I enjoy reading about Michigan's timber industry in the 1800 and 1900s. When I visit a place like Hartwick Pines, a preserve of virgin white pine near Grayling or the Valley of the Giants (virgin cedar trees) on South Manitou Island, I stand in awe of the massive trees and imagine what it must have been like when virgin forests covered much of the state. Except for a few places like Hartwick Pines and South Manitou, the virgin forests are gone. Today I came across this film from the 1950s with vintage images of lumbering in Michigan as the industry moved into the modern age.
Rick DeVos today announced ArtPrize, an annual art
competition that will be judged by the public and will pay the winning entry
$250,000, the largest prize of any competition in the world. The
first annual competition will be staged from September 23 to October 10, 2009, in
Grand Rapids, Michigan. DeVos expects artists in every medium from around
the world to be lured to Grand Rapids to take over the city for 16
days. Winners in the competition will be determined by online voting.
ArtPrize's
mission is "to reboot the conversation between artists and audiences on a
grand scale." Its mission statement explains:
We
are living in a time of great change. New ideas, fresh inspiration will move us
forward.
There
are enough art competitions where the winners are decided by a jury of experts.
That's not the competition we are creating. We're looking for a giant
conversation to happen between artists and the public. That is why we developed
a radically open framework for this event, which gives power to everyone's
opinion.
When
everyone's opinion counts, everyone is included in the conversation.
In addition to the first prize of $250,000. ArtPrize will
award a second prize of $100,000, along with $50,000 for third place and $7,000
for fourth through 10th places.
