Thirty outdoor works of art, a panel discussion and weeks of
hands-on events will welcome visitors during ArtPrize 2011 at the
Grand Valley State University Exhibition Center, throughout the
grounds of the Pew Grand Rapids Campus. All events are free and open
to the public.
The Grand Valley site provides visitors a shuttle stop, voter
registration site, an ArtPrize store and an information tent on Front
Street at the L.V. Eberhard Center. The art works include a variety of
materials, scales and messages by national and international artists.
Included this year is Buenos Aires artist Juan Batalla, whose work is
also featured in the Grand Valley Fall Arts Celebration Art Gallery
exhibition “Arte Argentino Actual/Contemporary Argentine Art,” opening
October 6 in Allendale.
Henry Matthews, Grand Valley’s director of Galleries and
Collections, said Rick DeVos will join Batalla and other
artists for a panel discussion, “Perspectives on ArtPrize,” Friday,
September 23, 5:30 p.m. at Loosemore Auditorium, in the DeVos
Center, 401 W. Fulton.
“This year we designed our annual DeVos Art Lecture to give an
insider’s view of ArtPrize,” said Matthews. “We’ve included a panel of
highly creative individuals who will share their perspectives as
artists and educators, from Buenos Aires and Amsterdam, to Michigan.”
A series of events for visitors of all ages will also be held
throughout ArtPrize, including:
- Try It! Opening Night September 21, 6-8
p.m. Make your own “Mini-monument to Mother Nature” out of
soft recycled stone and then add it to the collaborative assemblage
sculpture. Additional sessions will be held on Fridays and Saturdays
from 3-7 p.m., and Sundays from 1-4 p.m. through October 7.
- Playing with the Wind, Opening Night September 21,
7 p.m. Stop by the ArtPrize entry, “Win, Win, Wind” to hear
Sue VanderVeen read her new children’s book, Farming the
Wind, and make a paper pinwheel to take home. “Win, Win, Wind!
Protecting our Great Lakes for Future Generations,” organized by
Richard VanderVeen of Lowell, is a kinetic sculpture that includes a
mural designed by artist Glenn Wolff and painted on a 36-foot turbine
blade by students from Grand Rapids City High School. It is located in
front of the Steelcase Library on Fulton Street. Additional sessions
Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays 10 a.m. to noon, through October 9.
Students from Black River Public School in Holland worked with
Dutch artist Cyril Lixenberg to design and create a series of six
steel sculptures entered in the ArtPrize competition by Black River
art teacher Jamie Roggenbuck. Black River is a charter school
authorized by Grand Valley.
For more information on these and other ArtPrize artists and
events at the Grand Valley State University Exhibition Center, visit
www.gvsu.edu/artgallery.
Grand Valley kicks off ArtPrize with events
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