GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Downtown Grand Rapids is preparing for one of its biggest events of the year, ArtPrize.
The annual art festival/competition brings art and crowds to the streets of Grand Rapids as installations are set up inside and outside of various businesses throughout the city.
The competition won't begin until Sept. 13. However, artists have already begun setting up.
The students at Noorthoek Academy unveiled their entry on Monday, the first time they'd ever entered a piece into the competition.
Noorthoek is a non-profit program, partnered with Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC) to provide an affordable college experience for adults with disabilities.
The Noorthoek students all worked together to create their piece, "Under the Surface." The piece is on display at Veteran's Memorial Park.
The students created the panels of the floating collage in collaboration with the non-profit "Healing in Arts." And, they had a creative way of painting.
"We had like three or four different colors all along here, and then we rubbed it against the canvas," said student Cathy Ling.
By rubbed, she meant that the students used their forearms to paint instead of using paintbrushes. They chose the method so that all the students, even those unable to hold a paintbrush, could participate equally.
"It was so much fun," said Ling. "The only thing wrong with it though, is the paint was so cold on the arm."
While the paint may have been cold, it wasn't enough to stop the artists, Ling herself said she made a total of three panels to contribute.
If you'd like to learn more about ArtPrize, you can visit their website here. "Under the Surface" will be on display at Veteran's Memorial Park for anyone looking to view the piece in person.