News Releases
Keep up on the latest and greatest Grand Rapids happenings here. Check back often – this city is on the move! more
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Grand Rapids In The News
Everyone is talking about Grand Rapids. Check out all the articles where Grand Rapids has been mentioned. Who knows - maybe you'll find your own story to write. If you're interested in the buzz about ArtPrize - then make your way to our ArtPrize page with articles of the press coverage.
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Grand Rapids In the News
| 4/10/2012 | Meijer Gardens ranks in Art Newspaper's 100 most-visited art museums worldwide Meijer Gardens again is one of the 100 most-visited art museums in the world, alongside the Louvre, the Guggenheim, and the Museum of Modern Art....more |
| 4/5/2012 | Forbes Online: The Best Cities For Raising A Family Grand Rapids, Michigan doesn't boast a lot of affluence. The metro area population of 774,000 carries a median household of $47,040, good for just 65th place among America's 100 largest MSAs. The city's major claims to fame come from being a national leader in office furniture production, and for being the hometown of a U.S. president, Gerald Ford. What Grand Rapids doses have: the distinction of being the best metro area in the country to raise a family in....more |
| 3/29/2012 | Arts Council of Greater Grand Rapids 'knows when to fold 'em' while handing out $515,000 in arts grants to 73 groups and artists The Arts Council of Greater Grand Rapids, to quote Kenny Rogers' "The Gambler," knows when to fold ‘em. More than $500,000 was in the pot, but rather than double down on the future, the arts council has thrown in its hand after 44 years. Some 58 arts groups and non-profit organizations and 15 individual artists are splitting the $515,000 left on the table as the arts council leaves the game....more |
| 3/28/2012 | iPad-wielding customer service "ambassadors" coming to Ford Airport The contract takes effect June 1, with a two-year renewal option. Airport and Experience GR leaders said the program's first year will decide whether it was all an experiment or a new airport mainstay....more |
| 3/22/2012 | The Grand Rapids experience Grand Rapids, Mich., has built a downtown with many of the same puzzle pieces we have in Downtown Toledo. It is on a river and close to one of the Great Lakes; it has an arena for concerts and hockey and a convention center; it has a world-class museum and a thriving arts scene; it has a children’s museum and a library; it has offices for a daily newspaper and city government; it has restaurants, an Irish pub and an Ottawa Tavern that calls itself the “OT.” But while Toledo continues to leave many of its puzzle pieces in the box, Grand Rapids has taken advantage of geography and cooperation to build a true destination city and has pioneered an art event that in 2011 drew 325,000 people who spent $10 million in 19 days. There are lessons to be learned from Grand Rapids, but be warned: Some of those lessons contain hard truths that reveal a limit to the Glass City’s aspirations....more |
| 3/20/2012 | Grand Rapids Rowing Association to host collegiate regatta in Grand River More than a thousand athletes will be converging on Grand Rapids at the end of April to compete on the Grand River in the Mid American Collegiate Rowing Association (MACRA) Championship Regatta, organizers announced today....more |
| 2/28/2012 | Restaurant Week 2012 New Dates Announced Don't want to wait a whole year for Restaurant Week in Grand Rapids, you don't have to. Experience Grand Rapids announces new dates for 2012....more |
| 2/28/2012 | Grand Rapids Urban Market Set to Open in Spring of 2013 Local food, talent and people were on display at Experience Grand Rapids 85th Annual Celebration held at JW Marriott, 235 Louis St. NW Tuesday. Local flavor with a farm-to-fork focus was set as a theme in honor of the well awaited Urban Market being built on the former Sonneveldt Produce Co. complex, 435 Ionia Ave. SW. City and county leaders feel it will end up being a destination within a destination....more |
| 2/23/2012 | West Michigan's Pay It Forward spirit celebrated by new convention and visitors website Experience Grand Rapids this week has launched a new web-based campaign called “Cool City. Warm Heart. Pay it Forward. “...more |
| 2/16/2012 | Micro-brewery Awarded Environmentally Friendly Designation With the opening of the new Grand Rapids Art Museum, the city was able to boast the first LEED environmentally certified museum. Now the city can add to its list of firsts with the nation's first LEED certified micro-brewery....more |
