On Wednesday, September 28th, and Thursday, September 29th, I plan to visit each work in ArtPrize that has a Kendall connection, starting with the work by outside artists who are exhibiting at Kendall itself. Most of the time, however, will be spent observing work—and when possible, visiting with artists—who are associated with Kendall, either by being current students, staff, faculty, alumni, including artists associated with Kendall through the Continuing Studies Program.

I will be touring ArtPrize because, on the simplest level, I love the excitement and diversity of ArtPrize—so many people looking at so much creative work. And I want to recognize and celebrate the Kendall people who are participating in ArtPrize. There are too many of them to try to hold a reception or a similar event—and besides, such an event asks busy and committed artists to come to me, whereas I would rather go to them.

I will be publishing an itinerary of the tour early next week. I will also announce when I am heading to a given venue or to the work of a given artist on Twitter and Facebook.

What if I don’t see my venue on the itinerary?

Send an email to hello@oliverhevans.com and let me know. You will be immediately added.

My hope is that some artists will meet me at their work so we can talk about their work and about ArtPrize itself.

If I meet you, what are you likely to ask me?

In addition to celebrating the quality of your work and simply discussing it, I am interested in how an artist decides to participate in ArtPrize, how much advance planning went into that decision, what was the process that led you to submit the work you chose, what expectations/hopes do you have of the audience for your work? And we might talk a little about ArtPrize and the democratization of art. ArtPrize is absolutely right when it says that the important thing is the conversation about art. So what I really seek is a brief conversation—preferably videoed with you and probably lasting fifteen to twenty minutes.

Last Wednesday, for example, I had the chance to start this kind of conversation with Jonathan Brilliant, who is showing in the Kendall Gallery. Tuesday was his last night in Grand Rapids; and his answers to my questions, his perceptions of ArtPrize, and his interest in being part of ArtPrize were intriguing and illuminating. I look forward to sharing them next week when the tour itself will appear in video, images, and text here on my Blog.

I am intrigued by the questions I just outlined and by the kind of conversation those questions can trigger. So I look forward to Observing ArtPrize in a very special way the middle of next week.

Follow my tour via Facebook or Twitter.

- Oliver

I am pleased to share with you this post about KCAD alum, Terry Frixen; partly because I have always found it gratifying when graduates such as Terry have the ability to continue onto successful careers while managing the passion and inspiration to create fine art of their own.I also wanted to write about Terry, who currently serves as President of KCAD’s Alumni Board, because of his many roles within the community.

Terry, a Fine Art Photography graduate, has sustained a balance between his career with Meijer and his personal portfolio; including his latest show titled "Beautiful Decay," which was on display at Pub 43, a local venue in Grand Rapids.While Terry was a student at Kendall, he held a job at Meijer. When he graduated, the company awarded Terry a series of promotions. Three years ago, he had proven himself enough to the company that he secured a position in the corporate office. What's more remarkable is that Terry remained committed to the art community and to various non-profit organizations as he climbed the corporate ladder.

Terry volunteers for the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts (UICA) visual arts committee, the Kids Food Basket, and soon plans to start training at the GRAM, where he wishes to help out. Terry is also the Artist Relations Coordinator of the SiTE:LAB team. He says of his volunteerism: "I feel that by volunteering with the groups that I am, I will meet great people, make great connections, and learn a lot. This is starting to prove true." I should probably note that SiTE:LAB, co-founded by KCAD adjunct sculpture professor Paul Amenta, is a non-profit group of artist and art enthusiasts - one of which I hope to write about in the future.

"Beautiful Decay" was shown throughout the month of June. For those of you who hadn't the chance to see his collection hung elegantly along the north wall of the venue, Terry has graciously included two pieces of work from the show as part of this blog post.

He explains "Beautiful Decay" as a collection of three different series that express his recent fascination with rust, warped or rotted wood, and chipped or peeled paint. He says of his work: "I look at all the images I have right now and I feel that it truly shows the beauty in what could be considered ugly."

Terry has managed to pursue his love of photography, his career at Meijer, and his volunteer activities in the community, including the KCAD Alumni board, where he currently serves as the board president.

Terry’s Twitter: @tgf1980