Finding My Place In The City

I finished my tenure with Leadership Grand Rapids last week.  This drawing was done in my sketch book during one of the sessions of our last day together.  This experience was a powerful learning opportunity for me.  To be with a group of people on a regular basis through the course of nine months who were all plucked from very different kinds of work settings within the city was a powerful experience.  I have never worked within the  corporate culture so I had a lot to learn.  The last "job" I had was  teaching part time at Calvin College and I was very much left to myself with those students in the class room. 

I come away from this experience with a greater respect for the people who make up our city with all their different disciplines and perspectives.  It seems natural for a person to become isolated in their own small circle of friends and experiences.  It takes a concerted effort to push off from what has become easy and familiar and go out into those areas where we may feel very vulnerable and uncertain of the outcome.  Leadership Grand Rapids helped me to grow into a person with a wider perspective of what our city is in the process of becoming.  It also helped me to have a better understanding of my place with in this process.

Lets Create Working Relationships Between Artists And Corperations

Watch Craft In America: Kohler Arts Residency on PBS. See more from The Arts.

I think it is so cool that a company like Kohler exists that has created a place for artists.  I believe their artist in residency program which they have had since 1974 has helped the Kolher company to evolve into an industry leader.  Having professional artists in house to work on their own projects has left a large deposit of  innovation and beauty within their company ethos year after year. This is a great example of knitting together industry and the arts, the corporate world with the artistic visionary world, the bottom line guy with the dreamer.

The next question is, why don't we create a similar model right here in West Michigan?

Thinking About Art Prize 2012

Purchase the print on canvas or paper of this painting here.

The above painting was my Art Prize entry this past year.  It was located in the Catholic Diocese building on the corner of Wealthy and Division Streets. After the first two years of large scale projects that were a lot of work and expensive, it felt like a relief to simply hang a painting on the wall and walk away.

I had the opportunity this past year to look through many of the different venues and get a better overview of what actually is happening during Art Prize. I even wrote a piece for Mlive of my opinion of the years top ten which was my shot at art criticism. Even though my take away from last year was on the negative side I remain a believer in what Art Prize has the potential to do for our city.  I think there are many ways that Art Prize is contributing to the evolution of our local culture but the aspect I am most interested in is the potential to build bridges between the art community and the local corporate culture. 

It is my hope this year to find a corporation that I can partner with for next years project.  I would like to have the winter to begin to create my painting so if you are working with in a company that would like to develop a working relationship with a local artist please begin the conversation and lets see where it wants to go.