It is the time of the year where you are inundated with ads, ranging from Black Friday inserts to an endless stream of emails offering the best discounts on products typically available at big box retailers. But it is also the time the year where you have the chance to score a very unique gift that not only ensures you are shopping local (and getting all the healthy economic benefits of spending your cash within our city), but that you are supporting the cultivation and sustaining power of the artists who call West Michigan their home, too. Back again for its 24th year is Urban Institute of ...

Sometimes the most challenging Broadway productions skip our town for a variety of reasons. This can be seen in the absence of Wicked, The Lion King, and Xanadu from our stages.   Okay, so Xanadu might be a stretch, but it was damn funny at the Helen Hayes Theater in NYC, and this roller skate-infused show DID tour the U.S. Actors’ Theatre of Grand Rapids, however, rarely misses an opportunity to perform challenging (Spring Awakening) or up-to-the-moment (Rust, Nadia) work, and they will do it again with Next To Normal, a musical centered around the topic of what happens to a family when ...

The night before Thanksgiving is often a time to tie one on at any one of the many downtown pubs in an attempt to create a booze force field from the onslaught of attacks of family members who don’t drink on holiday. Okay, enough about my family. How about your Thanksgiving Eve? Judging from the level of activity at area watering holes, I am not alone. This night rivals New Year’s Eve and St. Patrick’s Day as one of the busiest bar nights of the year. Grand Rapids will have lots of options, but MichAGAIN is planning something unique. This year, MichAGAIN, a program in ...

How often can you say you are going to hear a musician that is also a comic artist (and very good at both)? On Sunday night, The Division Avenue Arts Collective (The DAAC) will welcome anti-folk legend and Fuff comic book creator Jeffrey Lewis to their intimate stage in the Heartside neighborhood. Lewis uses folk music to deliver what feels like inflatable rubber glove punches until you really unpack his lyrics to discover what a brilliant singer/songwriter he truly is. Fans of Lewis can expect to hear a collection of favorites including "The Last Time I Did Acid I Went Insane," ...

What would happen if you devoted a whole weekend to the exploration, education, and implementation of your creative spirit? Well, as luck would have it, you are about to find out via three completely unrelated events arriving on the arts scene this weekend in a rare aligning-of-the-stars opportunity. To start the weekend off, you are invited to see the area’s oldest open studio, The Tanglefoot Building, Friday night and Sunday afternoon. Patrons will have a chance to explore many artists' spaces (including my own) in this historic building originally known for making the Tanglefoot ...

In the fall of 2011, G-Sync began featuring a series of events, including dramatic readings and special musical performances, linked to the 2012 Year of Interfaith Understanding. This weekend, the Grand Rapids Symphony joins this diverse and eclectic year of programming with a classical music presentation of “We Remember,” a community-wide Holocaust commemoration that seeks to explore that tender period of renewal that follows suffering. Felix Mendelssohn’s famous “Reformation” Symphony will be paired with Stephen Paulus’ acclaimed 2005 Holocaust memorial ...

When Grammy nominated jazz singer Tierney Sutton and her band returns to Grand Rapids, you can be certain she won’t be phoning in her performance as some artists might be willing to do at this stage of their career. In fact, after spending nearly a half hour catching up with Sutton over the phone, I was even more impressed with her as an artist for the challenges she has purposefully set out before herself. While the concert at St. Cecilia Music Center will feature her band that many may recall from two years ago, this time around, Mitch Forman (Sutton just provided guest vocals on his ...

Every year, Lamb, a popular shop in the Uptown neighborhood, ventures out on the town and presents a fashion show heavy on style, but never losing sight of who their clients are in West Michigan. For this special event, not only have they shifted their location to a new venue, the Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM), but they are also partnering with Goodwill and their boutique-styled resale shop, blue, for a fashion show that mixes the new with the re-new. “We really wanted to elevate our show this time,” says Lamb’s Ryan Lambay. “With this time around, we wanted to include ...

