Daniel Roberts
L.V. Eberhard Center, GVSU City Campus

Daniel Roberts is a sculptor working with themes of loss and change, memory, and the everyday. Beginning his work directly from encounters, found objects, and people, he uses daily life as inspiration to develop shapes that carry contemplative and immediate narratives. This particular stainless steel sculpture, "Gathering Currents," is from a body of work conceived as a celebratory study of the complex knot-like movement of the East River's tidal waters. Roberts' studio looks out over the river, and he was fascinated by the twice daily tidal change, which continually twists the current back onto itself. His goal in making sculpture is to create work that feels unplanned yet urgent—like a portrait of the life we live in the city; evocative of intimacy and memory, of change and touch, and of passing time.

J Brett Grill
GVSU Mount Vernon Pedestrian Mall, L. William Seidman Center

In 2023, GVSU hosted local artist J Brett Grill and his piece Mathias J. Alten. This work is larger than a life-size bronze sculpture of regional artist Mathias J. Alten. The work was commissioned by the late granddaughter of Mathias Alten, Anita M. Gilleo (1924 – 2023).

The work is installed at the GVSU Pew Campus Mount Vernon Pedestrian Mall, next to the L. William Seidman Center. The work is now a permanent part of the GVSU art collection and will also have an accompanying augmented reality component, which will bring the sculpture to life via the Art at GVSU mobile app.

Scott Froschauer
L.V. Eberhard Center, GVSU City Campus

For ArtPrize 2022, we hosted work by California-based artist Scott Froschauer from his series The Word on the Street and The Peace Signs. The GVSU venue was located on the pedestrian pathways outside the L.V. Eberhard Center on the Grand Rapids Pew Campus, where the Blue Bridge meets the west bank of the Grand River.

Froschauer’s work is familiar yet surprising, taking the form of street signs but communicating messages of hope and positivity, rather than municipal warnings. Of his work, Froschauer states, “By using the materials and visual language of street signs, but replacing the traditional negative wording (Stop, Do Not Enter, Wrong Way…) with positive affirmations, The Word on the Street seeks to provide something that is missing from our daily visual diet.”

The Peace Signs series takes these ideas one step further and challenges viewers to consider their role in creating and reinforcing social standards of behavior. These works take the form of parking zone signs but utilize the text of the Lao-Tse poem Peace in the Heart translated into many different languages. Froschauer describes this project as "an exploration in visualizing world peace." 
 
Explore a Learning Resource: Rethinking Street Signs Activity 

Jason Quigno
L.V. Eberhard, GVSU City Campus 

During ArtPrize 2021, GVSU hosted two massive sculptures, including Jason Quigno's Infinity Cube. Jason Quigno is a member of the Anishinaabe people and a local Grand Rapids advocate for Indigenous artists around the country.  This sculpture is a massive granite cube with hand-carved descending spirals on each side that connect in a hollow center. The visual balance and harmony of the spirals represent the human spirit and how all people are connected outwardly and inwardly.

José Marcelino Valdez and Gerson Valdez-Cordòn
L. William Siedman Center, GVSU City Campus 

Mayan stone sculptures, known as stelae, were monuments chiseled out of stone. They created an enduring record to honor and glorify the important royal, political, and religious leaders of Mayan society at the time. The stelae are upright, flat slabs of stone worked in relief. Their size, larger than that of a human being, created an engaging and awe-inspiring impression of their leaders. These were monuments which symbolized the strength and power of the most prominent individuals of their time. "Tetun" in Mayan language means "Stone Tree." The hieroglyphic texts found in the stelae elaborate and commemorate the lives of the Mayan people and their leaders.

Kimberly Walker
L.V. Eberhard Center, GVSU City Campus

Kimberly Walker’s piece, titled “Locked and Loaded,” consisted of 46 military-issue duffel bags representing 46 cases of sexual assault in the military. Through years of research, Kimberly discovered that none of the cases were disclosed to the general public.

The bags were stacked on wooden pallets, which Walker said served as a symbolic seven-foot wall that drew the line between the military and civilians. The bottom of each bag display the name and rank of the women who were victims of sexual assault while serving in the military. The tops of the bags will be padlocked, which Walker said represents permanence and secrecy. A block of cement with 46 keys embedded into its surface will sit on the ground beside the wall of duffel bags.

