Kurt Perschke is interviewed on RedBall Project’s travel throughout Grand Rapids before the Top Ten announcement. [Click here to hear broadcast].

The RedBall came to play Friday at the Grand Rapids Community College Fieldhouse on our first full sunny day! Anchored beneath the second story overpass connecting the student center and Fieldhouse, it hovered above the sidewalk for much of the afternoon keeping students and bus-stop dwellers both startled and entertained. One of the first projects to visit GRCC, it turned out to be the only ArtPrize work many students had yet seen. One of the most visually potent RedBall sites so far because of the bold geometry of the building, we also had a good mix of people who followed the project from its previous site, wondering aloud “How did you get it up there?” A tricky maneuver accomplished the feat with much pushing and pulling, and luck that it didn’t take off down Lyon St!

On Saturday RedBall Project visits The B.O.B., followed by The Grand Rapids Ballet on Sunday.

Yesterday RedBall Project visited Maya Lin’s elegant Rosa Parks Circle, an urban oasis of calmly composed circles in downtown Grand Rapids. Wedged beneath an outcropping of the central stage, RedBall was at first eyed suspiciously and eventually enthusiastically attacked by hundreds of art-touring kids ranging from pre-schoolers to high-schoolers. The amassed power of roughly 50 kid-size warriors did manage to unseat the massive ball, with much shoving, whaling and beating on the buoyant red surface. Finally, their collective energy was channeled toward jamming RedBall back into place with well-coordinated shoves from a bevy of willing participants. Never underestimate kid power. Daniel, a high-school kid with streak of boxing heat in him, beat on RedBall – grinning wildly – until his knuckles got a bit bloody and his senses came back to him. His reward was a trophy photo of his knuckles framed close-up by the ball. The park quieted down with the approach of evening, and families with tiny children lingered on taking snapshots as their kids ran in endless circles around RedBall, ending up sprawled in its peaceful shade.

On Friday, RedBall Project visits Grand Rapids Community College, followed by The B.O.B. on Saturday. Come out and see us!

GRAND RAPIDS — From dozens of workers and volunteers submerging Nessie the monster in the Grand River to a New York artist squeezing a giant rubber ball into the entrance of the Gerald R. Ford Museum, Tuesday has been “installation day” in Grand Rapids for hundreds participating in ArtPrize 2009…[Click here for full article]

Ready for ArtPrize? Grand Rapids contest begins today
The Grand Rapids Press

The public gets to choose the winner of the $250,000 grand prize while pondering the question: “What is art?”
[Click here for full article]

Kurt Perschke’s ‘RedBall Project’ rolls into Grand Rapids for ArtPrize
The Grand Rapids Press

GRAND RAPIDS — Kurt Perschke hopes President Gerald R. Ford would have approved. The Chicago-born, New York-based artist specifically chose his Presidential Museum as the first location to squish into position his ArtPrize entry, “The RedBall Project,” created in 2001…[Click here for full article]

Thanks to members and staff of the Gerald R. Ford Museum for hosting RedBall today!

RedBall continues its circumambulation Wednesday at the Urban Institute of Contemporary Art located at 41 Sheldon Bouelvard SE, and will appear all week wedged and squished into the unique architectural spaces of Grand Rapids. Keep an eye out!