Grand Rapids is an art-loving city, but not in a pretentious way. Its generous spirit is most visible in its free art events. For a city of its size, Grand Rapids boasts an impressive portfolio of group-friendly artistic experiences.
Festival of the Arts, celebrating its 45th year this June, offers a weekend with scores of free performances in dance, music, theater, poetry readings, film and storytelling. For a two-week period every year, ArtPrize turns three square miles of Downtown Grand Rapids into a giant art gallery and competition. Anyone over 18 can contribute art, and it’s free to visit all the display venues. This year, ArtPrize takes place Sept. 24 through Oct. 12.
Home to 5,000 works of art, Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM) was also the first LEED Gold-certified art museum in the world. The museum’s collections concentrate on 19th and 20th century works, design and modern crafts, and prints and drawings. Highlights include works by Richard Diebenkorn and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. The striking modern building is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2014. The lobby can welcome 350 for receptions. Cook Auditorium can seat 285 theater-style, and the entire museum can host events as large as 1,100.
The 132-acre Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park presents an array of delights to the visual senses. Groups can ramble through a 30-acre sculpture park, 5,000 square feet of indoor art exhibits, a five-story tropical greenhouse (the largest in the state) filled with orchids and waterfalls, a carnivorous plant house and four-season outdoor gardens. The gardens also offer a 1,900-person amphitheater where nationally touring concerts are held each summer. In June 2015, the park will add the eight-acre Richard & Helen DeVos Japanese Garden. Docent-led tours are available for groups of 10 or more. Indoor events can accommodate groups as large as 5,000; outdoor events can be even larger.
You don’t need to be a professional artist to create beautiful paintings. Since 2012, Brush Studio has offered painting classes in Gaslight Village, 10 minutes east of downtown Grand Rapids. In each class, participants receive step-by-step guidance on how to replicate a featured painting. Brush can create a customized painting for corporate groups that might involve a product, logo or the skyline of their home city. For a unique teambuilding exercise, groups split into teams to work on panels that form a larger artwork once assembled. Private group classes are available for approximately 50 at the studio, or Brush to Go can bring the class to another venue for larger groups.