| 2/14/2012 | Laughfest comedians speak out about healing through comedy You may or may not have noticed that we here at Laughspin have been pushing the upcoming Gilda’s Laughfest in Grand Rapids, Michigan pretty hard. I’m not about to try to convince you that we’ve been unbiased in our editorial coverage, our Tweets and our Facebook links; we’re biased. We love Laughfest....more |
| 2/6/2012 | The House that Amway Built As determined by StadiumJourney.com, Griffins games at Van Andel Arena have been ranked as the No. 1 place to watch a minor league hockey game. Stadium Journey offers reviews and recommendations of sports venues from every league and sport from all over the world. To date they’ve compiled nearly 800 reviews from 16 countries and more than 60 staff writers. Stadium Journey recently released its Best of 2011 Top 100 Stadiums Magazine, in which the Griffins at Van Andel Arena were ranked No. 15 overall and the best minor league hockey arena....more |
| 1/30/2012 | FITZGERALD: Grand Rapids succeeds where Detroit fails The state's second biggest city is Grand Rapids. It's a largely forgotten city to those of us in southeast Michigan. If it's not on the way to Traverse City or Mackinac Island then we don't see it. Grand Rapids should consider making less furniture and more fudge....more |
| 1/25/2012 | Grand Rapids, MI LaughFest- Top Events USA Gilda's LaughFest is fast becoming one of the nation's "must attend" festivals. This major 10-day Mid-West Festival, centrally located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, celebrates laughter for the health of it from March 8 to 18....more |
| 1/9/2012 | Close Up- Grand Rapids, Mich. For sheer bang for the buck, Grand Rapids, Mich., is a budget-pleasing alternative to more-cosmopolitan locales, but offers many of the same sophisticated cultural amenities, and all within a compact convention district....more |
| 12/22/2011 | Midwest Living Magazine names Grand Rapids, Michigan: Brewery Vivant, Top 25 New Places to Stay, Eat and Play As you plan your 2012 vacation, check out the phenomenal places that made our annual list of best new Midwest attractions, restaurants and hotels....more |
| 12/20/2011 | ArtPrize 2011 drew more than 322,000 visits and had a $15.4 million economic impact, study says ArtPrize 2011 drew more than 322,000 visits, generated $10.1 million in new spending and had a net economic impact of $15.4 million during the 19-day exhibition held this past fall....more |
| 12/11/2011 | Adventures in Babywearing: Holidays in Grand Rapids There is so much to do in Grand Rapids during the holidays....more |
| 12/2/2011 | In Pursuit of Happiness: In Memory of Frederik Meijer, Do Something Different A man named Fred Meijer died a week ago. People living in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, or Kentucky heard the news and probably thought of Meijer stores, the supermarket chains that were the first to introduce one-stop shopping. I thought of a greenhouse in Grand Rapids, Michigan filled with yellow mums and how much my family has learned about beauty in the last six months....more |
| 11/29/2011 | Adventures in Babywearing: Grand Rapids is Grand Our family getaway to Grand Rapids, Michigan this past weekend was absolutely the best....more |
| 10/5/2011 | Adventures In Babywearing: Art Is For Your Heart We slipped away for a little family vacation last weekend to Grand Rapids, Michigan. I've been wanting to go back with the kids ever since I first visited last December on a blogging trip with Experience Grand Rapids....more |
| 10/3/2011 | In Pursuit of Happiness: Art in Grand Rapids ArtPrize - by the Artists, for the People...more |
| 9/16/2011 | Businesses prepare for boost during ArtPrize The kickoff to ArtPrize is just days away but visitors aren't the only ones anticipating the start of the art competition, so are downtown business owners....more |
| 8/2/2011 | The 10 best places to live in the U.S. Job growth, cultural attractions help push cities onto Top 10 list...more |
| 7/15/2011 | Gerald R. Ford Museum gears up for its second periodic makeover As the Gerald R. Ford Museum reopened for business Saturday, museum officials are confirming plans for a major revamping of its permanent exhibits....more |
| 7/14/2011 | People flood downtown Grand Rapids streets to show respect for Betty Ford funeral procession Hundreds of people flooded out of downtown office buildings to line Monroe Avenue at 1 p.m. as a show of respect and support for Betty Ford....more |
| 4/29/2011 | Restaurant Week GR ushers in returning bargains for 2011 For Doug Small, Restaurant Week Grand Rapids 2010 was only the beginning. During an announcement Thursday for the encore event, the Experience Grand Rapids president announced not only the 2011 dates, but also an additional day for the event and an avenue for more restaurants to participate....more |
