GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Keyon Lovett is a proud father, but before he became a dad, he was a son. His father died in 1991. After Lovett's wife gave birth to their first son two years ago, he started to reflect on all the lost time he would've had with his dad if he hadn't passed away.
"I lost my father when I was 15 months old. He was shot and killed in Flint, Michigan in a string of murders during the summer 1991 and I just started to think about the first 15 months of my son's life, and like the dynamics of what if that happens to me," said Lovett.
The title of his interactive piece is called "456: A Reflection on Fatherhood." It's comprised of 456 letters to his father, and the exhibition was created to represent Lovett's childhood living room. He's still in the process of completing it.
"Four hundred fifty-six days or 456 letters to equal 15 months, which would be the exact, you know, time stamp for when my father passed away, when I was alive, and the exact time where I stopped writing when my son turned 15 months," said Lovett.
Lovett's art isn't the only piece that will be on display for ArtPrize at the Muse GR on Leonard Street. Stephen Smith is the co-owner of the building and said there will be three solo exhibitions on display.
"Usually, you have something and it'll be like, collaborative, like, there's some cohesiveness to this exhibition, but we wanted each artist to really have their own space and their own experience," said Smith.
He encourages the community to come out and see what the artists created at his gallery this year.
"We're really excited to try to create an experience that people want to come to. We encourage people to come over to the west side and view us. We've been always excited that we're part of the ArtPrize map, and we have three hard-hitting experiences for people to come check out," said Smith.
Smith's gallery will open on Sept. 13 once ArtPrize starts. Muse GR is located on Leonard Street Northwest near Alpine Avenue.