ArtPrize Nine 2017!

General

Detail of Let Go

ArtPrize Nine, Let Go (detail shown), Pamela Alderman, 19 x 6 feet, Multi media, 2017

I’ve actually lived through eight ArtPrizes, earned all eight t-shirts, and watched amazing provisions unfold over the past eight years. But even after eight years of ArtPrize experience, these questions still haunt me: Will I be able to pay for my big ideas? Will I be able to secure a top venue? Will my work communicate hope and healing? The struggle is always ongoing. But, thankfully, donors, the perfect venue, friends, and volunteers, come together every single time! All arrive as special gifts.

In September, my new interactive healing installation, Let Go, will debut at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel for ArtPrize Nine.

Be an art patron! Purchase one of Pamela’s unique paintings to help fund her ArtPrize 2017 interactive healing installation.

Enjoying Summer!

It’s time to power down for the summer. See you back in September for Let Go at ArtPrize Nine. Enjoy barbecues and sunshine with your family and friends!

About ArtPrize

Since 2009, ArtPrize is the world’s largest open art competition. This 19-day event in Grand Rapids, Michigan draws more than 500,000 visitors with around 1500 participating artists. This unique event involves local and international artists, art, and active community participation. Veteran ArtPrize artist and facilitator Pamela Alderman is known for creating a new kind of artist/viewer work that invites audience collaboration. Her work lets others speak and respond. In 2015, her work, Hometown Hero, was voted into the Top 20 and finished 3rd Place for Time-Based exhibits. Pamela has been an ArtPrize artist since 2009.

Festival Open House: Night Cries I and II

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Night Cries INight Cries II

Pamela has two painting in this year’s Festival 2017 Regional Arts Exhibition. Night Cries I has received the “Second Generation of Festival Award.“ The Opening Reception for the festival will be held on Wednesday, May 31, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Kendall College, Woodbridge Building.

Night Cries I and II
Festival 2017 Regional Arts Exhibition
Kendall College, Woodbridge Building
17 Pearl St NW, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

ArtPrize 8: Color Me Orange—Color Me Kind Travels to Virginian School

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Students at Virginia school tying paper koy fish with kindness promises on Color Me Orange—Color Me Kind

In April, my ArtPrize Eight Color Me Orange—Color Me Kind installation traveled to an elementary school in Virginia, shown above, and influenced students to create their own work in a Detroit area school. In Virginia during my presentation, seven hundred students pumped their fists and chant “Oh yeah” every time I said, “Be a friend first” or “Treat everyone like a friend.” Then the students wrote promises to live by the Golden Rule on orange paper fish and tied the fish onto an orange canvas.

This installation has started conversations in other schools, too. Here are some pictures showing how ArtPrize Color Me Orange—Color Me Kind also inspired students in Detroit to color their school orange. These third graders painted koi fish and wrote kindness promises.

Close-up of kindness promise Color Me Orange—Color Me Kind third grader project Close-up of koi fish

Logan’s Story

The Gold Rule encourages us to treat everyone like a friend. Logan’s story shows us how to live by the Golden Rule.

“Hey, Logan,” the kids taunted. “Go get the gas meter and bring it over here.” Innocently, Logan, who has autism, ran over to the gas meter and attempted to pull it off the house. But when the game was over, the kids ditched Logan, leaving him in tears.

But Logan continued to respond to bullying with kindness. When students forgot their lunches, Logan was the first to say, “Do you like potato chips? You may have mine.”

By living by the Golden Rule—treating everyone like a friend, even your enemies—Logan colors his neighborhood with kindness. How can you live by the Golden Rule?

For more information on how to book Color Me Orange—Color Me Kind for your school or next event, contact ally@watercolorbypamela.com.

Call for Artists: Arts in Ada 2017

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The 23rd Annual Arts in Ada Festival is now accepting applications for this year’s juried art exhibition on Saturday, May 20, 2017 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Over 90 artists and artisans will display and sell their fine art and fine crafts on the beautiful tree-lined Bronson Street in Ada, MI.

NEW! $1,200 IN CASH PRIZES! This year I will join the Ada Arts Council as a special guest Juror, and together we will award the top three fine art artists and the top craftsperson during the Arts in Ada celebration.

