A9 Grand Rapids Brochure

Events

Engage!

If art and design with industry awareness is what you seek, Grand Rapids provides an excellent venue for your exploration. Furthermore, Grand Rapids offers a surprising amount of support for the arts.

The following resources will help you on your art and design journey in Grand Rapids:

Festival of the Arts

www.festivalgr.org This event was first held in 1970 after “The Calder” (officially titled La Grande Vitesse) was installed. The festival includes a variety of booths, stages and art exhibitions.

Arts Council of Greater Grand Rapids www.artsggr.org

ArtServe Michigan

www.artservemichigan.org

Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs www.themedc.org/Arts

Map of ArtPrize-hosting Venues for the 2009 Contest www.artprize.org/venues

This brochure was lovingly designed by Anna K. Jonsson, who calls Grand Rapids her hometown with both affection and pride.

Grand Rapids Art & Design

ArtPrize

www.artprize.org ArtPrize, as its name connotes, is the world’s largest art prize ($250,000). There are no official judges; the prize is awarded by popular vote. The prize was first awarded in 2009.

Attractions

The Grand River valley sits in an unassuming site in Michigan, with its namesake river opening to Lake Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the population of Grand Rapids is 197,800. By all counts, Grand Rapids could be described as “ordinary.” However, such a description is inaccurate, as it fails to reflect the city’s unique relationship to the history of industrial design. Grand Rapids was a furniture production center from the ninteenth century, given its ideal position on the Grand River, which facilitated easy access to freshly logged timber from the surrounding virgin forests (If you look up furniture in wikipedia, you get a link to Grand Rapids in “see also”). Because furniture design took on a playfulness of form and function, particularly in the early 20th century, the city became a small but supportive haven for artists and designers.

Grand Rapids Art Museum

www.artmuseumgr.org Newly relocated, the museum features featuring 1,200 works of design and modern craft, including furniture.

Frederick Meijer Gardens

www.meijergardens.org Botanical gardens and sculpture park, including sculptures from Mark di Suvero, Alexander Calder, Edgar Degas, and Auguste Rodin.

Industry

Meyer May House

meyermayhouse.steelcase.com Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the house was built in 1908-09. It is an example of Wright’s Prairie School era. Free museum owned and operated by Steelcase.

Kendall College

www.kcad.edu Kendall College of Art and Design is a visual arts college that was once autonomous (it’s now a college of Ferris State University). KCAD offers undergraduate programs in Art Education, Art History, Digital Media, general Fine Art, Furniture Design, Graphic Design, Illustration, Industrial Design, Interior Design, Metals/Jewelry Design, Painting, Photography, and Sculpture/Functional Art.

American Seating

www.americanseating.com Famous for the school seat you can’t forget from childhood that combines a chair and desk.

Haworth

www.haworth.com This company focuses on office environments and adaptable workspaces.

Steelcase

www.steelcase.com An international office furniture company.

Herman Miller

www.hermanmiller.com Famous for the Eames Lounge Chair, they have partnered with such designers as Gilbert Rohde, George Nelson, Charles and Ray Eames, Ray Wilkes, Paul Laszlo, Robert Propst and Isamu Noguchi.