| 4/29/2011 | Pure Michigan posts online sneak peek of newest Grand Rapids commercial Pure Michigan and the voice of Tim Allen have done it again. Pure Michigan's Facebook page, the official fan page of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, posted the video on its wall Thursday evening....more |
| 4/14/2011 | Destination of the week- Grand Rapids, Mich. Lots of LEED-certified buildings, public art and natural pursuits await in this Midwestern city....more |
| 4/14/2011 | Grand Rapids Leads in LEED Grand Rapids has 20 percent of the LEED-certified square footage in Michigan, according to a Crain's analysis of the state's certifications. The West Michigan city has the highest concentration of buildings and office spaces certified under the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED program....more |
| 3/30/2011 | Charity founder's motivational advice: "Stop listening to the world" GRAND RAPIDS — As an average student with no notable skill, Doc Hendley felt the world telling him he would be mediocre, that he should settle for a job where he could be part of the flow. He would never be exceptional....more |
| 3/16/2011 | Is Grand Rapids social media savvy enough to host the annual Social Media Tourism Symposium? Grand Rapids is vying for hosting rights to the second annual Social Media Tourism Symposium....more |
| 3/11/2011 | Best Old House Neighborhoods 2011: The Midwest ThisOldHouse.com touts Grand Rapids’ historic Heritage Hill neighborhood as one of the top 12 “old house neighborhoods” in the country for sustaining a sense of place in a storied residential area, and the best Old-house neighborhood in Michigan....more |
| 3/11/2011 | Amtrak lets you skip travel by the gallon Here's a novel idea: How about a Midwest getaway on Amtrak from Chicago rather than driving, given that gasoline prices are in the neighborhood of $4 a gallon? Trains offer a great change of pace, even if their departure and arrival times aren't always convenient....more |
| 3/8/2011 | Best Places to Live 2011 Take a chance on a crazy idea in Grand Rapids. Few cities anywhere do more to support creativity than Michigan’s second-largest metropolis....more |
| 3/1/2011 | ArtPrize 2010 generated $7 million economic impact, Grand Valley State University estimates The study conducted by GVSU and Experience Grand Rapids found that ArtPrize generated $5.5 million in direct spending from nonlocal visitors, Sicilian said this morning during the International Council of Shopping Centers West Michigan Alliance Program at DeVos Place in Grand Rapids. Preliminary data from the study was released last fall. When taking multiplier effects into account, the total economic impact of ArtPrize 2010 was approximately $7 million to $7.5 million, Sicilian said....more |
| 3/1/2011 | 9 Spectacular Sculpture Gardens Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park is featured as one of the 9 spectacular sculpture gardens in Woman's Day....more |
| 2/28/2011 | Food Destination: New push to market culinary tourism fits with West Michigan offerings Locally-owned restaurants across West Michigan can be destinations for foodie travelers, especially if they have unique menus or a reputation for using local ingredients...more |
| 2/23/2011 | "Tag Tour" Available To Enjoy GR's Downtown Historical Sites Map of 13 stop tour available now, smart phone accessible tags will be installed by the City of Grand Rapids this spring on that route...more |
| 2/21/2011 | Michigan's beer boom: For craft brewers, the glass isn't just half-full, it's overflowing Michigan’s total of more than 80 beermakers ranks fifth nationally; at least three more plan to open this year....more |
| 2/17/2011 | Grand Rapids: Alive and Well With Energy of Youth, Art, Business Grand Rapids, Mich. is the greenest city in the U.S. for its size, with more LEED-certified buildings per capita than anywhere. It has more than $1 billion invested in leading-edge health science research and patient treatment. It was once known as the furniture capital of the world and the area is still home to the country’s leading office furniture manufacturers. Its long-time Congressman, Gerald Ford, became the 38th President of the United State. It has a huge Stabile (some might call it a statue) by Alexander Calder in front of City Hall. It hosts the state’s only professional ballet company, as well as one of the oldest chapters of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America and the longest running professional opera company in the state. And, on occasion, zombies walking around downtown....more |
| 2/14/2011 | Crain's List: Michigan's Largest Cultural Institutions Michigan's Largest Cultural Institutions ranked by 2010 attendance....more |