The local record store might be a dying breed in our urban cities, but if I have learned anything over the years as a customer of Vertigo Music on Division Avenue, the key to longevity is to be flexible and open to the changes. Perhaps no industry has weathered the rapid changes as often and as fast as the music industry. A testament to Vertigo Music’s staying power is their willingness to adjust their sails and when the time is right, celebrate (often). The latest celebration is Vertigo a-Go-Go, a relatively new and local version of the international Record Store Day that Vertigo also ...

Modern dance, drama, and local bands converge twice a year on the stage at Wealthy Theatre for a thrilling production. Each Fall, that potpourri of art, aptly named "Salmagundi," brings choreographers, musicians, and dancers from farther out than any modern dance event has ever been able to do before. Every aspect of what they do here is nothing short of inspiring. "Salmagundi: calm seas" is widely considered, according to ArtPeers’ Erin Wilson, “to be the strongest lineup of any modern dance concert in Grand Rapids history.” After years, if not a full ...

There is no shortage of galas in the city during the fall. And while some strongly suggest a certain attire be required for entry, one gala celebrating its sixth year is asking people to dress casual and come uptown to get down while doing some good, too. Art Aid for Tesfa, an annual event and nonprofit created by local artist Stephanie Schlatter, will be held at the Betty Van Andel Opera Center. The event raises funds each year for the children of Ethiopia, one of Africa’s poorest and oldest countries, with an illiteracy rate of two-thirds. Schlatter discovered on a trip to Ethiopia ...

To have an opportunity to sample many exciting offerings in one place -- and just in time for the holidays -- is nothing short of brilliant timing as the Grand Rapids International Wine, Beer, and Food Festival returns for their fifth year. By arriving a full week earlier than in past years, it gives you and the more than 12,000 people who will migrate to downtown’s DeVos Place that edge in party planning or culinary gift giving, as you consider what is delivered right to your city's doorstep. One of the highlights of this annual event is the chance to partake in the very limited ...

The art world loves the bad boy, and so do I. And on Saturday night, a special one-night benefit art show of some truly exiting works of art around a raucous theme will be held to support the on-going development of Clemente Skatepark. The event will be held just a few steps from the Con Artist Crew Gallery at the artist-infused 1111 Godfrey warehouse building. The nonprofit Clemente Skatepark committee, a group of skateboarders and business owners committed to making sure our thriving skateboard community as a world-class park soon, hosts the event. Throughout the night, they will show a ...

The organizers at the 4th Annual Recycled Art Market take Grand Rapids’ green reputation in our world very serious. It is why they insist -- no, demand -- that all artisans who participate contribute work that uses at least 50 percent or greater recycled, upcycled, or repurposed materials in their work. And each year, as the Grand Rapids City High/Middle School prepares to once again host this annual fundraising event, they find artisans from all over of our region who share these values as this event that I have attended since the beginning continues to grow. It is a great position to ...

What do you do if you are the lead singer of one of the area’s most energetic hip hop acts on hiatus, but are still enjoying a creative bump from your fun and infectious "Miami Vice"-influenced Fluorescent Black EP? Well, if you are A.B. (lead singer of A.B! and Coconut Brown), you run for President. Well, sort of like that. On the occasion of his new EP release, AB is running for President this Friday night. A.B. invites not only the entire city down to the Pyramid Scheme by way of his event partners Bottom 40 and Generation XY for Michigan, but he is also pulling together a ...

Consider this the nudge you need today -- the slight permission of touch via your computer screen to do something different you will remember the rest of your life.  You didn’t ask for it, but here it is this weekend, found in two very unique events in two unique settings from the world of music. For starters, on Thursday, Nov. 1, you would have to get to New York City to see the level of talent that St. Cecilia Music Center has on stage for just one night. For their annual gala concert, they have invited Jazz musician John Pizzarelli to Grand Rapids to perform in their intimate space. ...

