979 meaty stage production and devours even more off the 2005 bare bones ...

Looking back on one's career, it is easy to come to the conclusion that time flies. But what if this flight was about more than time? Now 25 years into his career, Dominican artist and Grand Rapids resident Erick Picardo describe this reflective moment as "Vuela Grito," a flying shout and the title of his show at the Goei Center. Fans of this prolific and community-focused artist are encouraged to attend Vuela Grito and experience first-hand the multi-dimensional and seamless mix of painting, music, poetry, storytelling, and dance. His work is experience that has always, at its ...

There are two important points to remember when talking BBQ to a pit master: it is not created over a gas stove, and it is best enjoyed in the company of people. What began as a conversation over beers about Grand Rapids' lack of a serious event devoted to BBQ quickly evolved via virtual and real time meetings to become GrillStock -- a culinary event devoted to the art of BBQ. GrillStock will debut in the Mitten Brewing Company parking lot and is hosted by the West Michigan Friends of Traditional BBQ, who have invited four pit masters to low and slow cook the holy trinity of delicious ...

Rick Chyme's new release, 5iveit, which he describes as a means to, "Push It Past Potential Each Day Manifest Your Dreams," is a lovingly crafted collection of songs produced by Nixon and Ryan K. Wilson and featuring a who's who of the area's indie music scene with guest appearances from Molly Bouwsma-Schultz, Edye Evans Hyde, Willie The Kid, Red Pill, One Be Lo, AOK, and many more. Recorded in a variety of rooms around town, 5iveit delivers a rich and layered experience of listening to stories and fables -- of realities and dreams intermixing and never far from each ...

What's not to love about the GRandJazzFest? In only its second year, the festival has rounded up nearly 70 key sponsors -- including lead sponsor DTE Energy Foundation -- who have invested in the vision of a free jazz event in the heart of downtown. This can only confirm what many know: from the shows in tiny venues to the lavish outdoor concerts like at John Ball Park, Grand Rapids is in the middle of a Jazz Age revival! "We expanded to two days -- bigger, better, more jazz -- but still free. In addition to our array of professional performance artists, we've added a student jam ...

What's not to love about an event where a bunch of people run through the streets in the hopes of avoiding (or feigning that they are avoiding) being beaten by our very own Grand Raggidy Roller Girls. The girls were recently bumped up to the A league and will be competing in the same semi-finals as New York, Chicago, and London! (Congrats!) Participants in the Running of the Bulls will dash for their lives as our Roller Girls chase the participants from bar to bar. At each bar will be a set of optional challenges. Those who are up for the gaming aspects of this event will be able to ...

There are plenty of people out there who would like to proclaim print as dead. But for everyone who declares this, there is  another who steps up to remind us why the word is still worth exploring and this case, translating. Ian Haight, a local author but also co-organizer and translator for the UN's global poetry readings held annually in Pusan, Korea, has reason for lovers of the word to be excited. On Tuesday night at the Wealthy Theatre, he will host a book release party for his latest work, Magnolia & Lotus: Selected Poems of Hyesim. Haight was inspired by the Chin'gak Kuksa ...

Hailed as more than just a documentary, A Band Called Death will open at UICA with a special two-day package offer that will not only include a chance to see the film at the art center, but immediately after the Monday screening, attendees will also be treated to a panel discussion from Death. Ticket holders of Monday's special screening (it is playing all week at UICA at regular prices) will also be invited to see the band perform at The Pyramid Scheme on Tuesday night. In the early days of the 1970s, a group of guys formed a band called Death and would practice in a spare room in one ...

Summer is a time for wandering and nowhere is more pleasant these days than the lakeshore. On Saturday, you will have your second-to-last chance to attend an art opening at Grand Rapids' LaFontsee Galleries' Douglas location. On Common Ground (showing Aug. 3 - Sept. 1) is a chance to see new works by artists Michael Schaeffer (abstract art works with epoxy resin), Christy DeHoog (bold, mixed media), Meridith Ridl (book inspired series with acrylic, pencil, and paper), and Diane Schroeder (mixed media collage on paper). For one night only, they will also focus on the art of jazz by ...