| 5/12/2010 | A Michigan Success Story "The Grand Rapids reinvention is worth examining. For years Detroiters were promised that one master project after another would solve their woes. None did. But in Grand Rapids, business leaders painstakingly set goals, aligned with government officials, generated support, and empowered key players." Fortune reports, read more......more |
| 3/1/2010 | Rapid Transit Pillow Fights? The country's largest Zombie walk. This is Grand Rapids, Michigan? Thanks to urban "experimenters" like Rob Bliss, the bright college student who has organized - and been encouraged by community leaders to organize - such kitschy fun, it is. The state's second biggest city is still proud of its conservative work ethic, its commitment to cleanliness and safety, its retail and manufacturing giants (Meijer, Steelcase, Alticor) and cherishes the legacy of President Gerald R. Ford....more |
| 10/25/2009 | Grand Rapids stunned by success of ArtPrize festival Grand Rapids gets national exposure with the ArtPrize festival. Our CVB President, Doug Small comments on the exposure brought to Grand Rapids....more |
| 10/8/2009 | Eyes on the ArtPrize As quoted in the New York Times, "For the past two weeks it has been impossible to walk more than a few feet in the city’s downtown, a combination of historic buildings and glistening new structures, without seeing an orange placard declaring, “ArtPrize Venue,” meaning that an artwork was on display." ArtPrize filled the streets, bridges, venues and brought thousands to Grand Rapids all throughout downtown the conversation continues on artists, on the voting, and on next year's "second" ArtPrize spectacle....more |
| 9/28/2009 | Grand Rapids Masters the Art of Urban Engagement See how Grand Rapids is being viewed by one important Los Angeles social media outlet, during ArtPrize....more |
| 9/22/2009 | Grand Rapids Event Awarding World's Largest ArtPrize Read about ArtPrize as another lure for meeting planners and Grand Rapids as a premier destination for regional and national conventions in USAE; a national newspaper on weekly news for Associations, CVBs and Hotels....more |
| 9/21/2009 | Looking for art in all the right places In its inaugural year, ArtPrize, which runs through Oct. 10, features 1,262 professional and amateur artists from 16 countries. They've been streaming into Grand Rapids for weeks, transforming 3 square miles of the center city into a playground of imagination. About 160 venues, from museums and art centers to restaurants, design studios, city parks, bridges and a dry cleaner, are displaying a dizzying variety of art. The works are large and small, ambitious and modest, conventional and bizarre, serious and whimsical, weird and wonderful. Read more of this article featured in the Detroit Free Press....more |
| 9/17/2009 | The promise of ArtPrize: Region could benefit long after contest ends The term is "destination appeal." Grand Rapids has it. Just not enough. Or at least not the kind of appreciation or awareness nationally for its arts and culture that Douglas Small believes Grand Rapids deserves. Come next week, that void could begin to fade in a big way, as ArtPrize launches in Grand Rapids, giving boosters and businesses not just a unique and high-profile event to rally around and support but a one-of-a-kind opportunity to promote the town as a destination to host conventions and conferences, locate a business and work....more |
| 9/3/2009 | Michigan summer tourism 2009: Weather didn't help, but Pure Michigan did With one big travel weekend left, tourism industry observers credit the Pure Michigan advertising campaign with some surprising increases in business, given the dismal weather most of the summer....more |
| 8/24/2009 | Sculpture city in 'misunderestimated' Michigan Michigan's population may be waning, but there's no question that the state has become a sleeper destination for tourists who are passionate about trout fishing, sailing, camping, Big Ten football, theater or the fine arts. George W. Bush, who always has a way with words, might call Michigan the most "misunderestimated" destination in the land....more |
| 8/20/2009 | A Vehicle for Expression Aaron Heideman, an Oregon native, has spent the past six weeks driving across the country and asking people to write on his orange van stories of how the financial crisis has affected their lives. He provides the Sharpies; they spill their guts. Heideman will make is way to Grand Rapids, Michigan to enter his van in to ArtPrize....more |
| 8/10/2009 | Grand Rapids: A relaxed urban getaway I'm sitting with my wife on the fringe of Rosa Parks Circle as a multiracial band blasts bluesy tunes for a small but very receptive crowd - it's like a Dave Matthews concert in miniature - and it occurs to me that, for the slightly stressed Chicagoan, this western Michigan town represents the ideal urban getaway....more |
