GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — ArtPrize 2024's Opening Celebration featured a massive surprise.
On Friday, Sept. 13 around 8:40 p.m. a 35-foot-tall illuminated marionette scaled the Amway Grand Plaza as a lead-in to the celebration's firework show.
The Underground Circus, a professional circus company from Vancouver, British Columbia, created the puppet and named him David.
David is the largest marionette in North America. ArtPrize organizers said he's the only marionette in the world designed to hold circus acts right in his hands.
He was created for the opening of Vancouver's newest Convention Centre but has since been featured at events in Canada and California.
David will be sticking around for ArtPrize from Sept. 16 through 25 at 45 Ottawa Avenue.
ArtPrize visitors will have the opportunity to see David up close and even try their hand at controlling him.
David's activation times and details can be found here.
To help close out ArtPrize 2024, David will return for a performance at the closing ceremony on Sept. 27.
The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. outside of Kendall College of Art and Design at Pearl Street and Division Avenue.