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ArtPrize 2010

Pete Fecteau — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 23:33:23 +0000

If you haven’t already heard about ArtPrize then go check out artprize.org (after you’re finished reading this article). 2009 was the initial year in this new annual event held right here in my home town… Grand Rapids, Michigan. ArtPrize is the first event of it’s kind. The brainchild of Rick Devos, ArtPrize offered the largest purse for an art competition ever, over $449,000 with first prize cashing in a quarter million. The event is juried by the public, and is more or less open for any kind of artist to enter. Businesses in downtown Grand Rapids can sign up to be a venue and then select from the registered artists. This year’s numbers were staggering. 1,262 artists competed, 159 venues showed their works, 37,264 voters casting 334,219 votes. Not bad for a first time at bat.

I was privileged to volunteer for ArtPrize 2009. I was a “way finder” and helped register people to vote. It was a blast and a smart way to view the inner working of the event. For ArtPrize 2010 I’ll be competing as an artist. What I have in store for my entry is a doosie.

I’ll be breaking theworld record for largest Rubik’s Cube mosaic mad eby a single person. I’ll be solving 1,750 cubes (most will be solved live at the event) and then configuring them into a mosaic of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I hope to certified upon completing the project. What’s more important is what I plan to do with the cubes once the event has wrapped up. I’ll be distributing them to classrooms across Michigan so that kids can learn about geometry and algebra in a fun and tangible way. The big hurdle is money. I need to raise $15,000 dollars to purchase the cubes, pay for shipping the cubes to classrooms, get GWR out here from London, and cover some miscellaneous costs. If you’re interested in donating check out my project at Kickstarter or check out the PixelPete2010 website.

Welcome to Sworray

Pete Fecteau — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:12:54 +0000

Sworray.com is a brainchild of mine. It started in January of this year (2009) after I attempted to throw a party and failed, again. I just could not throw a successful party. I feverishly went trough all the apps and whatnots that the social networking sphere had to offer and decided that they all had good qualities but none stood out. I needed a utility that could help me and anyone else plan a better party and get people to come to it, thus, Sworray was born.

Sworray is a way for people to create any type of party they can think of. If they can’t think one up, we’ll give them ideas. When they’re done thinking one up they’ll be able to create a custom invitation and then send them to all their friends on nearly every network you could think of. You can even send invites through the mail for a fee.

Sworray wouldn’t be possible without the OpenSource movement. Sworray is an amalgamation of different OpenSource code. Thje infrastructure is comprized of a WordPress MU installed with BuddyPress. This is the framework and the majority of the functionality. There’s also a number of plugins that help keep things running and add functionality. I found a super cool app called firef.ly that adds a totally awesome chat. I’m currently working on polishing up a number of things that will add even more functionality.

ArtPrize 2009

Pete Fecteau — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 15:11:28 +0000

Yesterday I was dragged downtown to hear about a super secret event that my former place of work had promised would change the city for years to come. I couldn’t possibly fathom what they could have had up their sleeve. Frankly I had lost faith with them and went down there to (90%) have a good chuckle and (10%) out of curiosity. Well cash in your chips friends it was a humdinger, one I couldn’t have expected.

ArtPrize is the worlds first public juried art contest that will turn Grand Rapids, Michigan into the largest gallery ever. Anyone from anywhere can submit nearly anything and ArtPrize will help you find a venue to place it. Think of it like a SXSW for artwork. All the works will be voted on by the people (viva la revolution) via SMS messaging and here’s the kicked… the purse is $400,000 that pays to the top ten finishers. First place wins a quarter of a mil, that’s $250,000, the largest prize for an art contest ever. Of course as a painter and a lover of Grand Rapids I had to enter immediately, even tried to with my phone as they were making the official announcment. I’ll be haking a push via internet for people to vote for my work so keep an eye out for my plugs. Watch the embedded video below and visit the site for more information. and Take a look at my submission below that. Any questions or comments are, as always, welcomed.

Chimie de l'Hiver

Plancher de Forêt

Le-Feu-et-Soufre