Change of Plans - Week of Sept. 15th

"Change is the only constant in life." ~Heraclitus

It was spirit week at Cameron's high school, leading up to the homecoming football game on Friday and the dance on Saturday.  Monday was jersey day, Tuesday was red day and an outdoor powderpuff football game.  Cam was able to hang out with his buddy Liam on the sidelines and everyone was thankful for the continued mild weather.

There is a quote that summed up this week- "we cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails."  Jane had succumb to a cold that had started on Monday.  By Wednesday evening, Cameron was coughing.  After a rough night of sleep and continued cough, he stayed home on Thursday and Friday.  We thought he might feel better by the weekend, but it just wasn't the case.  Saturday morning, Cam cancelled out his activities which included WMML baseball, dinner with friends and the Homecoming Dance.  He was bummed but just didn't feel up to tackling it all.  

Sunday morning, however, Cameron was back on track and well enough to join his parents for an afternoon outing. ArtPrize 2025 is the annual international art competition and cultural festival taking place in Grand Rapids, Michigan, from September 18 to October 4, 2025. It transforms the city into a public gallery, showcasing works from thousands of artists in various mediums, with free public access to the entries.  The public votes for the art they like best and the grand prize winner receives $100,000. The competition began back in 2009.

Our destination was the Gerald R. Ford Museum where they typically showcase quite a bit of the art.  Indoors we saw the mischievous bears on an antique sewing machine, a crocheted portrait of Audrey Hepburn, a geometric lighted sculpture and a rough waters picture created on stainless steel.  On the second floor of the museum, there were even more creations and each of us found favorites. 

Many of the artwork creators were present so you could ask them questions.  

Jane really liked one called "Arras" which is the largest kiln-fired, woven glass surface in existence. It is made from several thousand glass strips, canes and stringers, hand woven into a fragile lattice before being fired over a ceramic mold in a 11x7 ft fusing kiln located at the artist's studio in Old Town, Lansing, Michigan. He pulls his own stringers and cane; the strips are all hand cut with a glass cutter and straight edge. Imperfections and inconsistencies in the weave structure are present and are representative of the nuances of human nature, ever-present in the glorious, real-world fabric of life.

Cam choose "No Such Thing as Flightless Birds" which is a colored pencil drawing about coming together to support each other in times of need, using our strengths to help others when we can and allowing others to help support us in reaching our goals and aspirations.  Cam's dad especially like the sunrise picture right next to the birds.  It was a photo taken of Lake Michigan in Glencoe, Illinois.

We were thankful for the distraction of spending time in the art world and meeting some of the artists.  We also commented that we are very fortunate to have this unique competition in our very own city!

Camology Quotes:

Accessibility is a way of life for Cam. When we were locating parking at the museum, we realized that Cameron would need to drive under a heavy chain to access the sidewalk.  He was not very happy about it and quickly commented:

"I think I should alert the ADA that this is not right that I would need to drive under this to get to where I need to go!"