Art Prize 2013: Taming the Toddler

We had two hours today to motor through some major Art Prize venues here in Grand Rapids.  Motor is the operative word - the Little Person is 2.  2 = Fiercely Independent.  2 = I want to walk!  2 = Very little time for contemplation.

This is our third trip, and now that the Little Person is mobile, we had to come prepared.  The husband and I checked the Jury and popular votes, and made sure to note those in the venues that we were hitting in our brief tour tonight.

First stop:  Western Michigan University

Nothing like balloons to attract the attention of a 2-year-old!  The Person did well here, as it was our first stop.  It also wasn't incredibly busy, which helps.  The third floor was open, and we were able to enjoy the art.  This was about the only stop we were able to do so.

See?  Perfectly nice in the stroller . . . for one floor of one venue.  We went downstairs to see the multimedia presentations, took her out of the stroller, and had to leave.

Next stop:  87 Orange Photography & The Jon Hartman Photography Co.

Small venues are great for kids.

This artist, Jeohvany Huerta, is in the Top 50 for "One Dream."  He was pretty passionate as he pointed out the subjects of his piece, many of which were family members.

Then:  The Harris Building

Big venue = unhappy kid.  We booked through the "Connected" entry, then skipped the second floor.  See the downhill progression here?  Tired toddler, contemplative experience . . . no, they don't go together.

After a brief trip to the Hub to spend $45 on swag, we made it down to the GRAM.  My sister suggested we avoid the weekend . . .good call.  Fortunately there weren't a billion pieces, but many that we enjoyed, like Firefly.  Fine, I liked hearing the theme from Knight Rider.  So I voted for it.  Populism at its worst.

As we approached 8:00 (closing time), we made a final stop at West Coast Coffee.

Here's a great one for the kids:  "Pale" is made from Legos!   But no, not for my kid.  They had a fish tank in the coffee shop.  She liked that better than any of the art.

So, our first day of Art Prize is in the books, and it's going to be a bit more of a project than we thought. Tomorrow we head to pick apples, then back to the event in the late afternoon.