Some straight people may be afraid to venture down to one of the area gay bars for a drag show, but I can also say that, as one who has been to many gay bars to see a drag show over the years, it's not just fear that keeps them away, but sometimes the lack of the real show to match the amount of time placed into creating the illusion of the performer. MP Talent, a local talent agency that specializes in Michigan talent and speakers, will host a very special Halloween-themed drag production. "A Night of Illusions," at the San Chez performance space, offers guests a chance to whoop ...

The memory robbing disease, Alzheimer’s, will be center stage and under a spotlight on Sunday afternoon as the Chamber Choir of Grand Rapids, directed by Mark Webb, and the Grand Rapids Women's Chorus, directed by Lori Tennenhouse, present "Alzheimer’s Stories" by Robert Cohen -- a benefit concert with all proceeds going to the Alzheimer’s Association. This brand new musical piece for orchestra, chorus, and soloist is broken into three distinct cycles: "The Numbers," "The Stories," and "The Caregivers." The first movement, "The ...

It is hard to imagine that it has been 10 years since a group of artists got together to create the Free Radical Gallery event in Grand Rapids. And what made this event unique 10 years ago from where we are today is that at this period of time, there seemed to be no shortage of empty storefronts that artists would inhabit for a one-night-only gallery show that sought not only to showcase the work of local artists, but bring people into parts of the city that few dared to tread. On the occasion of their tenth year, the Avenue for the Arts, a local arts initiative that grew out of the ...

Each year, the list of Halloween parties continues to grow at such a rapid pace that to feature just one would be a bloody shame. So I asked my Halloween ArtPrize-inspired alter ego, Jesus Christ Zombie Superstar, to pick Grand Rapids' top five parties of Halloween 2012. Retro Deluxe Halloween Edition, Thursday, Oct. 25, 10:30 p.m.: This monthly retro-infused video dance party is a staple on the dance circuit of fun. This month, it takes a death dive (a good thing) with a bloody good collection of ectoplasm-infected tunes from the '70s,'80s, and '90s. DJ Jef Leppard has been ...

If last week’s Lights Out event has you wishing for more of that art band experience, then you only have one option this week to get your fix. When Yacht arrives here, it will no doubt save your life from the doldrums of rainy, gray fall. Since forming in 1996, Yacht has enjoyed many "launches," traveling from venue to venue in various forms and even landing in festivals like the Crap-tops vs Laptops show for Rhizome, a New York nonprofit to support art and technology via new media. And while Grand Rapids often trips over themselves to share their philosophy of the Triple ...

As a Lifestyle Editor, I’m used to event pitches being lobbed in a variety of places and styles. But when the West Michigan Professionals Leadership Summit was pitched as I was roaming the aisles of a local bookstore, there was something really unique about event creator Tedi Parson’s polite and gentle approach as he explained their mission to make our young professionals a bit savvier as they navigate a city on the rise. This new day-log summit aims to educate, encourage, and empower our local young professionals with an energetic and even fun-filled day of dialogue from diverse ...

Now that things are settling back to normal in the city, it is time to venture out to see the new exhibition at the Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM). Real/Surreal is the second of three exhibitions in the three-year partnership with the Whitney Museum of American Art. “The masterpieces on loan from the Whitney Museum of American Art collection are considered some of the most important works in the world. For GRAM and the Grand Rapids community to have access to this collection is truly remarkable,” says GRAM’s Director and CEO Dana Friis-Hansen, who is just beginning his ...

Let’s be clear: Netflix is a bit cooler since they started streaming movies, but why real film buffs love this modern movie delivery service is because of the plethora of the strange films tucked away in the nooks and crannies of this site. The hard-to-find titles are often discovered on Netflix, but not always. And this is where film festivals step in to fill the void. Film fans of genre cinema are in luck this weekend when Thriller! Chiller! returns yet again to Wealthy Theatre for a great weekend of action, sci-fi, suspense, and horror films. And with every new year, Thriller! ...