Grand Valley Shakespeare Festival

This production was directed by GVSU theatre Professor Dennis Henry. The cast consisted of GVSU undergrads Christa Wright, Quiana Flynn, Ryan Patten Justin Helou, Jacob Miller, and Henry Morris. The stage manager was Katelyn Bonnano. The dramaturg and producer was Katherine Mayberry. The Executive Director of Grand Valley Shakespeare was Dr. James Bell.

John Sauvé
Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences, GVSU Health Campus

"The Man in the City: A Conversation of Numbers," a city-wide ArtPrize entry, is partially on display on the roof of Grand Valley's Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences. The piece, created by Detroit-based artist John Sauvé and entered in conjunction with the West Michigan Prostate Health Alliance, is meant to use art to inspire men to better understand and engage in their personal health, specifically their prostate health. This installation consists of multiple seven-foot steel sculptures located at 12 venues in Grand Rapids of a man painted blue, representing prostate cancer awareness.

Jason Quigno
L.V. Eberhard Center, GVSU City Campus

Anishinaabe Artist Jason Quigno was born in 1975 in Alma, MI. Working in all types of stone and always evolving, pushing the limits of the stone and of himself, Jason strives for simplicity, movement, balance, and beauty in each sculpture.

The Three Sisters are based on the native legend of the three sisters, Corn, Beans, and Squash, and how they grow and thrive together in a three-sisters planting, the three partners benefiting one another. Corn provides support for Beans. Beans, like other legumes, have bacteria living on the roots that help them absorb nitrogen from the air and convert it to a form that plants can use. (Corn, which requires a lot of nitrogen to grow, benefits most.) The large, prickly Squash leaves shade the soil, preventing weed growth, and deterring animal pests. The three sisters also complement each other nutritionally. Three Sisters represents that legend in non-objective ways with three 5,000-pound granite boulders carved with simple flowing lines and various textures, including high-polished parts, rough-sawn cuts, honed surfaces, and the natural raw crust that took millions of years to form. It is hard physical work to carve these boulders, but very satisfying.

Bomin Park, Dahee Moon, Hyejun Oh, Hyerin Lee, Hyojin Shin, Jiwoo Yoon, Kue Hyune Moon, Seiyoung Park, Seo-Hyun Baek, Seulah Song, Taeseo Park, Yeong Eun Choi, and Zin Hyuk Yim
L.V. Eberhard Center, GVSU City Campus

Artists Jun-Young Jung, Jin-Kyoung Kim, Wan-Soo Kim, Eun-Kyo Oh, and Kyu-Ri Pyon have traveled to Grand Valley State University to team create artworks with Hoon Lee, Sean Larson, Andrea Burns, SEOULTECH, and Grand Valley students during an intensive 3-week Ceramics Workshop in July of 2016. The creations of this project will be exhibited at Grand Valley's L.V. Eberhard Center during ArtPrize Eight and exhibited in coordination with the SEOULTECH & Grand Valley faculty exhibition on the Allendale Campus during GVSU's Fall Arts Celebration.

Richard M. DeVos Center, Building B, GVSU City Campus

Young Flint Speaks is an exhibition of artwork created by middle school students from Flint, Michigan. The pieces were created in response to the following prompt: "How has the detection of lead in the public water system impacted your life?" 

GVSU Alum Stephanie Smedley created the “Young Flint Speaks,” an exhibit at ArtPrize that shed light on the personal experiences of fifty middle school students at Flint Linden Charter Academy. Students were asked how the lead in their public water system impacted their lives - and here are three of their responses.

Beverly Seley, Sookyoung Augustin, Erika Broas, Morgan Eaton, Norma Espinoza, Nicole Groszowski, Emma Hoekstra, Emily Karsten, Alexianna Mundy, Katie Pershon, Anna Petlick, Chris Smyka, Ross Tanner, Jillian Thompson, and Shuying Vogt.
L.V. Eberhard Center, GVSU City Campus

Framing the Experience was an exhibition of a diverse body of jewelry/metal work from Grand Valley State University students and alumni that explores contemporary issues through wearables and small-scale sculpture. The work exhibited a range from beginning students to those who have just finished their senior work.

