Welcome to ArtPrize 2021 at GVSU! We’re excited to host two large sculptures at two different locations on our Pew campus in downtown Grand Rapids: Jason Quigno's Infinity Cube, at L.V. Eberhard Center; and José Marcelino Valdez and Gerson Valdez-Cordòn's Mayan Stelae of King K'ak' Tiliw Chan Topaat at the L. William Seidman Center. Both sculptures are located outdoors and are on view to the public during ArtPrize, September 16 - October 3, 2021.

In this lesson, you’ll get a close look at both works of art, and we’ll take a deep dive into one of them, learning about and exploring the creative process of local artist Jason Quigno.

Download Lesson Plan PDF

Download Sketch Worksheet

• 6-sided sketch worksheet
• Pencil
• Ivory bar soap (Ivory soap is softest. Other bar soaps may not be soft enough for younger students to carve)
• Carving tools
• Craft paper, newspaper, or paper towel to cover tables as a drop-cloth

• On the 6-sided worksheet, sketch at least two sides of your sculpture. Example; top and front, top and side, etc.
• Trace your sketch onto one or two sides of your bar soap.
• Use the carving tools to remove sections of the bar soap.
• If time allows, have students identify the positive and negative space of their sculptures.

Play this video to see a demonstration.

• Abstract designs are easier for younger students
• Try a few different tools, if available
• Go slow and carve away small pieces
• Attempting to carve big chucks may cause the soap to crack or break in half
• If the soap is hard, try holding it in your hands to warm it up

• Before European settlers arrived in Michigan (over 350 years ago) there were many Indigenous tribes living here, and their ancestors still live here today. Three of these groups formed an alliance called the Three Fires Confederacy, also known as the Anishinaabe in their native language (Anishinaabemowin).
• In the mid-1600s, it's estimated that around 100,000 Indigenous people lived in West Michigan.
• Anishinaabeg (plural of Anishinaabe), translates to “People Whence Lowered” or “the Good Humans.”
• The Anishinaabe people include several tribes that share similar languages and customs, including the Ojibwa, Potawatomi, Odawa, Salteaux, and Chippewa.
• Each tribe is different, but they all share three beliefs: 1) Spirits were more powerful than men; 2) Nature—the land, animals, and plants— belonged to everyone, and 3) No one had the right to run another person’s life.
• Prior to colonialization, everyone living in a Native village worked. Women and girls did most of the chores. They tanned (softened) animal skins, wove fishnets, chopped wood, grew crops, and cooked. Men and boys hunted and fished. They made bows and arrows, traps, wooden tools, and canoes.
• From the mid-1600s onward, Native Americans’ way of life was disrupted or erased by European settlers and colonialization. Today, many Indigenous people work hard to preserve and pass on their traditions through gathering together, sharing stories, food, and art.  
• *A few traditional Anishinaabe art forms include birch bark weaving and regalia (traditional dress worn at powwows).
• * Anishinaabe artists today create with all sorts of materials and processes, including drawing, painting, beading, weaving, and sculpture.

• What do you see?
• What’s going on here?
• What makes you think that?
• What does it mean to be Indigenous?
• What is a tradition?
• What can we learn about Indigenous people today from their artwork?
• How do Indigenous people carry on their traditions today?

In 2021, The Art of the People: Contemporary Anishinaabe Artists featured artworks by nationally recognized and early-career Native American artists that combine cultural traditions and imagery with contemporary sensibilities and themes. Organized by the Muskegon Museum of Art and the Grand Valley State University Art Museum with guest curator Jason Quigno (Anishinaabe), this invitational show appears concurrently at the MMA and GVSU. The exhibition incorporated sculpture, painting, ceramics, beadwork, mixed media, and photography, and explored how these artists express their experiences in both traditional and nontraditional media, techniques, and subject matter. Through representational and abstract imagery and design, the artists addressed issues of craft, history, identity, social justice, and popular culture. By exploring and celebrating their past, these artists define who they are today.

Learn more about the Art of the people exhibition