Each year, our area’s locally owned and operated restaurant choices become so much grander than the year before. And each fall, Local First, a nonprofit devoted to the cultivation and celebration of all things local, invites us to gather and celebrate this bounty at the annual Fork Fest, a food and drink-focused event with plenty of fresh to pass around. This year, in advance of the event, fans of living local were invited to take the 10x10 Pledge. Participants signed up on Local First’s website, promising they would be spending at least an extra $10 on locally sourced food, either ...

When you travel abroad, it is interesting to find out how loved and adored your city is by an outsider. It makes you humbled to hear a perspective we often overlook from just living in it day-to-day. One reputation we gladly embrace -- and even now celebrate on a regular basis -- is the recent awarding of Grand Rapids as Beer City USA, tied with Asheville, NC. To celebrate our award-winning beer culture (and because it is their mission to spotlight all things local), the Grand Rapids Public Museum will host Thank You, BEER!, a very special exhibition October 13 - December 30, 2012. This ...

If things keep at this place, Grand Rapids could very soon go rom a bike-friendly city to THE BIKE CITY (if only for the Midwest), as more and more cyclist and urban cycling events continue to raise awareness in our metro area. On Saturday, the West Michigan Environmental Action Council (WMEAC), in partnership with Grand Rapids Bicycle Co., Greater Grand Rapids Bicycle Coalition, The Spoke Folks, Catalyst Partners, and many other community-focused groups, will host the very first Urban Cycling Extravaganza at Grand Rapids Bicycle Company’s new storefront in East Grand Rapids. This ...

There is no shortage of film festivals in West Michigan. In fact, with such a thriving film community full of storytellers and technically gifted craftsman, it is nice to see a new festival emerge on the scene that is not only showcasing young talent in our region, but also making huge strides in being inclusive of diverse voices. The Mosaic Film Festival, debuting at Celebration Cinema South, has been pitched to me from about six different people (as early as February 2012) and each one is unique in their reasoning as to why they love this film festival. I, too, was moved by the description ...

It is not rare in Grand Rapids to catch an art band at the start of its career, or the chance to see an experimental performance-based art piece. What is rare is the chance to see a stellar night of art bands married to a performance-based light show. This is what is promised to those who venture out for light and sound installation Lights Out at the Con Artist Crew Gallery at 1111 Godfrey. This special night of music and light seeks to explore the relationship and intersection of projections, lasers and music a in concert event promising to be an extra-sensory experience. Headliner Faux Fur ...

It seems I could throw a rock and hit a run or walk these days in Grand Rapids. And while some are legacy events with great causes that attract people from all over, there are others are distinctly novel like last summer’s Color Run and August's Mud Run. But the new homegrown run, Glow Your Love, is debuting this weekend with the assistance of one of our local sports advocates for our community’s health and well-being, Bradley Wills of Gazelle Sports of Grand Rapids. Earlier this summer, Wills worked with the West Michigan Pride to create the Run As One event and had so much ...

What would you be willing to pay to play 23 of the Top 25 pinball games in the world? Would you believe you could do it all for $10 over two days this weekend as The Pyramid Scheme transforms their concert and dance venue into the Grand Rapids debut of the Pinball Pyramid exhibition? Flashing lights and bleeping sounds will fill the room. According to Jeff VandenBerg, event creator and co-owner of The Pyramid Scheme, they are bringing 50 pinball machines to the stage, the sides and even dance floor. To achieve the number of 50, VandenBerg will relocate machines from his bars (The Meanwhile and ...

One of the real perks of having a vibrant live music scene that rivals Portland, Austin and other Meccas of urban cool is that you get a chance to sample the uniqueness of your culture just about any night of the week -- and often, in venues just steps from each other. And while blended shows of diverse musical acts sharing the stage is nothing new, as we’ve witnessed everything from tribute shows to genre collaborations like Trip The Light. Now, Chance Jones, along with Mike Saunders, promises to bring something really exciting as they showcase Indie Rock and Hip Hop on one stage at ...

