Arts & Culture

The third annual ArtPrize will kick off tomorrow in Grand Rapids. Michigan Radio's Lindsey Smith will have an update for us later today.

From the Associated Press:

ArtPrize begins Wednesday and runs through Oct. 9. Organizers say this year's show will host artists from 39 countries and 43 states displaying their work in 164 venues within three square miles of the city's downtown.

While the winners of most art competitions are decided by a few professionals, ArtPrize allows any adult to enter and any attendee to vote for the winners.

Founder Rick DeVos says the event is more about the process than the finished product - giving artists permission to embrace creativity and succeed or fail.

The burgeoning Sugar Hill Arts District along Woodward Avenue in Detroit will soon see an influx of cash.

The National Endowment for the Arts has teamed up with several other federal agencies, foundations and corporations to create ArtPlace, an initiative to fund art projects nationwide in an effort to help revitalize cities.

The Grand Rapids Symphony has reached a labor agreement with its 80 musicians. The deal comes after several months of intense contract negotiations. 

“Someone counted that we had 29 meetings during the summer,” said Peter Kjome, Grand Rapids Symphony President and CEO.

“It was not an easy time at the negotiating table but we stayed there together, we rolled up our sleeves, we reached agreement and now we’re able to focus on making music.”

Daniel Krichbaum is head of the only department of state government explicitly authorized by the Michigan Constitution.

He is also executive director of the smallest department of state government, one that few people even know exists. If you haven‘t guessed, it is the Michigan Department of Civil Rights.

And if your response is, “huh? Civil Rights? That’s so 1960s. Isn’t that over?” he won’t be surprised. He hears that all the time.

Krichbaum, in fact, has been around for long enough to have had a number of stellar careers. He has a PhD in education and is an ordained Methodist minister. But he’s devoted most of his career to public service, most notably as head of the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity. Before that, he spent seventeen years as parks and recreation director for the City of Detroit.

My colleague Michigan Radio reporter Steve Carmody passed along this study from the Nielsen Company:

State of the Media: The Social Media Report (Q3 2011)

So how are we spending our time online? (hint: you "like" it). From the report:

Americans spend more time on Facebook than they do any other U.S. website.

Here's the top ten:

1. 22.5 percent of our online time is spent on social networks and blogs
2. 9.8 percent online games
3. 7.6 percent e-mail
4. 4.5 percent "portals"
5. 4.4 percent videos/movies
6. 4.0 percent search
7. 3.3 percent instant messaging
8. 3.2 percent software manufacturing
9. 2.9 percent classifieds/auctions
10. 2.6 percent on current events and global news

Nielsen reports that Tumblr is an emerging social network nearly tripling its unique U.S. audience over the last year.

Does the Tumblr design look somewhat familiar to you?

DETROIT (AP) - Plans are coming together for a new festival showcasing Detroit's creative community.

The Detroit Design Festival takes place Sept. 21-28. Online retail mortgage lender Quicken Loans Inc. announced Monday that it will be the "premier sponsor" for the event, which will feature fashion shows, exhibitions, lectures, installations and studio tours, performances.

With the sponsorship, the Detroit Creative Corridor Center will be able to provide grants to local designers and creative professionals to showcase their work.