ArtPrize 2016 recap!

There are nearly 500 ArtPrize pictures here. Just in case anyone is actually interested.

ArtPrize 2016 ended about a week ago, and for the past week we've been enjoying getting back into the normal, boring routine. I absolutely love ArtPrize, and i love going downtown and walking around and experiencing it all, and i wouldn't wish to not have it, BUT i'm glad that it only lasts three weeks. (Four weeks, if you're doing the preview week like we did....)

Beth and i both managed to make it to all of the venues, which means that we saw nearly all of the art (i'm sure we missed a thing or two), and i can say that there was a LOT of really great art. A few of my favorite things:

 This statue was so amazingly realistic, which alone is impressive, but the emotion that is all over their faces and body language. I'd have been okay with this winning, honestly.

These season pictures are both really beautiful and also interesting enough to just stand and look at for a really long time. Juanito and i both agreed that we'd want to have these hanging in our house.

Okay, i don't exactly "love" these, but i do just think they're really, really cute. Little felted balls! Random! Adorable!

We went to Meijer Gardens, and right afterwards i told Beth that it was "Meh. Nothing too exciting." But then, for the next week or two, i kept thinking about two of the pieces. They're not my favorite, favorite things, but the more time that went by, the more that i liked them.

 This was a series of little pictures of eyes, that completely sucked me in. This one is my favorite.

This drawing is so, so beautiful. 

This is another one that i didn't love immediately, but the longer i stood and looked at it, the more i liked it. Not because i think it's so well done, but because i just love the feel of it. It reminds me of family reunions.

This giant train track was built piece by piece by this adorable little old man who was sitting there every time i was there. Beth and i talked to him on the last day we were there, and he was just incredibly happy to talk about how he made it.

This was a really, really cool installment of a zillion strings of different colors strung between the ceiling and the floor. Everywhere you stood, it looked different and beautiful.

This was my absolutely favorite thing in all of ArtPrize this year. It's a handmade, woven rug, and it's simply amazing. A. Maz. Ing. It didn't even make the top 20. I was sad.

Nothing that won was my favorite at all, and some of it was completely ridiculously terrible, so i'm not even going to post any of those results. This is my own little ArtPrize awards. :)

ArtPrize day -1!!!

Lots of pictures here.

Today was "Twin Day" for City's spirit week, so last night at about 8:30, Houston called Chauncey and asked him, "Hey! Do you want to be my twin?" Because they are boys, Chauncey also didn't have a twin plan, so they both wore their matching gym shirts from middle school, fedoras, and some crazy glasses that Chauncey broke in half and they both taped to their faces. Houston looked like this:

It's the day before ArtPrize actually starts, and per our usual tradition, we went to the Ford and Public museums to walk around and see the artists setting up their art outside. We ended up being there quite a bit longer than we'd planned, because Juanito and Zane decided to ride their bikes downtown after zumba to meet us. They got there just as we finished looking at all of the stuff we'd planned to look at, so rather than just send them straight home again, we walked over to a nearby hotel (which, obviously, is open) and looked at the art there too. 

I can never decide if every other year the art at ArtPrize is actually better or if it's that my expectations get really high and then i'm disappointed and then the next year i expect nothing and i'm pleasantly surprised again. But last year i was disappointed in a lot of the art, and so far this year has lots of things i like. (Nothing i LOVE yet, but since ArtPrize hasn't technically even started yet, that's probably to be expected....)

ArtPrize! Day -4!

(I've taken a ton of pictures of ArtPrize already. Today's are here. Thursday's are here.)

On Thursday we all hopped in the car and drove around to a few of the venues that are outside of town - Arnie's, Coit school, the Downtown market. We tried to go a few other places, but they must have changed their minds about being open for preview week. One church that we went to was open, and we wandered all over the entire church before concluding that there was no art anywhere.

At Arnie's, there was a baseball game made of silly little metal guys, and Houston almost immediately spotted the fielder who was squatting down and playing with bugs. He ran over and exclaimed, "Look! It's me!" Hee. (That totally WAS him, back when he played.) Also at Arnie's was what might be this year's most pathetic piece: a bunch of printed pictures, colored in with crayola markers.

Today we headed into actual downtown and hit a few of the places that get completely insanely crowded during actual ArtPrize. We went to The B.O.B., and it was the perfect place to go, because there was almost nobody else there, so we could totally look at everything without giant crowds. We also went to Kendall and a couple of other smaller venues, and then we were walking toward the car when we realized that we could go into Devos and see some of the art there that just happened to be up already. Yay!

There's been a pattern that we've noticed, wherein the odd years of ArtPrize tend to be more disappointing than the even years. So far, i'm hopeful that this year will be good. There were things that i didn't care for, but there've been several things that i've liked, and i've only seen a small percentage, so ... finger's crossed!