For many, the sudden appearance of the color red is merely the reflection of the approaching autumn or sudden abrupt stop as you notice your favorite store has put up their Christmas decorations. But for another group, the sighting of a sea of red means it is Pulaski Days in Grand Rapids. You'd better get a lawyer quickly because come Monday, after a weekend of Polish food and beer, your liver is going to press charges of abuse. This annual celebration of General Casmir Pulaski, an American Revolutionary War hero, is -- in our modern version -- a bit of a community organizer as people of ...

While Rapid Growth has avoided writing directly about specific ArtPrize entries in the 2012 competition, let’s be honest: those entries that deliberately speak from the arena of parody -- like the entry ArtPrize! The Musical featuring members of the Super Happy Funtime Burlesque Show and backed by the End of Times Orchestra -- have a slim chance in Hell of actually breaking or connecting with the public. Why? Because in America, our humor must be delivered much more broadly these days. If you need proof, just look at the landscape of the new Fall TV programming from the networks. ...

It is no secret to anyone who has followed any of the dancers of our region that their lives are full of aggressive training and devotion to the pursuit of excellence on the par of any athlete. It is simply hard work and a reason many dancers burn out after years of strenuous study of their art. Attila Mosolygo, one of the members of the Grand Rapids Ballet Company (GRBC), Michigan’s only professional ballet troupe, will be departing the stage after 16 years of enticing the hearts of those dance patrons who have taken the opportunity to see his mastery on stage. He is nothing short of ...

To the masses who have little to no experience or interaction with art, the concept of conceptually thinking about art is, well, quite foreign and not a part of their routine. But if I have observed anything in my years in Grand Rapids, there are opportunities all around us that enable us to interact with this so-called art world, and in unique and fascinating ways. And sometimes, in conceptually rich venues like the one  happening on Friday night. One group that has been presenting such opportunities for this intersection is our very own Civic Studio, an experimental studio project started by ...

As I read the script for the stage debut of Nadia, I had to keep stopping to ask myself how they would stage David Turkel's newest theatrical drama at Actors’ Theatre, the home of the play's world premiere.  But if I have learned anything over the years when it comes to productions at Actors’ Theatre, it is best to trust that they will deliver a fantastic debut, just as they did last year with Rust by Austin Bunn at the start of their 2011-2012 season. (Exhale.) And while on the topic of breathing, I have no doubt that the audience members will, at times, have to remind ...

By the time you get to the launch of the annual ArtPrize Lecture Series -- still my favorite part of the event -- you are ready to sit down and exhale as someone else does the talking. But who could have guessed the first lecture would come from a man who created sculpture celebrating rush (not the band -- see your gay friends), a piece titled, “Contemporary Art Hates You (…And Your Family Too)," or who has referred to himself as the “filth elder” of culture (solidified right at the start by having a drag queen eat fresh dog poop at the end of his first movie, ...

In all fairness, I am not a trained musician. But, I do love local music. And having listened to a host of local acts, it becomes pretty clear quickly what is a knockoff and what is truly inspiring (and worth celebrating). This ability to turn my head as well as that of others in our city is a feat often rendered by our very own The Crane Wives, who not only have been kicking up some dust from here to Austin, Texas where they played a Michigan showcase for the SXSW crowds, but on their new release, The Fool in Her Wedding Gown, they are about to put the whole lot of us in a head traction ...

When I was younger, I used to have to go to church every time the door was open, but I never complained when a missionary was coming to speak. They always darkened the room as the glow of another land would piece the darkness of my rust belt hometown. I feel the same way about Cabin Time, having experienced not only their mission of creating a roving artists residency program, but also the chance to see firsthand the results of the artists who participated. For their second installment earlier this summer, the space at Nice was packed elbow to elbow (no help to the giant cabin built inside the ...

People are going to be kicking themselves when they discover Daniel Mendelsohn was in town and they missed it (and they will miss it). But those who read G-Sync -- as well as high brow, literature-based publications like The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, Esquire, Travel + Leisure, and The Paris Review or one of Mendelsohn’s many books or essays -- are about to become the lucky ones. Mendelsohn, now the Charles Ranlett Flint Professor of Humanities at Bard College, will be in town to present a new work, Medea on the Jersey Shore: Tragedy and the Crisis of Reality in ...