Jim Cogswell
L.V. Eberhard Center, GVSU City Campus

"Installed overlooking the Grand River, flowing through the heart of Grand Rapids.  I am enchanted by the river’s power and its sparkling, patterned surface, constantly shifting in response to the light, the ripples, and the reflected environment.  I love the Blue Bridge over the river, its rhythmic diagonal patterns of steel beams, its color, and its rare and generous invitation to experience the power of the river on foot.

The river flows through my installation in a pattern of rhythmic lines rising and falling around the bend in the building, framing views and reflections of the bridge. The mural’s clouds, its flora, its teeming bestiary of creatures both sinister and benign seem to inhabit the world reflected in the glass, suggesting that the space around us is full of possibilities we have not yet begun to imagine." Jim Cogswell

• Shakespeare/Alonso/Macbeth/Romeo -- Justin Mackey
• The Producer/Mistress Page/Helena -- Samara Woolfolk
• The Assistant/Lady Macbeth/Juliet -- Emilee Miller
• The Starlet/Ship's Master/Kate/Mistress Ford/Hermia -- Kimi Griggs
• The Box Office Star/Boatswain/Petruchio/Tybalt/Demetrius -- Chad Rodgers
• The Up-and-Coming Actor/Gonzalo/Romeo/Falstaff/Lysander -- Chad Marriott
• Director -- Karen Libman
• Producer and Dramaturg -- Katherine Mayberry
• Stage Manager -- Monica Longstreet
• Technical Director -- David Johnson

Bard to Go: Lights, Camera, Action! follows William Shakespeare on an adventure to modern-day Hollywood.  Arriving at a 21st-century movie studio, Shakespeare seeks advice from a film producer, her assistant, and some Hollywood actors about adapting his plays for modern movie audiences.  Will Shakespeare’s plays now include Vampires, Star Wars fights, and Reality TV bits? Featuring scenes from The Tempest, The Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, this production gives audiences a lively, fun-loving look at Shakespeare from a modern perspective.

Julie Lensink, Kelsey Donnelly, Kelsey O'Dell, Bethany Ryder
Special Education Department within the GVSU College of Education
L.V. Eberhard Center, GVSU City Campus

Reframing Disabilities, a multimedia series of 5 frames, engaged viewers in the various sensory, mobility, and communication experiences of individuals with disabilities.

This entry was based on the combined efforts of GVSU poetry and sculpture students.
L.V. Eberhard Center, GVSU City Campus

Poetry and Sculpture: A Meditative Space is the collaborative effort of students and professors from Grand Valley State University. Materials include tree stumps, large tree branches, wind chimes, and a wooden path. GVSU Art & Design student Sara Weimer is designing and making the installation. GVSU Writing students who will write poems are: Lauren Allen, Anthony Anzell, Rachel Bowling, Caleb Dawdy, Chani Faye Jones, Ellen Lundgren, and Michael Walton. GVSU faculty who are mentoring the students are Department of Art & Design Professor Norwood Viviano and the Writing Department Professor Patricia Clark.

Black River Public School Students, with Art Instructor Katie Chester, Artist Natalie Thompson, and GVSU Professor David Keister.
L.V. Eberhard Center, GVSU City Campus

A print designed around the concept of Synesthesia. This is a visual print which represents speeches. This print is the collaboration between Natalie Thompson, the designer and fellow students who made the print with GVSU print professors at GVSU.

Excel Charter Academy Students, with Art Instructor Mary Eckert and Artist Elaine Dalcher
L.V. Eberhard Center, GVSU City Campus

Trial by Tires was a 6-panel relief sculpture. Each panel was 48" tall and 32" wide with mixed media recycled bicycle tires, metal, and exterior latex paint, decorated front and back. This "up-cycled" sculpture was inspired by the Excel Charter Academy's studies of the Heidelberg Project in Detroit, Louise Nevelson, Deborah Butterfield, and Chakaia Booker. The goal was to use recycled materials to create something totally new - using everyday materials in a surprising way. 