Cash awards are as follows:

Fine art:
1st Place: $500
2nd Place: $300
3rd Place: $150

Fine craft:
Best in Show: $250

APPLY TODAY! All visual art mediums will be considered, including but not limited to: painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking, mosaics, mixed media and fine crafts. For more information, or to apply visit: adaarts.org. Applications are due on or before May 1, 2017.

The Scarlet Cord Collection: A New Interactive Healing Installation

Behind the Artwork

The Scarlet WebThe Scarlet Web, Pamela Alderman, Multi media, 78 x 78 x 85 inches, 2017

Many of us are familiar with the phrase “hidden in plain sight” to describe the children tethered as modern day sex slaves. Some of these children roam our malls or airports during the day and may be even be standing next to us, unknowingly, at the checkout counter. But as we tenderly tuck our children into bed, the young sex worker is just being forced into the night to perform bizarre acts for the insatiable—the buyers of sex, more correctly termed, pedophiles or the sexually broken—who seek to entangle innocent prey.

The Scarlet Web, a five-sided structure resembling a 3D abstract spider web, is made up of a collage of empty frames and six photographic images connected with zip-ties to portray bondage. The work is designed to raise awareness and to provide a safe space for the victims of sex crimes to heal. Alderman and her team create a new kind of artist/citizen work that invites audience collaboration through relational aesthetics. The work lets others speak and respond.

The Scarlet Web invites viewers to go beyond the passive art walk. The work challenges the audience to become co-creators—through spontaneous art making. By winding and weaving the scarlet cord around and within the empty frames, we collectively create a work that speaks for those silenced within a web of lies. Through awareness and positive action, we can be a catalyst for change to help free the young sex worker enslaved within the lucrative underworld of sex trafficking.

The Scarlet Cord: Healing for Sex-trafficked Children

The Scarlet Web showcases images by photographer Zoe Fortuna. Be sure to check out Zoe Fortuna’s creative work.

For more information on how to book The Scarlet Cord for your next event, contact ally@watercolorbypamela.com.

The NEW Scarlet Cord Collection at GVSU

Behind the Artwork

Night Cries, Pamela Alderman, Multi media, 10 x 20 inches, 2017

The Scarlet Cord Collection with Night Cries and The Scarlet Web will be unveiled at Grand Valley State University. The evening will include a presentation by artist and facilitator Pamela Alderman and an opportunity for the visitors to co-create with the interactive healing installation.

GVSU EXHIBIT AND PRESENTATION
The Scarlet Cord: Healing for Sex-trafficked Children
Grand Valley State University – Frederick Meijer Honors College
Exhibit: April 3 to 7, 2017
Presentation: Wednesday, April 5, 2017 from 6:00-8:00pm
Frederik Meijer Honors College (multi-purpose room)
120 Niemeyer
4046 Calder Dr.
Allendale, Michigan 49401
Sponsored by Frederick Meijer Honors College, GVSU Women’s Center and Eyes Wide Open.

The Scarlet Cord Collection: Night Cries

It is difficult to ignore a baby’s cry that pierces the nighttime. Every new parent desperately needs sleep, but the baby’s cry, in the dead of night, tugs at hearts and demands a response.

Like the baby’s cry, the tears and groans of the victims of sex crimes at The Scarlet Cord exhibits tugged at my heart and forced me to respond. The new painting series, Night Cries, is my creative reaction to the history of pain and devastation experienced by many who visited The Scarlet Cord.

For Night Cries, voice actors recorded actual sentences from the victims I encountered. Then a videographer turned the recordings into audio sound waves. A collection of abstract paintings have been interpreted from audio sound waves.

Though it may take a lifetime to heal from the physical, mental, and emotional wounds of the victims of sex crimes, healing is possible. Like loving parents responding to a baby’s needs, a compassionate community can tenderly help these victims begin or continue their journey to wholeness and wellbeing. We can no longer ignore the cries of those enslaved in the sex industry. A collective response is needed to help end to trafficking.

For more information on how to book The Scarlet Cord for your next event, contact ally@watercolorbypamela.com