Performances in West Michigan
The communities along Lake Michigan are blessed with talented actors and musicians that entertain us throughout the year.
Photo by ArtPrize
Each year, Downtown Grand Rapids plays host to perhaps the world’s largest art competition- ArtPrize. It generally takes place from mid-September to October with many West Michigan artists submitting pieces which are displayed throughout Grand Rapids, Michigan, at public parks, museums, galleries, restaurants, etc.
In 2023, ArtPrize offered $400,000 in prizes to participating artists. Prize money was broken into two categories: $200,000 for the public vote grand prize, and $200,000 for the juried prizes. ArtPrize 2.0 also says it’s offering $200,000 in juried prizes.
From it’s origins, it’s a city-wide art competition within a 3-square mile district in downtown Grand Rapids. It was open to any artist age 18 and up. During the first 11 days, visitors could view the entries and take note of the ones they wanted to vote for.
This was not to be a run-of-the-mill art competition. Some very creative minds back in 2009 invented ArtPrize, where any artist in the world could compete with no limitations. The venue would not be contained to one place- if a property owner in Grand Rapids wanted their storefront to become a “canvas,” it became one. And the public would vote to decide who would win the cash prizes.
So on September 23rd, 2009- 1,262 artists from 14 countries and 41 states entered their pieces for ArtPrize, and Grand Rapids wasn’t quite prepared for the 200,000 people that arrived for the two-week event. Over the past years, ArtPrize has featured thousands of artists artists, over $1.5 million prizes and brought over one million visitors to Grand Rapids.
In 2018, ArtPrize organizers announced that the event would occur every other year with a smaller, scaled-back event known as Project 1 held during the off years.
In 2022, the original organizers decided to turn all creative, technological, and communications platforms over to a new partnership between Downtown Grand Rapids Inc., the city of Grand Rapids, and Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University.
The communities along Lake Michigan are blessed with talented actors and musicians that entertain us throughout the year.
Current family-friendly events in West Michigan, great, fun, things to do for kids of all ages! Fun for the whole family!
Communities in Mason, Oceana, and Manistee counties sponsor many Easter events and egg hunts for kids in the spring.
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The Hart-Montague Bike Trail consists of 22.5 miles of paved paths for biking, snowmobiling, skating and more!
The West Michigan area, with many small lakes and rivers to explore, is a popular location for paddle sports.
West Michigan is home to wineries galore! Enjoy a wine tasting tour and sample award winning wines.
Scottville Riverside Park, along the Pere Marquette River, has over 50 modern sites and is popular for camping and fishing.
The colorful attire and crazy antics of the Scottville Clown Band amuse people, but they also have extraordinary musical talent.
The Silver Lake State Park is 3,000 acres and is situated between Silver Lake and Lake Michigan, offering boating, fishing, swimming, & ORV.
West Michigan is home to numerous artists with so many different talents. Groovy music, vivid paintings, gorgeous photography, and more!
The Ramsdell Regional Center for the Arts is a cultural center in West Michigan and plays an integral part in Manistee’s history.
The Annual Show of the Western Michigan Old Engine Club is held the first weekend of August at Scottville’s Riverside Park.
The Michigan Audubon Society Lake Bluff Center overlooks Lake Michigan near Manistee and features wildlife and a bird sanctuary.