To give visitors an idea of what the street performance will be like, we asked two of the participating artists to describe what they will be doing. Katherine Marty, a Grand Rapids writer, will be coordinating her piece "Take it to the Street: Tag Team Poetry." She describes it as a marathon group poetry reading with a unique execution. A team of poets will read in rotation for not less than three hours. Each poet will read one poem before passing the mic to the next poet, with the last poet passing the mic to the first poet. Thus: a relay. They'll continue to cycle through the lineup until everyone has presented all their prepared material or until they lose their voices, whichever comes first. Poets that are passing by are welcome to join the relay as well. Listeners are free to engage for as little or as long as they want, or even move on to another area for a while and then return.
Uma Mishra, Amy Masko, Mary Mitchell, and Sean Mackey's piece "Korye: Installment One" is an interactive art exhibit, where participants will take time to drum or paint. The general public is invited to paint a circular wood disc with a scene depicting their favorite aspects of nature or life. Once completed, these discs will become part of a community art project displayed during the 2011 Art Prize. By creating a work of art with hundreds of everyday people, "Korye: Installment One" seeks to promote creativity in all people, not just formally trained artists. Everyday artists from Ghana, Israel, and several U.S. states have already submitted discs, which will be on display for inspiration and appreciation.
But thats not all. Mishra explains, "Drumming is at the core of 'Korye: Installment One.' Korye is a Fante word meaning unity, and it is through the rhythm of many cultures the Korye finds it beat. As each person has a heartbeat, keeping the time of their lives, 'Korye: Installment One' will provide many drums for people to come and project their own beat in a communal pastiche of various rhythms from across the world. 'Korye: Installment One' embodies art as a path toward creating community, and bridging
social, political and religious differences locally and internationally."
The complete list of artists showing at WMCAT are as follows: Sita Mae Edwards, Joseph DeCommer, Carol VanderNat, Paul Asselin, Chloe Viening-Butler, Christy Beckwith, Chase Kauffman, Rachel Foss, Michelle Pittman, Daniel Postellon, Paul Willis, Sara Bakker, Danielle Walsh, Paul Jendrasiak, Dave Johnson, Fred Quillin, Dennis Grantz, Laura Poortenga, George Eberhardt, Carolina Lopez-Ruiz, John Cox, Gretchen Vinnedge, Marlee Grace Cook-Parrott, Take it to the Street: Tag Team Poetry, curated by Katherine Marty, Korye: Installment One. Installation and performance piece organized by Uma Mishra, Amy Masko, Mary Mitchell, Sean Mackey.
Any and all Grand Rapids-based artists are encouraged to join the ArtPeers community. Please feel welcome to create a profile on our website, and you will be notified of all of our future events.
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