Overview

Rapid Art Movement is an art, performance, and poetry event taking place on a DASH bus in downtown Grand Rapids as part of World of Winter this January 30th and 31st. The bus will be decked out with artwork and poetry (mockup images below) and become the stage for performances. Zachary Trebellas of Avenue for the Arts is organizing the artists and poets, while Eirann Betka-Pope of Betka-Pope Productions is organizing the performers.

Participants in the event will board the DASH downtown and then travel a portion of the bus route joined by an event host. At each stop, performers will get on and perform while the bus is parked. In between performances as the bus makes its way to its next stop, the host will direct passengers’ attention to various artworks on the bus. The entire ride will take just under an hour.

Theme

The theme of the works produced will be the Grand River, as the DASH will follow and cross it during its route. One may consider the natural species that live in and around the river, the long Native history that involves the river, specific events like the Great Log Jam of 1883, modern views and experiences of the river, and so on.

Details

Physical work is due by Thursday 1/22 to be dropped off at Zachary’s house, 318 Sweet St. NE between 8am–9pm. Digital work in need of printing is due a week earlier by Thursday 1/15, emailed to zacharytrebellas@gmail.com. Installation will be handled by Zachary and take place on Thursday 1/29. Some work may be dropped off and installed by the artist at install if arranged with Zachary in advance.

The artwork will be on display for two iterations of the event, Friday 1/30 and Saturday 1/31. The event will be run four times each evening from 5:30–9:30 with each experience lasting approximately forty-five minutes.

$150–$300 will be available per artist depending on the scale and needs of the project. Additional funds are available for printing costs, if needed.

Next steps

If interested in making work for this opportunity, please email a project proposal to Zachary Trebellas at zacharytrebellas@gmail.com by Sunday, November 24th.

The proposal should include: a sketch or description of what the work will look like, what area of the bus the work is intended for, the materials used, funding and printing needs, and a short explanation of how the work relates to the theme. We encourage work that takes up space! You do not have to fully know how the work will install, as we understand that this is an unorthodox setting for artwork. Zachary is happy to work with artists on how to best securely install the work. We recommend taking a ride on the DASH bus (it’s free!) for inspiration.

Zachary will follow up with any questions or clarifications needed about the proposal. Once the details are ironed out, he will send over a contract.

Sample Images

Any area highlighted in teal in the images below is a space where artwork and/or poetry could be placed. Photos of last year’s event can be found here.