September 28, 2013: Art Prize 2013

 

 

Art Prize, in Grand Rapids, started about 5 years ago.   We have been going for the past 3 years.  It is one of the festivals I now look forward to going to each year.    

This time, we took one of the Barnes & Noble girls, Kathy Rabbit.  She had never gone to the festival before, so she was looking forward to it.

Before we went to Art Prize, we had to stop at the Michaels Craft Store on 28th Street, as the new Cake Boss bake ware was unveiled.    The store was having some free giveaways, so I had to go.     We got a frosting scraper for free.   We bought the cake spinner, a cookie sheet, and cookie dough spoon.    Buddy Valastro (Cake Boss) and his family were going to be at the store in Dallas, TX, for the celebration.

After Michaels, we went to Fred Meijer Gardens to get our wristband in order to take the shuttle down to Art Prize in downtown Grand Rapids.     No one told us they no longer had the shuttle from the gardens, which made us mad.   An Asian lady saw us waiting and told us they discontinued the shuttle from the gardens and we could catch the city bus from the Meijer store across the street. It was nice of this lady to tell us this, or we might have sat there much longer.  I was not too happy that they discontinued the service.    We went to Meijer and took the city bus downtown.    It seemed like it took forever.

We walked around the usual spots downtown in order to see the art displays.     I liked the Dog House art, as well as some pieces inside the Amway Grand.  We weren't able to see the displays in the Gerald Ford Museum, as the lines were so long.  the winner of Art Prize had their quilt on display at the Gerald Ford Museum, which we didn't get to see.  The winner received $200,000.    

Someone called out my name there and I looked up and it was my friend Becky Ruger.  That was so exciting.  I got to meet her fiancé, John Stowe.
I was supposed to go with Becky and Molly to Art Prize, but it didn't work out this year.

Walked around the Grand Rapids Public Museum to see more art work.  Of course, I took a bunch of photos.

I think we wore out Kathy, as I could see her pale face.  We sat down for a bit so she could rest up.  I don't think she is used to my Mom and I walking for miles.

We went to the art museum, which didn't have as much on display, as prior years.

We had a nice dinner at our favorite pizza restaurant, then had ice cream at Kilwin's.  I got salted caramel ice cream which is my favorite.  Yummy!

I had a great day at Art Prize with Kathy and my Mom.