William C. Abney Academy Third Grade Students, with Art Instructor Nicole Fritsch
L.V. Eberhard Center, City Campus

Whispering Poetry tubes were introduced to the Grand Rapids area by Grand Valley State University.  As an elementary art educator I enjoy taking art across the curriculum. Creating Whispering Poetry tubes with my collaborators allowed us to mix language arts with the visual arts. Modern Languages Professor, Zulema Morea first experienced whispering while visiting Argentina. Whispering Poetry harkens back to the French renaissance tradition, souffleurs du poeme by reading poems softly in a quiet place, especially to a loved one. Reading a poem through a whisper tube affords the reader and listener to have an intimate poetry experience even on a busy city street. Poets choose words based upon the images they conjure in our minds. Many Whispering Poetry tubes reflect the images referenced by a poem or poems of the makers liking.

University Prep Science + Math Art Club, with Advisor Vera Smith and Artist Marcia Perry
L.V. Eberhard Center, GVSU City Campus

Charles McGee
L.V. Eberhard Center, GVSU City Campus

“Art charts the course of time on its journey through the straits of universal order.  It processes and applies signature to the uniqueness of human thoughts and perceptions.  I believe that all earthly elements, animate and inanimate, exist and operate in the service of nature equally . . . and in the end, converts simply into dust in the downwind of time. Freedom Bound: a journey, life's unique pathway, lineage, language.  Lines liberated to move mass through space and time in route to build beautiful tomorrows.  Purged of Chroma, improvisational achromatic black and white patterns play across the surface plane like cymbals articulating jazz rhythm sounds.  The motivating logic ever present in nature's system of opposites which governs universal order is the source of energy that shapes the content of my imagery.”

Juan Luna
L.V. Eberhard Center, GVSU City Campus

“Juan Luna has been welding for over four decades, though his work focused mostly on function until he came to Michigan. He joined Louis Padnos Iron and Metal in 1995 and came to work for Stuart Padnos. When Stuart began designing sculptures, Juan was the one to whom he turned to make his vision a reality. They collaborated on dozens of sculptures including the Michigan Marching Band at Fredrik Meijer Gardens and 48 at the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum. With Stuart’s passing this year, Juan continues the tradition of transforming scrap metal into artistic creations. Stuart B. Padnos (1922-2012) married his two passions by using his artistic eye to create sculptural pieces from scrap materials. Stuart’s uncanny ability to walk through our operations and visualize scrap transformed into sculpture is celebrated with 7 of his most recognizable pieces re-created by Stuart’s collaborator Juan Luna. Juan took Stuart’s visions (sometimes no more than a drawing on a napkin) and turned them into the striking pieces of art throughout West Michigan including the PADNOS facilities in Holland. Stuart’s vision beautifies the landscape and makes people smile. Scrap is Beautiful contains portrayals of Stuart and several of his pieces. The idea for the band came when a customer sent band instruments to be recycled for the brass. Zeebra Power was originally created from a shaft from a power plant. Stuart saw flowers in the scrap from heavy forging operations and a mobile in metal lying on the ground. We miss Stuart and celebrate his life with this entry.”

Students from Vanderbilt Charter Academy, In Collaboration with artist Ann Willey
L.V. Eberhard Center, GVSU City Campus

Students from West Michigan Academy of Arts and Academics, Spring Lake, MI, In collaboration with artist Jeff Blandford

Students from Black River Public School, Holland, MI with artist collaboration: Cyril Lixenberg and David Keister

Students from Global Heights Academy, Dearborn Heights, MI, In collaboration with artist Rana Chalabi

Students from Henry Ford Academy School for Creative Studies, Dearborn, MI, In collaboration with artist Elaine Dalcher

The project is a series of organic sculptures made from tree parts and recycled bicycle tires.

Calvin Babich
3D, limstone

Calvin has participated in ArtPrize all three years and showed at GVSU’s exhibition center last year with his piece “28”.  "Sambuca" is a term for an ancient harp-like stringed instrument. Sambuca is carved entirely from Indiana limestone. The harp and the base started out as big flat pieces of stone that looked like sidewalk slabs.  He then worked the stone with saws, hammers, and chisels and added gold paint. The harp form is sculpturally very appealing to him because of its smooth, flowing lines and the way in which the form engages people, drawing them to it and encouraging them to strum the strings.  He has sculpted several other stone harps, the first a limestone fountain with 36 "strings" of water. 

