With the release of 100,000 paper airplanes from the rooftops of downtown Grand Rapids, a gigantic table and chairs adorning a historic bridge, and paintings and sculptures and murals, oh my, many unique works of art found their way to the Furniture City last September. But what happened to all of them once a winning entry was selected and the contest concluded?
Murals have become permanent fixtures of the city’s landscape, including Tracy Druinen’s second place Imagine That! (which graces the façade of the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum) and Daan Hoekstra’s Humanity at the Crossroads (which was commissioned by the Grand Rapids Community Foundation). Sarah Grant’s eighth place entry, The Furniture City Sets the Table for the World of Art, was donated to the Salvation Army of Western Michigan and Northern Indiana; it will eventually be incorporated into the Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center on South Division Avenue. Other artists benefited from the competition and were able to sell their work. But what about one of the top ten entries and a crowd favorite?
Nessie, the 100-foot-long by 18-foot-high by 27-foot-wide Art Deco rendition of the Loch Ness Monster, was only supposed to be temporarily hosted by John Ball Park; skeptics predicted her fragile wood and Styrofoam construction would never survive the winter. Though a bit worse for wear, she’s made it to April. The latest is that she’ll be removed for waterproofing and winterizing, and then returned to her home in the zoo's duck pond.
I dunno … she looks a bit out of sorts. Is it just me or is she wondering how in the heck she ended up fraternizing with web-footed water fowl and serving as a perch for squawking seagulls?
1 comment:
Actually, I think the zoo is the perfect place for Nessie. Animals, quirky, and whimsical.
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