ArtPrize begins! Sort of.

Last year, both Beth and i managed to go to every single venue in ArtPrize, which is...kind of insane, actually. But the very last place both of us went was Biggby Coffee. And so, this year, it was fitting that the very first place we'd go would be Biggby Coffee!

ArtPrize doesn't technically start until next week, but they're doing a "preview week" this week, where just some of the venues will have art for us to look at. And having an extra week seems like a really good idea!

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Tonight Houston's school had a PTSA dinner + "go to all of your child's classes and meet their teachers" event. Yay! I got to sit with Linda for the dinner, which made me really happy, because that meant that i only had to be social with someone i already know, and not having to make awkward small talk is always a happy thing. Plus, i like Linda!

Houston's teachers all seem really great, and i wholeheartedly agree with his feelings about his geometry teacher being...okay. I'm hoping he's a great teacher, because he's not winning a lot of points on the personable scale.

Almost every single one of Houston's teachers, when i said that i was Houston's mom, responded in a really positive way. His Spanish teacher immediately gushed, "Oh, i LOVE Houston! He's just a joy to have in class!" And his Art teacher was likewise gushy. His health teacher's first response was, "Oh! Houston! He wrote in one of his assignments about the time when his brother bit a frog!" and i was all, "....? (Blink. Blink.)" Because to the best of my recollection, Zane has never bit a frog.... I shall have to investigate this story further.

ArtPrize, ArtPrize, and more ArtPrize.

I mean, things have happened this month. Zane started Boy Scouts again and the Katrina and Houston started going to Fifty6 and The Element (the middle school church groups) again. There were tests and there was homework and we even managed to squeeze in a pizza-movie night (though, to be honest, i think that we actually started eating at about 8:00). Juanito and Katrina managed to paint Katrina's bike, which was THRILLING (for Katrina).

But honestly, our life has been pretty dominated by ArtPrize for the past month.

First, Juanito was spending every single minute he could find working on his piece. He lost sleep and skipped fun family outings and gave up spending time doing anything else so that he could get it finished in time. He not only drew his picture, but he also built the frame for it. (And a stool. Because: procrastination.) But he finished it on time, and it was fantastic.

Since he was an artist this year, Juanito tried to sit by his art when he could, so he spent quite a few hours there. I think that he probably didn't spend as many hours at his piece as he expected to, though, because ArtPrize is addicting, and he kept wanting to walk around and see the rest of the art out there. He took off work a couple of days, skipped Zumba on the first day of ArtPrize, and spent as much free time as he could downtown.

My dad picked up my grandpa and brought him downtown, where my mom and my sister Jackie and i joined him. We walked around and looked at art, obviously stopping in at Panera to visit Juanito and let everyone see his drawing. It was my grandpa's first time at ArtPrize, and i think that he really enjoyed it. Yay!

Juanito's mom and his his brother JJ came up to visit for several days, to see Juanito's art (and the rest of ArtPrize). We took them around to see as much art as they could stand, but i think they were both pretty finished with ever seeing art again by the time that they left.

The kids went along and saw a LOT of the art, but they're not quite as obsessive about it as we adults are. Zane, especially, was just not interested in spending a lot of time at ArtPrize, and was pretty quick to want to be done. Houston enjoyed being there when he was downtown, but he generally chose to not go if he was allowed to make the choice. The amazing thing, this year, is that Houston is 13, and we can totally leave the kids home alone.

Katrina, on the other hand, came with us downtown several times while the boys stayed home. I'm not sure if she was just happy to be the only kid with the adults, where she got lots of attention and didn't have to deal with brothers, or if she just really liked looking at art, but i suspect it was a bit of both. She was awesome to walk around with, and ended up being my partner when we split up into smaller groups in the big venues. We were generally interested in the same things, so we'd just barely glance at some stuff, and then stand and look for a long time at other things...and almost always, we were standing and studying the same things. It made for a fun experience.

Both Houston and Katrina (and, a little bit, Zane) have really interesting observations about the art that we see. When the artist is around, they ask really good questions. And they tend to be drawn to the same stuff i'm drawn to. Not necessarily the "best" art and almost certainly not the most "deep" and "meaningful" art with long artist statements that only other artists understand, but also not only the giant, "shiny" art that Artists are so disdainful of.

I volunteered at ArtPrize this year, and worked 5 shifts. I did all different things - i registered people and stood by art yelling, "DON'T TOUCH THAT!" and put together signs.

And we walked around and drove around and walked some more and just looked and looked and looked at art. And there were great and good and okay and terrible artworks. Beth and i both somehow managed to go to every single venue.