Juan Batalla
3D, Installation

This piece represents some of the perspectives about our relationship with beds, either for pleasure or for physical or psychological problems. This piece will change its appearance during the show, as the spirit changes when imprisoned in a bed.  But, although looking different as time goes by, it will keep its basic shape. That decay is part of the intrinsic experience of "Let no sunrise yellow noise". The title comes from verses by Emily Dickinson.

Jamie Roggenbuck/Black River Public School, a Grand Valley State University Charter School
3D, Steel, 2011

This project is a collaborative venture between GVSU, Oxbow, and Black River Public School. Students worked with local steel artist Cynthia McKean and Dutch artist Cyril Lixenberg to create several steel sculptures. Students at Black River submitted designs for consideration, and the top concepts were chosen to be used for the project.  The 4-6 foot tall sculptures explore positive and negative space.

Leslie Bolyard
3D, Hammered Iron and Cast Stone, 2011

He was inspired by the work of Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch (c.1450 - 1516). Leslie wanted to create a lasting three-dimensional work in steel and stone, which dealt with the subject of morality and consequences as Bosch did. He created a sculpture based on one of the figures in Bosch's painting “The Temptation of Saint Anthony” c.1500.  The piece is an iron and stone bird bath 3 x 3 x 5 foot tall.  The figure will be protected by a cage-like enclosure.

James Brandess
2D, Oil on Canvas

James Brandess, a local Saugatuck, Michigan artist, painted a view of the Blue Bridge on site.

Kaitlin Brewer
2D, 3D, Watercolor and Glue

The installation piece "Shattered" is a perceptual experience that questions viewers' confidence and assumptions they carry about their own vision. Made with deceptively simple materials, this installation-drawing creates a convincing illusion of shattered glass, yet upon closer inspection, simultaneously appears to hold together what it is breaking.

Michelle Calkins
3D, Stained and Painted Wood

Michelle was also an ArtPrize 2010 artist at GVSU.  This year’s creation will be an 8 foot by 3 foot 4 sided tower built with an inner frame and layered on the outside with 1232 3.5 inch square tiles cut from old fencing. Stained and painted various colors, it is a feast for the eyes. It is meant to transform something formerly constraining into a vibrant celebration of color and to recycle something headed for the dump into something beautiful. Peepholes add an interactive dimension

Brian Ferribly
3D, Polychrome Steel

"Hit Me" is an interactive sculpture, whereby the audience participates in the act of creation by attacking the sculpture measuring 6 x 3 x 3h with an attached hammer. The form of the sculpture will be a steel rectangular solid, placed upon a pedestal, and filled with sand to deaden the loud sounds. Each of the surfaces of the sculpture will be painted with an image of a famous work of art that has been damaged by patrons while on display in museums.  The sculpture will have multiple layers of pigment, so that as people hit the sculpture with the hammer, they will not only change/create the form of the sculpture, but will also reveal multiple colors, thereby creating the final work of art. 

Dennis Foley
3D, Stainless Steel

A pantanemone is a windmill with a fixed horizontal axis that allows the wind veins to spin no matter what direction the wind comes from.  The “Holland Pantanemone” is a kinetic sculpture, powered by the wind.  It will measure 10’ tall and 8’ wide and will be mounted 8’ above the ground.

Kenneth Foster
3D, Mixed Media

3D metal cylindrical form structure approximately 8’ high and 3’ in diameter with skin of woven colorful recycled wire and cable.  Kenneth was also an artist at our exhibition center during ArtPrize 2010.

Scott Garrard
3D, steel

“Teapot” is a minimalist investigation into forms artist Scott Garrard is familiar with creating as a ceramic artist. Garrard challenges the form of the humble teapot through playing with geometric shapes, scale, and functionality. Even through the stark, geometric sculpture is based in form, line, and shape, resembling a handle and spout of a teapot.

Michael Grucza
3D, Powder-coated and Painted Aluminum

"Lake Street Lovely" is a study whose materials and shapes were inspired by the artist’s love for structures built of steel and rivets: Chicago bridges and rail lines. The Chicago River is crisscrossed by more than 180 unique bridges, each built with sensitivity and subtle aesthetics by engineers and simple tradesmen, who used steel panels, supports, and rivets to create functional sculptures. Lake Street Lovely is his homage to those nameless, faceless ironworkers. It measures 15’ high by 9’ wide and 9’ deep. 