| 8/1/2009 | Local Impact: UCC The United Church of Christ's National Conference pumps an estimated $3 million into the Grand Rapids economy this summer....more |
| 7/20/2009 | ArtPrize signs up 200th artist, latest additions include Ferrofluid Magnetoscope and 30-foot video projection With two months to go before the ArtPrize display downtown, organziers say 200 artists from all over the United States and several foreign countries have been confirmed to participate....more |
| 7/1/2009 | Grand Rapids named a city "Under the Radar" "Be a big fish in a small pond," goes a current sales pitch for planners to consider Grand Rapids. Doug Small, does not mean dull. Indeed, the city has a surprisingly vibrant visual arts scene, achored by the presence of the prestigious Kend College of Art and Design....more |
| 6/22/2009 | Symposium celebrates 40th anniversary of Calder's "La Grand Vitesse" Alexander Calder was sculptor, a painter and inventor of the mobile. But with his monumental stabiles, he also was a problem solver....more |
| 6/11/2009 | "Future looks bright" for Grand Rapids CVB Convention bookings for the next few years are up for the Grand Rapids CVB....more |
| 6/8/2009 | How Grand Rapids beat Long Beach, Philadelphia to land 2014 NOBLE conference The city of Grand Rapids' hosting of the National Organiztion of Black Law Enforcement Executives' annual July conference is five years away, but the prep work is already beginning....more |
| 5/26/2009 | Meet Up in Michigan JW Marriott + Amway bring affordable luxury to Kid Rock country...more |
| 4/23/2009 | Rick DeVos unveiling $500,00 ArtPrize contest to turn Grand Rapids into a gallery Artists from around the world are expected to descend on Grand Rapids this fall to compete for votes and the world's largest prize for art during a two-week event announced by Amway heir Rck DeVos....more |
| 10/19/2008 | Grand Rapids is ahead of the game in eco-friendly living Grand Rapids is leading the way in sustainability in many aspects of the city....more |
| 5/19/2008 | A Lasting Impression Travel writer Barbara Cohen explores "Degas in Bronze: The Complete Sculptures", an exhibition at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, May 30 - August 31....more |
| 4/27/2008 | Eco-Mania: East Hills Center (of the Universe) Grand Rapids neighborhood is a sustainable retail, restaurant and office district....more |
| 4/6/2008 | Make an Artful Getaway to Michigan's second city The new Grand Rapids Art Museum and the new JW Marriott along with Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids is a great destination for art lovers....more |
| 3/9/2008 | 50 Star Studded Years; Yealong Celebration Marks Hush Puppies' Anniversary Fifty years ago, a Rockford-based shoe company, just north of Grand Rapids, gave birth to a casual shoe that has since been on the feet of everyone from the Rat Pack in Las Vegas to the Beatles in London....more |
| 1/11/2008 | A Grand Design Travel writer Barbara Cohen discovers the new, "green" Grand Rapids Art Museum and Fish Ladder Park....more |
| 12/21/2007 | Well Built Newsweek's architecture critic, Cathleen McGuigan, lists the new Grand Rapids Art Museum as one of her favorite new buildings....more |
| 11/2/2007 | My, How its Gardens Glow, The Daily Herald, Chicago Midwest travel writer Mike Michaelson discovers the magic of Frederik Mejer Gardens & Sculpture Park, one of Michigan's top attractions....more |
| 10/7/2007 | A Temple of Green Blooms in Michigan, The Chicago Tribune Architecture critic Blair Kamin reviews the design of the new Grand Rapids Art Museum....more |
| 10/6/2007 | Modern Design Showpiece, Detroit Free Press According to Architecture Editor John Gallagher, Grand Rapids is a champion of contemporary architecture....more |
| 7/11/2007 | Grand Rapids Lays Foundation for a Health Mecca, The New York Times Discover the magnitude of medical facility construction taking place on Health Hill....more |
| 7/1/2007 | Favorite Family Lake Getaways - Grand Haven, FamilyFun FamilyFun Magazine features Grand Haven, a charming Lake Michigan town, as one of its top picks for family beach vacations....more |
| 6/16/2007 | Why Can't We Be More Like Grand Rapids - Boston Patriot Ledger Bostonian and former editor Joann Fitzpatrick attends a wedding in Grand Rapids, happily discovering a clean, freindly, vibrant city....more |
| 6/1/2007 | Grand Dame, NWA World Traveler Travel writer Jane Ammeson visits Grand Rapids' San Chez Tapas Bistro, The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum and LaFontsee Galleries....more |