The very first day, i told Beth and Juanito that i just wasn't as impressed this year by a lot of the art as previous years. And then i decided to stop being whiny and give it a chance. And i think i did. And i just looked back at all of the pictures i took for the past three weeks, and...i think i wasn't impressed this year as i was in some of the other years. There were a lot of things i liked, and some things i really liked, but there wasn't very much that i LOVED. When the finalists were announced, i was annoyed. And when the winners were announced, i was even more annoyed. (I never even took a single picture of the winning public vote piece, because i just Did. Not. Like. It. And the winning juried piece was just ridiculous.)

And so, here are MY votes for the top 25. (I get to make my own rules, so i'll keep their four categories, but i'm allowed to put as many into each category as i want. Because i CAN.) These are the ones that made me happy or sad or just really captivated. These are the ones that i kept wanting to go back to to look at them one more time.

Karen's completely subjective and probably totally un-artsy choices that would make the jurors swoon with disdain list of favorites:

2D Category:

I mean, OBVIOUSLY.

(I am now removing Juanito's picture from my competition, because otherwise he would CLEARLY win.)

I just think that this one is lovely. 

Something about this just draws me in and makes me  want to keep looking at it.

This one actually was in the top five - the only one on my list that was. I think that it's just really emotional even without any of the story, but then once you know the story behind it, it's even more powerful.

Y'know what? This just makes me smile. Loads and loads of artists paint people without clothes, but this is the first time i've seen clothes without their people.

Beth and Keren and Katrina and i all stood in front of this one for ages, looking for our favorites. It's 100 women that she's drawn on cancelled checks, and i just really, really like it.

I LOVE this, and i just don't even understand how it WASN'T in the top 20. It's a giant wall of 22 women from different countries around the world. They're beautiful.

Okay, so this is both just kind of clever and funny, and also really well done. The "Sky Jack" and "Pair of Jacks" are especially beautiful. 

Honestly, i just saw this for the first time yesterday - i somehow missed it the first time - and so maybe i won't like it as much in a few weeks, but i think it's clever and really cool.

Tiny things. Beth, Juanito, and i stood and looked and looked at these and kept pointing out new ones to each other. They're adorable.

From the first time i saw these, i was completely impressed. They're four pieces and they're all quilted, and they're amazing. I just can't get over how well done they are.

3D Category: 

Honestly, i think that i liked this artist's entry better last year. But last year he was in a tiny venue, and not many people saw it, and i'm really glad that he won his category this year.

This was my first choice for 3D. It's all made out of screen, and it's amazing.

This just makes me smile. It's pretty and delicate and whimsical.

There was a lot of Japanese pottery at Meijer Gardens this year, and it was mostly really, really beautiful. This was my favorite piece there, though.

Okay, i just think these are cute. And my kids liked them. And they're fun.

I contend that this is an installation, but they listed it as 3-D, so, fine. Beth and i just stood and looked at this one for ages. It's the last meal of 600 different people who were given the death sentence in America. And it's SO sad.

These are just pretty.

Also just pretty and creative and well-done.

I loved Melondy. 

Installation category:

So these were little swirls of paint that was poured and then scraped up, and i can't explain why i liked them, but i did.

This is just beautiful. And really interesting from every angle.  

I want to own this and put it in my house and curl up in it and read and draw and cuddle.

The more that i looked at this, the more that i liked it. 

Time-Based Category:

This is the only one i really liked from this category. It was interesting and different and the kids loved it.

Grand Prize:

This was the first thing that i loved, and every time i saw it (many times), i was impressed again. It's just so, so good. (My choice may change a dozen times over the next year, though.)

Juanito's ArtPrize entry

Juanito's been working nearly non-stop on his drawing for ArtPrize. He's got about a week until it absolutely has to be finished, but he's hoping to get it done in the next couple of days. So far he's put in somewhere around 100 hours.

It looks amazing. 

ArtPrize and Snapchat

ArtPrize is suddenly in the air. It's not yet the end of the summer, so it wasn't even on my radar yet, really - it's a fall thing, and i usually start thinking about it after school starts. Except Juanito is entering a piece this year, and he just finally started drawing it today. And Stephanie, who volunteers for ArtPrize, invited me to go with her to a volunteer kickoff party, so i went to that with her, and suddenly it feels like it's right around the corner! Yikes!

(I will not become completely consumed this year. I will not become completely consumed this year. I will not...)

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I've had a couple of other adults who have told me, "Yeah, i heard about Snapchat and thought it sounded completely stupid, but i actually like it!" And i finally thought, "Meh. Might as well see what all the fuss is...."

And Beth and i spent a good part of the day today sending ridiculous and hilarious pictures back and forth. It is quite enjoyable. Not as informative as text, but way less stressful for those among us (me) who can't text quickly. Plus you get to laugh at your friends. (In a loving way.)