Kathleen Houston-Stokes
3D, Limestone

A sacred symbol of Life is the subject matter of “New Bone”. Abstracted, organic bone-shaped stone resonates natural evolutionary and metamorphic change. This sculpture communicates a strong, grounded, intimate, and spiritual Life force embedded with ancient wisdom that touches our primitive and guttural instincts of survival and senses of beauty. 

Peter Koelsch
3D, Cast Aluminum

Peter intended to take this toy form and make a monumental form. He changed features on the toy in the process of making the larger version to make it more noble and impressive. The form expresses strength and aggressiveness, yet it is also very inviting to look at because of its beautiful hyper-musculature.

Melody Lane
3D, Clay

A Möbius strip made with a piece of paper and tape. If an ant were to crawl along the length of this strip, it would return to its starting point having traversed every part of the strip (on both sides of the original paper) without ever crossing an edge.

Michael Maguire
3D, Ceramic

Michael has been constructing contemporary “mythic creatures”: figurative sculptures visually rooted in the prehistoric and medieval imagery of Ireland.  Currently, he has been moving towards a modern-day approach to his mythic creatures.  Betting on horses is a common entertainment in Ireland.  His figures are taking a humorous approach to the jockeys.  Short, lightweight, and colorful silks to long-legged, heavy, and nontraditional colors.  In a way, cartoon-looking creatures would be a good description.

Cynthia McKean
3D, Structural Steel

Cynthia showed her sculpture “Friends” at our venue during ArtPrize 2010.  Her entry for 2011, “The Phoenix,” is symbolic of the struggles we are experiencing in Michigan as our manufacturing base has been and continues to be challenged to its core.  Michigan's economy has cycled through good times and bad. Each time it has recovered, its renewed prosperity has been based upon technology from before. This opportunity for rebirth and rebuilding is what she wants her sculpture to represent. Although there are still remnants of the old, a beautiful new form is rising from the ashes and soaring toward the future.

John Merigian
3D, Welded Coten Steel

“Be Still and Know” is permanently installed on GVSU's Grand Rapids City Campus.  John participated with us during ArtPrize 2010.  This year, his goal is to create a site-specific 32-foot-tall sculpture of a figure looking up, reaching out very slightly, and in stillness presents us with hope

Stephen Montague
3D, Mixed Media (logs, industrial casters, strapping)

The logs will then be set upright and lashed together. The logs, the natural element, will be supported by an industrial or manmade element, the wheels. The logs are lashed together in an obvious way so as not to hide the reason they are standing. To achieve an upright position, each log relies on the others, because divided they would fall. Most of the artist’s work has a contextual association with the environment in which it has been created. The abundance of Michigan’s forests, the logs, and Grand Rapids industrial base, the casters, serve as inspiration for the materials in this simple sculpture. Nature rests on a man-made solution.

Marcia Perry
3D, Carved Wood

Marcia’s piece will evolve during ArtPrize making the creative act a true performance of art in addition to the work produced.  Also will be interactive with others. 

Jason Quigno
3D, Limestone

"Anishinaabe" refers to the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Algonquin people. The Three Fire clans represented here are the: Turtle (Mikinaak Clan), Bear (Mukwa Clan), Marten (Waabizhezhi Clan), Hummingbird (Bineshiinh Clan), Sturgeon (Maame Clan), Loon (Maang Clan), Eagle (Migiizi Clan) and Crane (Ajijaak Clan). Jason Quigno is a local Grand Rapids artist and member of the Ojibwa (Chippewa) tribe. In regards to this artwork, he states, "This sculpture fulfilled one of my goals [to have an] Anishinaabe monumental sculpture downtown Grand Rapids and near the Grand River. I made this for all Anishinaabek so we could have a large monument representing some of our beautiful stories and ways."- Jason Quigno

Howard Riopelle
3D, Stainless Steel

Howard’s entry is a 12-14 foot "Totem Like" structure made of stainless steel. Semi-abstract yet recognizable designs will tell the story of the great turtle spirit that holds up the world, and this sculpture. It will relate how the maiden fell from the sky and was saved by the swans. How the world began and how man came to discover the sun and the moon. The Grand River, the animals, the salmon, and the peoples of this area are all part of the inspiration for this work.  

