GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Project 1: Crossed Lines will feature large scale public art from five different artists in three different parts of the Grand Rapids. This is the first year of Project 1, which will take the place of ArtPrize.
"We flipped things around. Instead of doing a competition—that is open to any artist and features mostly small work — we decided to do a commission model where we select professional artists," said Kevin Buist, ArtPrize's artistic director. "And invest in them up front and then work with them, work with the community and work with the city to really deliberately place those projects."
A bulk of the installations will still be in a walkable area of downtown including at Rosa Parks Circle and the Blue Bridge. But, installations will also be featured at Martin Luther King Jr. Park on the southeast side of town and the Tanglefoot building on the southwest side.
"Every Saturday through September is going to have a really unique set of performing events that activate and utilize these installations that these artists have created," Buist said.
On Sept. 7, Project 1 will officially kick off with a launch party that will move through each public art site as the day progresses. The party will begin at noon in Rosa Parks Circle with a performance by Bandaloop, which specializes in vertical dancing.
"If you haven't heard of it is basically a mixture of dance and repelling off the sides of buildings," Buist said. "So, it's going to be phenomenal and you're not going to want to miss it."
Each of the following Saturdays in September will highlight one of the three Project 1 sites. On Sept. 14, there will be a concert on the Blue Bridge, the site of artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s Voice Bridge, a sound activated light installation. On Sept. 21, there will be a community bike ride through all the installations with a longer stop at MLK Park where the African American Art and Music Festival will be taking place. The festival will utilize installations by Heather Hart and Amanda Browder as backdrops and stages for performers. On Sept. 28, there will be a visual and interactive display presented by local group, DisArt, at the Tanglewood building, where artists Paul Amenta and Ted Lott have created a fully accessible public space. Voices, the name of DisArt's project, will visualize stories of both alienation and belonging from those in the disabled community.
"The installations themselves are free and open to the public, so they can be viewed at any time," Buist said. "But, the Saturday's are a great time to see them because they are activated by different forms of performance."
ArtPrize is still looking for volunteers primarily to help guests during the Saturday events, click here to learn more.
► Emma Nicolas is a multimedia journalist. Have a news tip or question for Emma? Get in touch by email, Facebook or Twitter.
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