First Bloom of Spring, photo by Kevin’s Stuff
While Northern Michigan still has lots of snow, Kevin says that with the over 40 degree temperatures of the past few days, the snow has been melting pretty steadily in West Michigan and the crocus have been coming up, presenting actual flowers yesterday afternoon!
Check it out bigger in his slideshow.
See more crocus on Michigan in Pictures and if you want to go all spring on your desktop, we have that too!
Michigan Snowhenge, photo by Michigan Druids
On February 13th, 2010 they were successful in completing a 1/3rd scale replica of Stonehenge at the MacKay Jaycees Family Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They write (in part):
The monument built out of Michigan’s most abundant natural raw material is appropriately named Snowhenge.
Standing 6.5 feet tall and 30 feet in diameter and consisting of nearly 1000 cubic feet of packed snow, Snowhenge’s 12 pillars and 12 lintels are perfectly aligned astronomical markers. Looking directly through the hole in the center of pillar 3 soon after sunset on Winter Solstice extraordinarily reveals an almost equilateral triangle formed by the visible planets Saturn (left), Mars (top), and Venus (right). A curious carving on pillar 4 shows four stars inside a trapezium which matches the Trapezium Star Cluster in the Orion Nebula. The imaginary end point of a line dissecting the trapezium matches the coordinates of the star Sirius, the brightest star in the Milky Way. An obelisk inside the snow circle marks the passage of the sun as its shadow moves in a figure eight on the ground below. Stone plaques strategically placed on the ground display the constellations of the zodiac. Outside the circle, three pairs of standing snowmen show where the sun rises and sets for each of the solstices and equinoxes.
Every key point also has a rock plaque denoting its seasonal significance engraved with a simple phrase like “Midsummer Solstice Sunrise”. Others describe local area seasonal events such as “Blandford Sugarbush”, “Grand Rapids Festival of the Arts”, “28th Street Metro Cruise” and “Celebration on the Grand”. The 12 lintels, supported by 144 rods of ice rebar, also contain markings that coincide with the orbital patterns of Earth and Venus which are designed to forecast solar eclipses, the appearance of comets, and the end of the world on December 23rd of 2012, exactly matching the Mayan calendar prediction. What’s most truly remarkable, pillar 1 is precisely parallel with 28th Street! Curiously, the phenomenon known as global warming which has created isolated heat zones around the globe inversely causes cold spots on the opposite side of the globe. Numerous consecutive years of record heat spikes in Perth, Australia are directly responsible for the extraordinary cold snaps at MacKay Jaycees Family Park which will amazingly keep Snowhenge frozen all year round.
Read more and see pictures at snowhenge.blogspot.com, and also check out this picture of Snowhenge at night.
Not enough Michigan weirdness for you? The last Wednesday of every month is a Weird Wednesday on Absolute Michigan!
“Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour.”
~ John Boswell
Our Michigan February Event Calendar shows that from outdoor celebrations like Houghton’s Winter Carnival, the North American Snow Festival in Cadillac, the International 500 Snowmobile Race in the Soo, Detroit’s Winter Blast and the UP 200, Midnight Run Sled-Dog Championships in Marquette to indoor celebrations like the Taste the Passion wine tour in Leelanau, the Michigan International Auto Show in Grand Rapids, the Detroit Boat Show and the Winter Wine Wonderland in Traverse City, February is the month where Michiganders throw a snowball in winter’s face and head out to enjoy Michigan!
Check this photo of one of those golden February moments along the Grand River out bigger and in Jon’s My World Set (slideshow).
White ash canopy, photo by vaprwere.
A couple of weeks ago mLive featured an article on the 2008-09 Michigan Big Tree Hunt.
The contest, run by Global ReLeaf of Michigan, tries to find the biggest tree in each county every two years, as well as the largest white pine (the state tree), and the largest overall tree in the state — which this year is a 306-inch weeping willow in Van Buren County.
A forester who verified Nelson’s tree said that going by only circumference (206″), it is the largest white ash in a five-county (Grand Rapids) area. But it’s not the largest in the state. The Michigan Botanical Club, a partner in the contest, lists a 247-inch white ash in Leelanau County.
Learn more about the contest (and neighborhood tree planting) from Global ReLeaf of Michigan and more about the White ash at Wikipedia.
Check this photo out bigger and in Joseph’s Tree Images set (slideshow).
Interestingly enough, Joseph is a plant pathologist and writes that this large white ash was photographed in northern lower Michigan, and that like its brethren, it’s threatened by the emerald ash borer, a pretty but destructive insect. The article says that this tree was judged free of the pest.
There’s more about the Emerald Ash Borer and also more tree photos on Michigan in Pictures.
I was in the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art on Wednesday and saw some whimsical sculptures and mobiles by Alexander Calder. It didn’t seem like the delicate structures could have come from the same hand. Turns out they did. The Alexander Calder entry on Wikipedia explains:
Alexander Calder (22 July 1898 – 11 November 1976), also known as Sandy Calder, was an American sculptor and artist most famous for inventing the mobile. In addition to mobile and stabile sculpture, Alexander Calder also created paintings, lithographs, toys, tapestry and jewelry.
…In June 1969, Calder attended the dedication of his monumental stabile “La Grande Vitesse” located in the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan. This sculpture is notable for being the first public work of art in the United States to be funded with federal monies; acquired with funds granted from the then new National Endowment for the Arts under its “Art for Public Places” program.