Rick Treur, Melissa Allen, Michele Dykstra, Tracey Kooy, Dave Lyzenga, Wendy Nance, Russ Roozeboom, Mike Ryskamp, Jeff VanHaitsma, and Marty Wondergem

On Saturday, September 24, at 3:00 p.m., River City Improv congratulated you on a job well done. Everyone was invited to run or walk the length of the Blue Bridge while adoring fans cheered you on to whatever accomplishment you wanted to celebrate. It could be for any reason, from beating cancer, finding a new job, commemorating an anniversary, or mowing the lawn. It was a wonderful celebration, and photos were taken after the "race".  

Dale Rogers
3D, Corten Steel

During ArtPrize 2010 Dale displayed his “Big Dog Show”.  During that time he came up with the idea of monkeys hanging from the Blue Bridge. Each monkey is 4 1/2 feet tall, 2 feet wide and 6 inches deep and each weighs about 30 pounds. They are made of steel and are designed to oxidize into a rich brown color.  100 monkeys will hang in groupings of two or three from the Blue Bridge. They can hang from each other’s tails and some even hang upside down. 

Adam Schultz
3D, Bronze

In ancient Greek mythology, there was a sculptor named Pygmalion who was unable to find a woman to be with who wasn't in some way flawed. And so, he decided to sculpt the” perfect" woman, and he called her Galatea.  Many people in our modern society often have a narrow definition of what is beautiful as far as the human figure is concerned. In fact, the notion that the "beautiful" body is a "skinny body" is only a recent manifestation in our history, resulting in problems such as anorexia, bulimia, depression, and discrimination against people of size.  Galatea, the first in Adams latest body of work, the ‘goddess series’, involves reinterpreting various female figures out of ancient mythology, rendering them in a contemporary, Rubens-esque affect. Through creating images of female figures that are typically greeted with negativity, and rendering them with a certain confidence and sensuality, I remind the viewer that beauty comes in the wondrous, delightful variety seen in every body. 

John Schwarz
3D, Mixed Media

Erwin is a 6 foot by 6 foot fantasy crocodile creature assembled with everyday, mundane found objects. 90% of this creature is recycled materials from local reuse centers and garage sales. Whenever possible, John left the colors of the parts original. Only the nuts, bolts, and rivets are new.

Mike Sohikian
3D, Steel, Stone, and Concrete

"The Veteran" is a depiction of a soldier's conflicted feelings of wholeness, disengagement, and patriotism after a tour of duty. 

Richard Vanderveen
3D, Turbine blade, Composities, and Paint

“Win, Win Wind!” will present a kinetic sculpture utilizing a state-of-the-art wind turbine blade to demonstrate why new, zero-emissions wind power can draw upon the best artistic, spiritual, and design values to solve current energy problems. “Win, Win Wind!” will educate citizens from all walks of life, particularly young people, about the need to protect our Great Lakes for future generations.  

William Walther
3D, Fabricated Steel

A short dialog on the concept of getting better—to hope. Hope about hurt and healing.  The artist used the leg because it's a big billboard in the air to represent tears and pain coming from the body. The leg with tears is knobby-kneed and a different color than the rest of the body. The other leg is strong and muscular. He looks at hurt and healing as a biological event and a psychological process—the tears are all negative spaces—not something that you can touch, just see. The tears/hurt in the head divides and unites; it takes both sides of the head to define the tear shape—a thought, a feeling, a sensation—there and not there.

John Warner
3D, Salvaged Stainless Steel

Site-specific abstract outdoor sculpture made of salvaged semi-polished roll-formed stainless steel tubing. 

Tim Travis
3D, Ceramic

Colorful and creative ceramics stacked on poles. This installation was a collaboration with the Front Avenue Under US131 Venue.

West Michigan Academy of Arts and Academics, GVSU charter school
2D, Chalk

Students created a quad tic landscape on the walls of the underpass, done in sections. This installation was a collaboration with the Front Avenue Under US131 Venue.