Arts & Culture

Grand Rapids City Commission gave their support to a big motorcycle event scheduled to take place this summer. Organizers of a new big motorcycle rally were able to coax commissioners into supporting a shortened version of the original event.

Michigan artists had a good night at the 53rd annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday.

Detroit rap star Eminem, who was nominated for a record 10 Grammy Awards, took home two top honors: Best Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Album. Brother and sister duo BeBe & CeCe Winans won Best Gospel Performance for their song "Grace." Best Classical Contemporary Composition and Best Orchestral Performance went to University of Michigan composition professor Michael Daugherty for his piece, "Deus Ex Machina."

You can find the complete list of Grammy Award winners here.

Michigan artists will be well-represented at the 53rd annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 13. Here's a brief list:

• Detroit rap star Eminem has been nominated for a record 10 Grammy Awards this year, including Album of the Year and Song of the Year.

• Jennifer Hudson, Christina Aguilera and others will pay musical tribute to the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin.

• University of Michigan professor Michael Daugherty has been nominated for five Grammy Awards, including Best Classical Contemporary Composition for his piece "Deus ex Machina."

• Conductor and recent Michigan transplant, John McLaughlin Williams, is also nominated for a Grammy Award. 

• Michigan State University ethnomusicology professor Isaac Kalumbu is nominated for a Grammy for best reggae album. 

The DSO talks have apparently hit another roadblock according to the Associated Press:

Striking Detroit Symphony Orchestra musicians have rejected the latest contract proposal from orchestra management. A musician speaking Wednesday on the condition of anonymity because he isn't authorized to speak for the union told The Associated Press the offer was rejected but more talks are possible. Management officials submitted the proposal last Friday. It included a stipulation the musicians must respond by this Friday. Management spokeswoman Elizabeth Weigandt wouldn't confirm the rejection but says a statement is expected to be released later Wednesday. Teams representing management and musicians met in late January, but those talks collapsed as they accused each other of not adhering to a three-year, $36 million proposal made in December by then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm and U.S. Sen. Carl Levin. The walkout began Oct. 4.

A tiny Upper Peninsula community is the winner of the Reader’s Digest national “We Hear You America” contest.

About 300 people live in Grand Marais, a Lake Superior summertime tourist destination.

Jack Hubbard is Burt Township supervisor and oversees Grand Marais.

He says the $40,000 prize will go toward replacing the harbor’s breakwater.

Hubbard also says he was amazed that voters from two Michigan other cities helped put his community win.

You could call it drive-by artistry.

The Kalamazoo Institute of Arts is holding a billboard contest for artists who live in Kalamazoo County.

Farrell Howe is with the KIA.  She says artists must submit a one-page biography and five images of their work to enter the competition.

"Winners will then be awarded the ability to have their artwork featured on a billboard for one year," Howe says. "Basically what's great about that is it doesn't stay in one spot. The billboards will be rotating across 850 sites inWest Michigan."

We put together our stories about arts and the economy in the state to create an hour-long documentary called The Cost of Creativity. On today's podcast, we'll hear the second installment of the doc.

And because Artpod is about all things Michigan, all the music you'll hear on The Cost of Creativity is by Michigan artists. The musicians featured on today's podcast Luke Winslow-King and The Red Sea Pedestrian.