ArtPrize 2025 kicked off last week, with Grand Valley State University’s Art Museum continuing the tradition of using campus as a venue.
“Grand Dome,” a piece by St. Louis artist Adrienne Outlaw is located outside of the Eberhard Center, and inspires conversations on sustainability. The featured artwork invites visitors to walk under a brightly-colorful display of over 100,000 plastic bottle caps. Outlaw said she hopes the piece will motivate viewers to treat the earth with kindness. The GVSU Art Museum partnered with Outlaw on ArtPrize’s opening day, Sept. 18, to host a walking tour and artist discussion.
Environmental and conservation awareness inspires all of Outlaw’s artwork. “Grand Dome” began with community involvement, in which Outlaw asked people to collect bottle caps, a conscious form of understanding consumption habits and the importance of recycling.
“I invited groups across the state to make panels for the dome,” Outlaw said. “I want people to be interested enough to examine the work, see what it’s made of and wonder how I collected all this waste to make it.”
Outlaw said connecting art to individual people can be a powerful way to bring understanding to a greater cause. Outlaw added that putting the piece next to the Grand River will hopefully call attention to plastic and water pollution.
The University has been involved in ArtPrize since 2009, through sponsoring and acting as a venue for various artist pieces. Outlaw was also involved to ArtPrize last year, where she exhibited a three-dimensional sculpture made of recycled plastics titled, “Reef,” at the DeVos Convention Center.
“I chose GVSU as a host because I wanted the work to be contemplated and cared for through the lens of academia,” Outlaw said. “I sincerely appreciate the care that GVSU faculty and (Art Museum) staff have taken to make this work possible. It’s been especially gratifying to watch people take selfies and interact with the dome at night when it’s lit (through) solar power.”
Jessica Sundstrom, the Art Museum’s learning and outreach manager, helped bring Outlaw’s work to campus.
“For ArtPrize, we look to match with artwork that reflects the values of GVSU,” Sundstrom said. “We think (Outlaw’s piece) will be exciting for visitors to learn about and potentially interact with.”
Sundstrom added the interactive features of the piece are what drew her to displaying it on a college campus.
“Personally, it has been fun to watch people come up to the (piece, and) explore,” Sundstrom said. “I have seen joy and curiosity, and that is always enjoyable to witness.”
“Grand Dome” will be on display until the end of ArtPrize, Oct. 4.
