There is a great line in the book Where The Wild Things Are that I think I want to scream out on the eve of the fourth annual
ArtPrize: “And now, let the wild rumpus start!”
It is not an endorsement or even a condemnation, but a joyous call to begin the season of art (again) in our city around an event that, for better or worse, will consume most of our focus, Facebook, news media and bar top discussions until the warm sunny days of June return to whisk us away to the lakeshore for some peace and quiet. ArtPrize produces so much conversation that I often wonder what we talked about before it debuted?
But one of the real highlights of ArtPrize that continues to grow is the special event parties that have sprung up all over town. These lavish affairs, where those with the means are able to garner access to view and sample the special programming benefits about to be showered on the community from the institutions, seek not just to gain an edge in the voting buzz, but also as a chance to add some much needed cash to there coffers.
Remember ArtPrize is a free event that asks artists to pay and institutions, under ever tightening budgets and grants, to risk their futures on the hopes that a “freetopian art voter” will buy an investment in the institution in the form of an annual membership to the institution.
Three opening parties stand out this year, and one institution has an exciting addition that is worth pointing out.
1) The first party is the site of last year’s second place winner,
West Michigan Center for Arts and Technologies’ 3rd Annual
Make It Take It (ArtPrize Edition) event (Sept. 18, 7-10 p.m.), where guests will be able to participate in creating a work of art in the shadow of ArtPrize’s 2011 second place winner, the mural "MetaPhorest" by lead artist Tracy Van Duinen, created with assistance from the WMCAT students.
2) Ease on down the road this same night to the
Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts ArtPrize kick-off party,
The Odd Ball (Sept. 18, 7-11 p.m.),. This massive, almost circus-like menagerie of art, music and dance -- all spinning in an orbit celebrating their ArtPrize artists and the miraculous opening of their long awaited 4th and 5th floor gallery space -- is worth enough the $150/person fee to attend and see their collection, Somewhere Else.
And while it may not be in everyone’s budget to hit that big nut to get in the door, it is critical to remember that this is an organization hosting a fundraiser. To see the entire display of entries on these new floors (for free), you simply need to return on Wednesday when the competition opens to the public.
3) The
SiTE:LAB preview reception is where I have no doubt the majority of the arts buzz will drain up hill along the Fulton Street corridor as party fans migrate to
SiTE:LAB (54 Jefferson SE, Sept. 18, 5-8 p.m.)
You might remember SiTE:LAB. These are the once bitter boys (and a few girls) of social media who had a come to Jesus moment shortly after winning an unannounced and special best venue prize materializing at the ArtPrize awards ceremony. It gave their bruised and neglected-by-the-public ego a much-needed morale boost.(Read: not one top ten prize winner came from this massive venue.)
Who could have blamed them for feeling slighted in one of the most aggressively programmed and intellectually rich spaces ArtPrize has every witnessed outside our hallowed arts institutions as they invited the University of Michigan arts department to help curate the space?
Rather than go home to open a lemonade stand with their prize money, the group resurrected two other art spaces in the time between ArtPrize 2011 and 2012 and will return to the site of the former Public Museum (54 Jefferson SE) for their 2012 ArtPrize venue space. They again will have transformed, through countless volunteer hours with sweat equity, a raw space much like they did with the former JA building. This time, I predict big prizes coming their way in many forms (and I am not talking about another
GQ article, Puh-lease.)
If you are an art-star-stalker, this is the place to catch a glimpse of guest celebrity jurors like Jerry Saltz, who will no doubt be considering a prize from one of the many entries that line this gem of a space. It is an art lover’s heaven on earth at SiTE:LAB.
Bonus: Lastly, for those who have invested in a
Grand Rapids Art Museum membership (and I use this term because
membership is an investment), an added bonus for members is that this year, you can skip the long lines to see their ArtPrize exhibit, Transformation, by visiting their brilliant collection during their special members-only hours and even a special members only entrance during regular hours. There is even access to other free benefits during ArtPrize so visit their site for all the details.
While I have used this device as it has been employed for years in larger institutions in places like New York and Los Angeles, this added benefit is perfect for folks like me who are not into long lines. Membership has benefits!
Another benefit beyond the obvious is the gift of time, in that the more time you reassign to looking at a work of art, the more you can begin to understand as you unlock the work's hidden language.
Over the next three weeks, you will have plenty of opportunities to check in with me via
Twitter or with others who have set up galleries of works you should not miss via a new feature on the
ArtPrize site. Most of all, you should not miss this annual opportunity to be a part of a large group looking at art, both good and sometime god-awful. In the end, without the bad art, how would we know the good in this (art) world?
Admission: Parties ranges from Free - $150. / Membership to the GRAM begins at $50. a year.