Artists

ArtPrize 2012 now underway

Lindsey Smith — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 21:44:30 +0000

Thousands of people walked around downtown Grand Rapids for the kickoff of ArtPrize 2012 Wednesday.

1,517 artists are competing for more than half-a-million dollars in the art competition.

There’s so much art here I don’t even have to leave my office building to find some. Neither did Amy Norkus. I ran into the CPA in the lobby of our building taking a picture of a 20 foot long, very detailed quilt.

"I love it. For me to be able to work downtown and walk around and see art, it’s a real treat. It gets me away from all the numbers I have to deal with all day long,” Norkus said.

Art Prize begins Wednesday with $560,000 in total prizes

Jennifer White and Mercedes Mejia — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 23:33:02 +0000

Perhaps the most popular event in West Michigan begins Wednesday. The art competition known as Art Prize runs through October 7^th in Grand Rapids.

Now in its third year it’s an even larger event with more prize money for the winners. Brian Burch is Public Relations Director for Art Prize. He says the visitor just keep showing up.

"This year we'll have about 350, 000 visitors, but that's right from the start. Our first event in 2009 had about 200,000 people. so we just continue to grow," he said.

Prison-themed gift shop to open near the old Jackson State Prison

Jennifer Guerra — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 21:13:37 +0000

The city of Jackson is capitalizing on its long history as the site of a state prison.

In addition to guided prison tours, visitors can now buy prison-related items at the city’s new prison gift shop.

When the Jackson State Prison closed in 2007, it was turned into a live-work space for artists known as the Armory Arts Village. One of the women who lives there, Judy Gail Krasnow, gives guided tours of the historic prison.

She says lots of tourists asked about a gift shop, which didn’t exist. So she created one in the Art 634 building across from the old prison, and built it to look like an old prison cell. Krasnow says the Old Prison Gift Shop was "modeled after the cells at the first prison, which had brick walls, and the doors were those thick, iron bars."

Krasnow plans to sell art made by current and former prisoners through the University of Michigan's Prison Creative Arts Project (PCAP).

Dexter kids turn to art to get their minds off the tornado

Jennifer Guerra — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 02:20:53 +0000

Dexter residents are still dealing with the aftermath of the tornado that through their town earlier this month. To help with the healing process, one woman has set up an outdoor art studio for kids in one of the hardest hit neighborhoods.

Christine Lux's makeshift studio consists of some tables, a tent, and a giant blue tarp to protect the children’s art work and art supplies.

DIA photo exhibit puts Detroit in spotlight

Jennifer Guerra — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 15:02:33 +0000

A new exhibit at the Detroit Institute of Arts looks at life in the Motor City over the past decade.

The exhibit - Detroit Revealed - includes videos and photographs of city residents and community gardens. It also includes images of the city’s decline: abandoned buildings and empty, overgrown lots - what some call “ruin porn."

Votes are in: ArtPrize "top ten" announced today

Lindsey Smith — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 22:26:17 +0000

From ArtPrize's website today:

Here are the ArtPrize 2011 Top Ten in alphabetical order. Voting on the top ten will begin at 7:00 PM Thursday, September 29, and continue through 11:59 PM on Wednesday, October 5. The first place winner and the order of the Top Ten will be announced at 6:30 PM on Thursday, October 6 at DeVos Performance Hall. Tickets are available at the ArtPrize HUB at 41 Sheldon.

North Woods: Calumet, a frontier community

Jennifer Guerra — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 11:00:00 +0000

All this week, we're bringing you stories from the North Woods. Yesterday, we visited the town of Calumet in the western tip of the U.P., where copper was once king.

As we reported, the town is experiencing a kind of resurgence:

Tom Tikkanen runs the Main Street Program, a nonprofit focused on redeveloping Calumet. His group did a study a couple years ago to figure out what’s driving the town’s relatively recent upswing. The answer? Culture economic development.
"It starts with our artists," explains Tikkanen. "It’s a natural development that’s taking place. The more art that’s displayed and that’s created here, the more that attracts other artists."

Tikkanen also described the town as a "frontier community" that's redefining itself. We conclude our stories on Calumet with a look at what happens when new folks move in to an old town.

