In Grand Rapids for the Art Prize

After a few diversions, I finally made it to Grand Rapids to catch the Art Prize.  Art Prize is an annual art contest that is open to anyone.  The top prize in the contest is $200,000 and some of the prizes are awarded by vote.  The first one was in 2009.

 Since I just wandered outside, I only saw the sculptures.  I didn't know where to get a form to vote, so I didn't vote on any of the works, nor do I know much about the art except for what I like.

 Grand Rapids was first settled by Ottawa Indians around 1700.  The first European settlers arrived in the early 1800's.  The town itself was founded in 1826.  The railroad would come in 1858 and was the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad.  The city itself is the second largest in Michigan and has a pretty diverse industry base.  It was the home of former President Gerald Ford.

 I thought this was a piece of art at first and then I realized it was a food truck.

 I kind of liked this sculpture of a jet made out of junkyard parts.  There was a sign nearby that was pretty cool as well.

 I kind of liked the looks of this Porsche passing through town.

 I thought this was just a parked Mercedes but it turns out that it was art.  I kind of liked it.

 This is St. Mark's Episcopal Church.  The parish traces its roots back to 1836 and as such is probably one of the earliest churches in the city.  Built in 1848, this is the oldest public building in Grand Rapids.

 I kind of liked the look of this mural.

 I tried to get some pictures of some of the buildings but I still need to work with my newer lens.

 I really liked the looks of this staircase.

 So I tried looking up....

 And then decided it would look good in black and white.

 I think I like this shot the best.

 Looking down one of Grand Rapids' streets.

 Looking up at a building.

 I kind of liked the looks of this mural on the side of the building.

 I really liked the reflections of the buildings in Van Andel Arena.    Van Andel is the home of the Grand Rapids Griffins Hockey Team which is the farm team for the Detroit Red Wings.  They play in the American Hockey League.

 This bridge was decorated with these streamers.  Since I love truss bridges, I had to take a picture.  I suspect this used to be a railroad bridge.

 As I was crossing the bridge.

 I really liked this in the Grand River.  I'm pretty sure that every flag was different.

 Looking at the bridge from another angle.

 Looking at the buildings and flags from another angle.

 A giant fish.

 Another shot.

 I think this may be a Marshall Fredericks sculpture, but I'm not sure.

 The flags, bridge and another building.

 A closeup of the flags.

 Another angle of the flags.

 I'm not sure if this was a permanent piece of art or one for the show, but I did like it.

 A duck that you could pull on.

 A doghouse.

 A one man band.

 Looking down the Grand River.  One of these days, I'm going to take Grand River Boulevard from Detroit out ot Grand Rapids.

 Looking down the street.

 I really liked the look of this building.

 I really liked this sculpture.  For a second, I thought it was some guy in a body suit.

 A granite sculpture.

 Another one by the same artist.

 Looking down the street.

Evidently, my mom knows the guy that did this sculpture.

I kind of wish I would have gone inside of some of the buildings because I would have seen more of the artwork but there were way too many people to really enjoy it.  Besides, it was a nice enough day for a walk around town.  One of these days, I will head back out to Grand Rapids for more thorough picture taking.

The Fallasburg Bridge Sort of in the Fall

I saw that the colors were starting to come out, so I decided to make a stop at Fallasburg Bridge on the way to Grand Rapids as it is not that far out of the way.  I was hoping for some pretty cool shots with the colors in the background.

 I sort of got my wish although it wasn't quite as colorful as I had hoped.  That might be due to the fact I was somewhat shooting into the sun.

 The reflections were nice at any rate.  Maybe I could do a little work in Lightroom to bring out the colors a little more.

 Then I decided to head over to the other side.

 A shot of the interior of the bridge.

 I think I like the reflection form the other side better. 

 From another angle.

 As I was heading back.

 I kind of like this shot.

 Just a couple more shots.

 Trying to get more of the trees in the background.

 A shot as a boater heads under.

 One more shot before getting in the car.

And a shot from the car.

The Village of Stockbridge, MI

After stopping at Barton Dam, I decided to continue on Huron River Drive.  Then I found my way out to M-52 to continue on to I-96 to continue on to Grand Rapids.  Normally I don't find myself heading out that way, so I decided to stop in Stockbridge for a couple pictures.

 I will admit that it was this building that caught my eye.  This is the Stockbridge Town Hall.  It was designed by Elijah Myers and constructed in 1892.  It is a Romanesque structure and not only does it house the local government, it also was host to many cultural events.  It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.  It was restored in 1982 with the assistance of Federal Grant money.

 As I said, I was travelling along part of M-52 which was desginated in 1919 and as such is one of the first highways in the state of Michigan.  It stretches from the Ohio Border and ends just west of Saginaw at M-46.  It pretty much cuts through the center of the state.
Stockbridge doesn't look all that much different from many of the other towns along the way.  Its first settlers arrived in 1835.  The town was planned by Elijah Smith and he was going to name it Pekin.  Before he could register the town, he was bought out by Silas Beebe.  Mr. Beebe thought the railroad would be passing through and Mr. Smith knew that wasn't going to happen immediately.  The railroad wouldn't arrive until 1883.

 Pretty much the standard Civil War statue you find anywhere.  This is dedicated to the soldiers and sailors from the area who served in the Civil War.

 Like I've said before, I think there is a set of blueprints somewhere that is labeled "Standard Midwestern Town".

And a shot of the downtown area.  Even though this looks like many other towns and villages, I still it looks cool.

The Barton Dam

I headed up to Grand Rapids yesterday for the ArtPrize but I ended up taking a kind of round about way to get out of town.  Part of that way was passing by the Barton Dam.  I decided to stop by there because I haven't taken pictures there in a while and there were hints of color in the area.

 Looking down the river from the bridge.  It seemed like there was more color as I was heading in than on the river.

 It was a fairly nice day to take pictures though.  Since the dam was shut off, the water was pretty smooth so the reflections were nice.

 Sadly, I was shooting right into the sun.

 Again, I would have liked this picture a little more had I not been shooting into the sun.

 Tried to get a framed picture.

 I really like the colors on the dam itself.

One more picture before leaving.

Whitefish Bay and Friends

I decided to head down to the Detroit River tonight because I saw that there was going to be a ship passing that I hadn't caught yet.  Plus it was a nice enough night.  Little did a realize there was a Red Wings game and that kind of affected things.

 Well, I did manage to catch the Whitefish Bay as she was making her way down the River.   She is one of the Chinese builds for the Canada Steamship Lines and was launched this year.  Unlike the Baie St. Paul, she is still looking new.

 Not quite so new is the Tug/Barge Lewis Kuber.

 What I didn't realize is that there would be a gathering of ships at one end of the Detroit River.  From left to right, the Wicko, Federal Shimanto and pulling in is the Kaministiqua. 

 But back to the Whitefish Bay for a second.  She's 738 feet long and 78 feet wide.   Her holds can carry almost 38,000 tons of cargo. 

 Slowly she works her way down the river past the grain elevators and what not.

 Not one of the better views of the Detroit skyline but it's still not too bad.  The light was just about perfect for this too.

 One more shot of the skyline.

And one more shot of the gathering of ships as the Whitefish Bay makes her way to Naticoke.