In 1997, George Dawes Green wanted to recreate that feeling of warm summer evenings with friends sharing stories on the screened porch. So, he launched The Moth, a nonprofit that had a few simple rules involving your own stories, told live, and without notes. And the rest, as they say, is history. The series has moved to a popular NPR show, The Moth Storytelling Hour, but also produces standing-room-only audiences worldwide when it tours. It also sparked a movement in cafes and coffee shops all over the world. Here in Grand Rapids, the SpeakEZ opens its doors to this community-engaging act of ...

It is hard to imagine that the worshipping of all things '80s is still be advancing in our culture. But as a hefty diet of modern musical acts advance up the pop charts in tandem with big art exhibitions in bigger markets looking at the artists of this period, it was only a matter of time before those acts of this period begin to trickle into the area as well (offering something more than just a rehash of the period acts like Mega '80s). On Monday, one such musical act -- The Fixx -- rolls into town for a Monday night concert at the Pyramid Scheme, located on Heartside's bustling ...

The art world often lets down its guard during the summer, eschewing the formalness of white walls and room temperature and instead heading to airy locations like beachside towns where the previously black-attired crowd shows a bit more skin while attending lavish and fun art affairs in much more relaxed settings. The organizers of SiTE:LAB, a multi-disciplinary and often migratory by nature contemporary arts group, will be hosting for a third year another space-time specific exhibition at Blandford Nature Center -- a sprawling 143 acres that artists have transformed in the past with temporary ...

When The Crescendo Foundation hosted their first Piano Cottage Rocks! Concert at Wealthy Theatre last year, no one really knew what to expect from this first-time, music-focused show. Over the course of next two hours, students from a private, Suzuki method-based piano studio in Grand Rapids performed to raise money for a conservatory that The Crescendo Foundation was hoping to create in our region. It wasn't until the next day that the organizers realized, as they fielded more than 100 phone calls from parents during a 24-hour period, that they had hit on something with their ...

It is rare that you get to witness a popular stage musical inspire a gala, and then see this same spirit reunite with a few members of the musical to create something really fun in concert. Fans of [title of show], the musical cult sensation that swept the East Coast theatre scene (and then the world), will be delighted to see our very own Ellie Frances and Jolene Frankey (both co-stars in the [tos] production at Actors' Theatre) reunited at the SpeakEZ Lounge. By merging Frankey's band, Sex & Coffee, with Frances' band, The Polka Dots, the two friends will present a special ...

If you have attended the Taste of Grand Rapids event in the past, get ready to head north this year as it departs John Ball Park and opens shop at Comstock Park's Fifth Third Ballpark. New this year will be the merging of the West Michigan Trucking Show with this annual event, so it remains to be seen if the two audiences can play nice together. The 15th Annual Taste of Grand Rapids will once again include live, family-friendly entertainment featuring a large array of area musicians -- a trend that has increased more and more with each passing year. The musical entertainment will also ...

This weekend is the perfect time to lose yourself to dance. And what better venue than a music festival held under the golden, summer sun and a bright, shiny moon, next to a giant, red sculpture. When you consider your options this weekend, the most "hoppening" place in the city will be Calder Plaza where a sea of happy people will gather for the return of the City Lights Music Festival -- our budding electronic music festival that is starting to turn heads. 2012 was a transformative year, but 2013 plans to be even bigger with more acts and more amenities than in the past, including ...

There is something that feels strangely familiar every time I visit Con Artist Crew's space. Maybe it is their neighborhood's rough-on-the-edges (and everywhere else), warehouse district location that triggers my memories of Grand Rapids in the '80s. You just can't fight that feeling of wanting to look over your shoulder as you exit your car to walk up to CAC's space. (But, it really is safe.) The programming at CAC never disappoints. Their experimental nature lends itself to moments that tweeter between the sublime to the unexpected, and the upcoming concert produced by ...

In the '90s, I enjoyed attending an annual event at the downtown Fountain Street Church, if only to see who would show up. The occasion? The Blessing of the Beasts, where you might be seated next to a yapping dog the size of a teacup, or a giant bird perched on an equally colorful woman. It was delightful to see in a service devoted to instructing a new generation of children on the importance of respecting animals that, as Karen Carpenter sang many years ago, "have no voice." In an era of increased awareness -- from my vegan friends concerned about factory farming, to the ...