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 ...

During the August primary election, a lot seemed to be on the line as groups madly posted reminders to their friends to get out and vote. It is understandable, considering America’s abysmal voting percentage based on a 1960-1995 study where we scored a whopping 48 percent compared to nations like the UK (76%), Germany (86%) and Chile (93%) in the same study. It is enough to put your stomach in knots when you realize the country of Malta (94%) knows the importance of voting, even if most in America cannot find the dang country on a map. But one individual in our community is looking to ...

One of the challenges of any long-term special event that returns year after year to a city is how to keep it fresh for the attendees. For the organizers of the Eastown StreetFair, this is easy as their 2012 upgrades in Uptown’s most funky neighborhood are spot-on with something for everyone. The 39th Eastown StreetFair held in one of the city's oldest and most vibrant neighborhoods knows it holds a special space in our city and organizers have taken great measured steps to ensure its unique charm and DIY culture is still evident in their annual street celebration. The vendors that ...

There has never been a more perfect place to host the long run needed for the Grand Rapids debut of Mitch Albom’s baseball tribute play, Ernie, than Wealthy Theatre -- a venue both steeped in our history, and very much alive in all of us who have ventured under their marquee. For this special run of the Albom’s play to benefit our local hospice, fans of the baseball great Ernie Harwell will have a chance to see firsthand the theatrical event that has been wowing audiences all over the state since its debut just a few steps from Comerica Park in Detroit in June 2011. The play, set ...

After a more than a five-year hiatus, the music festival that everyone thought had flown the coop for good, Grand Rapids’ Soul of the City, rises up like a Phoenix from the ashes, reborn as a fresh, community-enriching extravaganza over Labor Day weekend in the heart of downtown. As the area’s only African American Festival co-sponsored by the City of Grand Rapids, it left a vacuum for many in our community when it departed. Thankfully, Wendell Smith, Soul of the City’s organizer, recognized as he was battling personal health issues that if this festival were to be revived ...

Afro Zuma, Grand Rapids’ afro-funk band, will take the stage at Founders Brewing Company during the brewery’s much-beloved free Thursday night concert series with a bit of a surprise. On Thursday, they will debut a brand new horn section with the same stunning, hip-shaking grooves you have come to expect, but now from an expanded 13-piece band! Josh Dunigan, the band’s rhythmic leader for the last 10 years (and also member of Cabildo and WaZoBia), says to "plan on the same great rhythms to keep those feet moving as we delve into the works of Afrobeat pioneers including ...

If you have been under a rock this past year, then you most certainly missed that Grand Rapids tied for first place with Asheville, NC as Beer City USA 2012 (Beer Examiner). A host of elected officials, including Mayor Heartwell and our city commissioners, stopped by Harmony Brewing Company this summer to raise a toast with community members as they welcomed the award at this new Eastown watering hole. And it is not just any ol’ watering hole, but a true example of the teamwork that our local brewers bestow on each other as they support this community by welcoming others who are serious ...

It is hard to imagine that when Reb Roberts placed his “Center of the Universe” art piece on the fence of a vacant lot at the corner of Lake and Diamond that we would see in our lifetime a complete revitalization built almost entirely around an artist’s vision. But this is what has happened, as this corner sign became just the spark needed to get residents of the city to begin to visualize a community reborn. And while it takes a village to make change happen as it has for East Hills over the 40-year evolution of this now much-desired neighborhood, it is fitting that this ...

The end of summer is normally a sad period for many as they pack up their beach sand-inspired dreams and prepare for the onslaught of the fall's craziness. It's back-to-school, endless ArtPrize stories and a trail of sparkling gala affairs, ending with a large man in a white beard dropping back in town with a blanket of snow to really slow us down. You get the picture? Things move pretty damn fast as we head from the season of sun into autumn, and so the best I can offer as we exit summer in the coming weeks is the advice to grab all you can while the season is upon us. Two ...