Grand Rapids' Annual "Art Prize", Gerald R. Ford Museum, and Grand Rapids, Michigan Sept. 27, 2016

Grand Rapids' Annual "Art Prize", 

Gerald R. Ford Museum,

 and Grand Rapids, Michigan Sept. 27, 2016

Hello Friends!

 Every year in September, Grand Rapids holds a huge art competition that is open to anyone in the world.  There were a lot of artists from Michigan, but I also saw some artists representing Norway and Poland.  A church friend, and her daughter (2 years younger than Dd) invited us to go downtown with them to see Art Prize on Tuesday.  It was a last minute thing--not planned--she called offered, and I said "YES!"  Not only did she show us Art Prize, but a very good tour of Grand Rapids!!!!  We actually haven't seen anything but the downtown library, and so appreciated the walking tour.  What a blessing good church members are to us!!!!

 I was expecting to see maybe 50 pieces of art, but we spent 6 hours walking from venue to venue, and still only saw about half of the works!  I think the only thing I didn't see was print making types of art---but, perhaps that was where we didn't get to.  They had SO much art to see!  The crowds were thick, and that made getting photo's very difficult, so please excuse the tilted or odd angles.

I just loved these three landscapes--I showed close-ups of the ones above this, though the pieces, especially the one in the middle, were fairly small.

  

These dog sculptures won the grand prize for this year!

Gerald R. Ford Museum

The museum had art works inside and outside, and all around the museum.  It was great getting to actually get into the museum for free and see some of the attractions all at the same time.

Gerald R. Ford was the 38th American President from 1974 to 1977.  He took over when President Richard Nixon resigned.  Gerald R. Ford grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  This is how the Oval Office looked while he was President.

Grand Rapids views---

I think I could see and count five bridges while standing on one of them.  The Grand River goes through the downtown area and is very scenic. 

It was a cloudy day, and the clouds reflected so beautifully on these towers!  Each time I looked, the buildings looked differently.

This was a great day, great field trip, fellowship with a fellow church family, and we really enjoyed it!

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