One of the most wonderful aspects of Grand Rapids' art scene is the creative exploration being presented on a regular basis in Heartside's Avenue for the Arts. The annual trial and error summer event, The Market, has been many things and many times presented over the years. Finally, after years of extensive work via feedback sessions with artists, the Avenue has found that two is the magic number for Market events over the course of the summer. In June, they hosted their first Market. On Saturday, July 13, art lovers and fans of live music are again encouraged to stop by to see a wide ...

Since October 2012, four Open Projector Night (OPN) programs at UICA have provided a chance for West Michigan's filmmaking community to connect and project their creative works. Instead of a festival structure, a nurturing environment has been created and each time, an audience's favorite is selected. When OPN began last fall, the films ranged from 30 seconds to 20 minutes in length, but there were slim pickings for the first event, according to organizer Brandon Belote, who cites having to struggle to just fill the night's docket. But, oh, what a difference a few months would make ...

Depending on whom you ask, the digital era has either impacted the art of photography for better or for worse. For more than a decade, digital photography has brought real advances, like sharpening and darkroom-free manipulation of our images, and even allowing all of us to capture the world in stunning fashion from the palm of our hand (and without much commitment to expensive gear or any real foundational education in the medium). The democratization of photography has enabled shooters to broadcast new worlds -- sometimes even places we never had access to before. But even as digital ...

When you live in a region known as the Great Lakes Basin -- the world's largest collection of fresh water -- and hold the title of Beer City USA for the second year in a row, you have to sometimes engage in activity that shows how serious you are about the protection of the natural resources that make our beer taste so damn good. On Monday, one of the area's tiniest neighborhood breweries, Harmony Brewing Company, will be hosting a fundraising event to ensure we do not threaten our fresh water. Let's Ban Fracking, a grassroots campaign to stop this process in Michigan, has been ...

With all the action happening along the lakeshore these days, it is hard to decide where to land. A betting person would tell you that over the holiday weekend, you will want to point your GPS north and head for Muskegon where a reinvigorated Art in the Park event has been reborn as the Lakeshore Art Festival. This newly named festival seeks to expand upon that long tradition of focusing on the arts. Using a new method of curation, event organizers considered a host of categories -- from fine art to general craft -- representative of the artisans of our region. In order to qualify to exhibit, ...

If you have wanted to see the experience the raw energy of a live Ragbirds show again, then one of the last times to do so this summer is fast approaching. This upcoming stop at Founder's Brewing Company is important for two main reasons. First, the 'Birds are touring in support of their newly released live CD, We Belong to the Love, which not only includes an honest to goodness capture of their live concert sound, but also two brand new songs: "Lucky Rhythm" and "We Belong to the Love." But what makes this release and concert in Grand Rapids so amazing for us is ...

The excitement has been building daily since the November announcement of the biggest and newest biking event of the year, the Gran Fondo -- a non-competitive (read: easy ride) cycling event designed to create a fun time for riders as well as raise funds to benefit skin cancer research at our new downtown MSU campus. Gran Fondo simply means "Big Ride" in Italian. It is open to riders of all abilities and includes options of an 80-, 40-, and a shorter, family-friendly 12-mile looped course promising to deliver on beautiful vistas, just as the Italian Gran Fondo does in Italy. The 80- ...

You have to love a marketing tag line like "Pay to get in! Pray to get out!" But if you know Jason Roth of Bargain Basement Productions (and part of the organizing team behind the Thriller! Chiller! film festival), then you know he will do whatever it takes to pump up our filmmaking community. What he is pedaling this time is an invitation, if you dare, to attend the fourth annual Mr. Spookity Summer Spooktacular film festival with host Mr. Spookity (Chris Eddy) as our area's own version of the great and over-the-top late-night horror hosts like Ghoulardi, Elvira, and Commander ...

Do not wear your pretty shoes. There. I said it. And you will thank me later, because this is good advice for attending a beer festival that attracts more than 6,000 attendees, each one sloshing a big glass of some the best beer that will ever cross your lips. For most, visiting Founders Brewing Company can be bit of a religious experience -- excellence married to craftsmanship brings this out in people. But for one day each year, we take the party into the street -- which is why you need to watch your shoes. The most noticeable change for this year's event, according to Founders staff, is ...