Meet Calumet's newest residents

Stephanie Swartzendruber is one of the bartenders at Shute's Bar in downtown Calumet. Outside, the bar looks like your typical dive bar. Inside, it's beautiful. Nearly everything is original from the 1890s: the rich, dark wood bar, the 1895 liquor license, the beautiful, Tiffany-like stained glass canopy above the bar.

Swartzendruber moved to Calumet last November, and she’s says the town is on the verge:

"I feel like it’s coming back! We have cute little coffee shops and art galleries and awesome bars like [Shute's] in a place where you can buy a house for under $20,000," says Swartzendruber.

North Woods: Artists set up shop in Calumet

Jennifer Guerra — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 11:00:00 +0000

As part of our series, Stories from the North Woods, we head to Calumet in the Keweenaw Peninsula. The town has been struggling to re-discover itself ever since the area's copper boom died out more than 50 years ago.

The town that time forgot

Artist Ed Gray remembers when the last mine closed in Calumet in the late 1960s:

North Woods: An artist residency on Rabbit Island (with photos)

Jennifer Guerra — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 10:00:00 +0000

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/michigan/local-michigan-987661.mp3

Earlier this summer we told you about a remote island in Lake Superior called Rabbit Island:

New Yorker Rob Gorski saw the 91-acre island listed for sale on Craiglist. At first, he was skeptical. But after talking it over with his brother, both of whom are Michigan natives, they bought the island for less than $150,000.
The land, known as Rabbit Island, is about a half hour boat ride from the Keweenaw Peninsula.
Gorski says the plan is to preserve the island as is, and build only a small, green cabin where future artists can stay.
"We’d like to be able to send an artist, maybe two, out to the island to practice their creative process within an entirely isolated environment. We think it’d be a very remote experience, it’d be very difficult in some ways, but I think the end result could be very interesting."

As part of my series, Stories from the North Woods, I took the 3.5-mile boat ride from Rabbit Bay to Rabbit Island to see how the residency is coming along.

This year try listening to ArtPrize

Lindsey Smith — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 21:04:37 +0000

ArtPrize 2011 begins Wednesday afternoon in Grand Rapids. Sound and performing arts will play a bigger role in this year’s contest. Music, ballet, and other performances are, after all, art. But there haven’t been a lot of entries in the past.

The winner of the art competition gets $250,000 in prize money. Organizers claim it’s the world’s largest art prize.

This is the third annual ArtPrize. The third time I’ve seen giant sculptures, breath-taking murals, funny and eye-opening drawings take over a three-mile zone in downtown.

Ypsilanti studio space "spurs" on artists, musicians

Jennifer Guerra — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 16:38:27 +0000

You can file this story under "silver lining."

Michigan's recession has left a lot of empty buildings in its wake. When James Marks was looking for a larger building to house his t-shirt and flat screen printing company, VG Kids, he looked at a two-story brick building on Railroad Street in Ypsilanti.

The 52nd Ann Arbor Art Fair kicks off this week

Jennifer Guerra — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 10:00:00 +0000

An estimated 500,000 people are expected to make their way to Ann Arbor this week for the city’s annual Art Fairs, which is technically made up of four separate art fairs.

The fair, which runs Wednesday, July 20 - Saturday, July 23, will display works by more than 1,100 artists.

Artists signing up for ArtPrize 2011; one tiny change this year

Lindsey Smith — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 19:57:19 +0000

Registration opened this week for artists who want to take part in ArtPrize 2011. The winner of the yearly art competition is decided by the voting public who visit the event in downtown Grand Rapids.

400 to attend Rust Belt to Artist Belt conference in Detroit

Jennifer Guerra — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 14:04:51 +0000

Hundreds of artists will be in Detroit this week for the third annual Rust Belt to Artist Belt conference.

The goal is to get artists, educators and creative entrepreneurs together to brainstorm how they can help revitalize post-industrial cities like Detroit, Flint, and Cleveland.

Detroit to host "Rust Belt to Artist Belt" conference in April

Jennifer Guerra — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 22:03:15 +0000

Creative types from across the country will convene in Detroit next month to talk about how artists can help revitalize post-industrial cities.

Matt Clayson directs the Detroit Creative Corridor Center and is one of the people behind the “Rust Belt to Artist Belt” conference.

He says the conference will focus on the creative supply chain many post-industrial cities like Detroit have to offer: