What's Old is New Again

What happens when a museum is moved? Does every artifact go with it? And if not, what happens to those items left behind?

Until last Friday night I had never given a thought to what might be in the old Grand Rapids Public Museum. In 1995, the Museum moved into its current location on the banks of the Grand River. And it turns out that in the 15 years since the move, not a lot has changed with the old space.

Grand Rapids area college students and faculty decided to take on the old Museum and what they've turned it into is nothing short of amazing. Michigan - Land of Riches seeks to re-examine the old Grand Rapids Public Museum and in doing so has turned it into an art museum. Working along side the materials that were left in old Museum for over a past decade, what was unveiled on April 16 is a display of history, creativity and imagination that will only be on display for one month. "Michigan - Land of Riches" runs until May 15 and is not to be missed.

Photos from the opening reception:

"Last published on Sep 23, 2009"

Cobwebs are in every corner of this blog. Time to dust things off and get back up and running.

"Last published on Sep 23, 2009." Thanks for the reminder Blogger. That was nearly seven months ago, at the start of ArtPrize 2009. Now that event is history, the phenomenal winning entry on display at the Grand Rapids Art Museum, and I'm contemplating my entry for ArtPrize 2010.

I don't like new year's resolutions. They always seem made to be broken. But something about the end of the holidays and beginning of a new year inspires reflection. So as 2010 began I made goals instead of resolutions:

• Learn more about photography and continue to grow my business.
  
• Meet more people and expand my circle of friends.
• Get more involved in my city.

Of course accomplishing goals requires you to determine how to tackle each one. For me, that meant creating what has turned out to be a massive and incredibly fun to do list.

To Do:

1. Attend more events in my city, camera in hand - even if that means going alone.
   
2. Start using social media as a way to connect with new people, not just those I already know.
3. Keep the Pine Photography Facebook page up to date with weekly posts - which means taking photos worth posting at least once a week.
4. Maintain the full time day job in order to continue paying the mortgage.
   

And so began a whirlwind winter that has now turned into spring. I've become addicted to Twitter, met many wonderful photographers via GRFlickr photo walks, added dozens of events to my calendar and learned just how much I really love living in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The unintentional consequence of all this? The complete abandonment of this blog. So now I'm adding a fifth item to the above "to do" list: Updating my blog on (at least) a weekly basis. Maybe no one is reading this but me, but that doesn't mean I should give the cobwebs a place to hide.

Happy ArtPrize Day!

ArtPrize begins today and I am so excited! My ArtPrize work, "Selective Focus," is currently on display at Schuler Books & Music Downtown (40 Fountain St. SW). Be sure to check it out!

My voting code: 32081 >>Voting Information

>>Complete Pine Photography ArtPrize information

Lots of great events celebrating ArtPrize art going on tonight and throughout the next couple of weeks. >>ArtPrize Events Calendar

Our Mia

Celebration

Fireworks from Celebration on the Grand...

I love the reflection in Bridgwater Place.

More firework pictures are on the Pine Photography Facebook page.

Back to School Time

17 Days and Counting...

I entered ArtPrize with one goal in mind - to connect with other artists and meet some fantastic people - which I assumed would happened during ArtPrize competition dates and related events.

This weekend, I'm in Iosco county for a combination of family time and photo time. Mom and I made our annual trip to the Harrisville Arts & Crafts fair yesterday where, while wandering the booths, I came upon an ArtPrize badge. Not one to pass up a chance to talk about ArtPrize, I asked the couple running the booth what their venue was. What followed was a fascinating and fun conversation with Colleen and Michael Glenn Monroe. Nice people and wonderful artists, they produce beautiful children's books. Their ArtPrize entry is a fantastic concept I can't wait to see in a few short weeks.

There are so many inventive, inspired and creative ArtPrize entries. It's exciting to be in the same event with 1,261 other artists. I'm mostly looking forward to photographing in GR during ArtPrize. I have a feeling I'll be spending a lot of time downtown.

Voting News from the ArtPrize people:
This information arrived in my inbox this week. If you want to vote in ArtPrize, you must register in person. Then you can vote via the Internet or text message.

"During ArtPrize, there will be two ways attendees can vote for you: Online or by text message.To vote online, an attendee can search your name or the name of your work and vote right on your profile. To vote by text message (sent to 878787), each artist will have a 5 digit code that attendees can type into the body of a text message to either vote up or vote down your work (Voting up and down explained). "

My five digit text voting code is: vote32081. (The word "vote" must be in front of the numbers.)