I cannot think of any beer-tasting festivals in the area where the admission is free, and I know of only a handful of free film festivals. So, you can imagine the excitement when New Belgium Brewery of Fort Collins, CO (and soon Asheville, N.C.) announced that their Clips Beer and Film Tour would be adding Grand Rapids to the list of stops this year. I guess being named Beer City USA two years in a row has that power. The Clips Beer and Film Tour showcases the sustainability of New Belgium Brewing Co. Not only has the firm made advancements in employee ownership, but it was also reclassified ...

The cultural exchange between Grand Rapids and Detroit continues. Grand Rapids' Division Avenue Arts Collective (DAAC) welcomes Michael Malis, an emerging jazz pianist and composer from the Detroit's Woodbridge neighborhood. Malis graduated with distinction from the University of Michigan, where he studied English and Jazz Piano under jazz pianist extraordinaire Geri Allen. Before deciding to break out on this first tour with his newly formed trio, Malis was a featured soloist at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. as part of their ongoing "Conservatory Project." Malis also ...

Grand Rapids' Pride has taken many roads, literally and figuratively, over its 25-year history. This weekend, when it returns to downtown, not only will the annual event come full circle, but it will also take steps toward a new event. Pride has migrated over the years from venues like Ah-Nab-Awen's grassy knoll to John Ball Park's ball diamond, before the last few years in Riverside Park's urban forest where they netted their highest attendance of nearly 11,000 guests. This year, the event moves to Vandenberg (Calder) Plaza. At this annual event will be a host of businesses ...

Over the last few years, Rapid Growth has focused on the development of a city. But one area that is critical to a city's rise is the health of its people. On Saturday, LINC, a community revitalization organization in Grand Rapids' Madison Square neighborhood, will present their third annual Rock the Block Street Fair, an event squarely focused on their community's health. Rock the Block picks up where the former Madison Street Fair left off after they ceased operations following the 2010 event. Reborn as a festival focused on creating and sustaining healthy communities, Rock the ...

Last year's debut of the first Rooftop event showcased a fashion runway show on the top floor of a downtown parking ramp. It was such a smashing success that it is hard to imagine it's almost been a year since the last one. And yet, here we are, on the verge of the second rooftop series event, Rooftop Cocktail. For the latest installment, Crystal Hilliard, founder of To The Top Media, will focus on a cocktail competition. Guests will also view the art on display at the UICA, and, of course, the event contains a nod to our local fashion resources. "When I started this event series, ...

Looking to shake things up a bit, the organizers of the Waterfront Film Festival allowed Michigan cities other than Saugatuck to bid for the annual event. The result was a smashing bid by Saugatuck's neighbor, South Haven, only a couple exits away. This added excitement, according to organizers, is bringing new energy to the festival. Organizers are expecting to increase their attendance beyond the 16,000 they counted last year. Each year, WFF hosts a live music concert and outdoor cinema presentation in the street for the public. This year, they will showcase a collection of short films ...

For the past eight years, Cathy Bissell, co-chair of BISSELL Blocktail Party and founder of the newly formed BISSELL Pet Foundation, has been in the unique position of inspiring the volunteers who dedicate countless hours transforming the way our community thinks about the wellbeing of animals in area shelters and rescue organizations. And once a year, the public is invited to participate in the best dog-gone fun you have with your furry friend (or friend of another) at the annual BISSELL Blocktail fundraising event, held over the last couple years on the lawn of East Hills' Mangiamo! ...

Each summer, the Avenue for the Arts comes alive with energy as shop owners open wide their doors and tables appear up and down the street to herald the return of The Market. After years of experimenting with more dates (often four), the winning combination turns our to be two. So on Saturdays June 8 and July 13, the street will be bustling with exciting works of art, finely crafted or ironic clothing, and an abundance of distinctly unique gift items and handmade books. One of the featured businesses this year at The Market is Daydream Studios, a thrilling creative venture by Amber Gerard and ...

We've got Laughfest. We've got comedy-friendly venues like Dr. Grin's, Dog Story Theater, and Wealthy Theatre. And we've got our many amateur open mic nights (like Ann Street's Landing Lounge on Sunday Nights). Yet, there are still other comedic venues just waiting to be explored. On Friday night, Vertigo Music -- one of the last record stores in the city -- will open their doors after-hours to a new comedy event that, if successful, could be the start of many more. Aptly titled "Vertigo Stand-Up," this project by Brett Dierolf and Damian Master will feature ...