You can get up close with La Grande Vitesse at West Michigan Sculptures (includes a cool 360 degree walk around) and also check out the Calder slideshow from Absolute Michigan pool on Flickr. You can also read this article about the dedication from the National Endowment of the Arts.
Be sure to check this out bigger or in his Grand Rapids 09 set (slideshow)
Last year, the Grand Rapids Zombie Walk set the record as the World’s largest zombie walk with 4,000 shuffling dead (details from Michigan in Pictures). Since then, Seattle yanked the record away with 4,277 – something in the coffee? Zombie Overlord Rob Bliss will not let this stand and says:
It’s time for Grand Rapids to take it back! Post this in your status update now to spread the word! Copy and paste this entire message into your status update to help take back the World Record for Grand Rapids! http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=145738132086
Event is happening in Downtown Grand Rapids, starting at Calder Plaza! (October 30th at 8PM)
You guys loved the Electronic Music Night, so this Zombie Walk will end with a huge electronic music event, free and outdoors until midnight! DJs BRANDON HILL, SONNRIZE, and STEVE SWIFT and RANDOM SAMPLE playing on a massive, massive P.A. system.
This event costs a LOT of money to pull off, 13,000+ dollars to be exact. We are asking for a suggested donation of three dollars to help keep events like this one alive! T-shirts, bottled water, and glowsticks will be sold as well.
Zombie Walk: A Massive mob of people dressed as Zombies walking together as a massive horde in downtown Grand Rapids on October 30th at 8PM starting at Calder Plaza in grand celebration of Halloween. “Zombie” Outfits are as basic as you want, white t shirts with some ketchup = perfect. Also go here if you want to do even cooler stuff – http://www.zombiemaker.com/
Make sure that you get in costume before the event and do NOT put bloody hand prints or anything on any cars/buildings/etc. at the event.
Bring canned food to this event to help feed the poor and homeless! Feeding America West Michigan Food Bank will be on hand.
Check this out bigger or in Yolanda’s Halloween set (slideshow) and also shuffle through the Grand Rapids Zombie Walk slideshow on Flickr. Don’t miss more Halloween fun on Absolute Michigan.
Braaaaaains!!!!!!
 ArtPrize 09-Open Water no.24 by deviant_anomaly |
 ART PRIZE 2009-0032 by RichardD72 |
Head over to Winners of the 2009 Grand Rapids ArtPrize on Absolute Michigan for more about Ortner, the other 9 winners and ArtPrize.
For more photos check out the streams of the photographers above and also the ArtPrize slideshow from the Absolute Michigan pool and theGrand Rapids ArtPrize group on Flickr. Bloggers, there’s also the Grand Rapids ArtPrize Promotion group for photos you can use (with credit).
ArtPrize ’09 Friday, photo by JohnE777.
If you’re like me, you’ve probably wondered “Just how much money does it take for a city to completely go off its nut and turn into some kind of urban ninja butterfly?”
The answer, it seems, is about a million dollars. That’s how much money Rick DeVos allocated to found the Grand Rapids ArtPrize. The public will vote to determine who wins prizes including the top prize of $250,000!
Over on Absolute Michigan we’ve created the 2009 ArtPrize Grand Rapids page, an explosion of tweets, videos and (of course) photos.
Also check out the ArtPrize Map or (if you’re so inclined) fly through Grand Rapids and ArtPrize in Google Earth.
Check out this photo bigger and also see John’s massive ArtPrize ’09 set (slideshow).
PS: Tomorrow Rob Bliss & friends will launch 100,000 paper airplanes over Monroe Ave. as a flashmob of musicians play. Be there.
Art Prize entry – Telos by Ray Katz by the pentax hammer (gary syrba)
Gary writes that this sculpture is at the Sixth Street Park just north of Downtown in Grand Rapids, and says there’s a lot of excitement in the city about this event … and a lot of prize money at stake too! Check this out bigger in his In the City (Grand Rapids) slideshow.
ArtPrize is open to any artist, and the votes of all visitors will determine who wins the largest art prize in the world: $250,000! Get a map of the venues right here. They write:
At ArtPrize, any artist—from established to emerging—has the chance to show work. Any visitor can vote. The vote will determine who wins the largest art prize in the world. We also took the unusual step to allow people in the city to open a venue and choose the artists to show in their space. There is not one official curator or jury for the competition.
The number of venues is fluid, so the number of competing artists is fluid. The possibilities are wide open. We can’t predict what will happen, but it should be a lot of fun finding out.
You can follow along with coverage of ArtPrize on our Absolute Michigan: On Location blog and get photos in the ArtPrize Grand Rapids group!
Rain is Good, photo by photoshoparama.
This morning, for the first time in a long time, I had the chance to sit down for a few hours with coffee and my computer to wander around the Michigan photosphere and think about what to write on Michigan in Pictures today.
One of the first things I read was Sculpture city in ‘misunderestimated’ Michigan that looks at how Michigan is quietly growing as a destination for tourists of all kinds with landmarks like Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids.
Bouncing around in my head was how rainy this summer has been, making things tough for outdoor events like this weekend’s*…
I’ll keep singing “rain, rain, go away” for all these folks and if it doesn’t I’ll try and take comfort in the fact that it’s boosting lake levels and hope that people will remember that rain is good, hunt down their rain gear and still show up to support folks who are working to build more fun stuff in Michigan!
Check out Dan’s photo bigger in his slideshow and splash around in the Frederik Meijer Gardens slideshow from the Absolute Michigan pool.
* Note: these events all came from the Absolute Michigan Event Calendar
Michigan in Pictures 