Three weeks ago, I was an ArtPrize neophyte, not having the slightest idea what ArtPrize was or what I should expect.

What I found was an event that is hard to pin down.

What is ArtPrize? It's a street party, it's an art show, and it's sitting in a bar with a pint watching a football game next to a wonderfully rendered painting of a nude woman.

ArtPrize is a lot of things, but most important, it seems to be whatever you want it to be.

Do you want to quietly visit a gallery with great art? It's that.

Do you like performance art pieces with an off beat sense of humor? It's that, too.

Do you want to stroll the town with your date, debating the point of two plastic mannequins in bunny suits floating in the river? It's that.

It can be very serious if you want it to be, it can be very fun if it you want it to be.

Within a two block jaunt down Monroe Center one night I heard off key caterwauling from a street "performer" one minute and heard the wonderful sounds of a full on tight jazz ensemble the next.

There's religious art and art that slams religion.

One minute you can be in the thick of a maddening crowd, the next you can be in a nook having a conversation with an artist about the meaning of their work.

Do you want to dance to electronic music while eating pork tacos out of a food truck? I did that in the B.O.B. parking lot.

Do you want to enjoy live bands while knocking back craft beer on a beautiful fall night? I did that in Rosa Parks Circle.

Do you hate ArtPrize? There was even art that hated ArtPrize along with you. It even had a name you would like, "FartPrize".

In front of the Ford Museum I faced a blackboard asking me to finish a daunting statement, "Before I Die..." and thinking that what I really wanted was the statue of the man with the wings a few feet away, held down by the chains and weights of his own making -- to fly.

That's what good art can do to you.

It is truly a unique event, one I would recommend to any of my friends and family, and I just wanted to thank Grand Rapids for showing it to me.

Now I know what ArtPrize is, and I'm proud it's in my new hometown.

 

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