Saturday, October 10, 2009

ArtPrize 2009

Maybe you have heard about ArtPrize which has been taking place in Grand Rapids from September 23 - October 10. ArtPrize has been called a social experiment to reboot the conversation between artist and audiences on a grand scale. The public was able to vote thumbs up or thumbs down on each of the 1262 pieces that were installed downtown in the first round. In the second round, you could cast one vote for one of the artists who made it into the top ten.

For what it's worth, I voted a thumb up on the winner, Open Water by Ray Ortner and also gave it my vote in the final 10. It's a large painting of waves coming right at you that looks like a photograph. I loved it!

Our church was a venue for ArtPrize and we showed pieces by 18 artists. Maria and I were on the committee to help choose the art we wanted to show and John & I spent many hours helping with installation and hosting and organizing volunteers. It has been so much fun! And meeting the artists has been my greatest joy these past weeks.

Here's a peek into what our worship space has looked like:

art 069 art 070
art 071 art 074

Click here to see the other photos I took at church.

1 comment:

ELK said...

what an interesting concept and special for your church!