Some art galleries are cavernous, white-walled spaces where wingtip loafers and high heels tap hardwood floors while sampling fine wines and cheeses.

Art.Downtown. 2011 had some of those elements, but it also had bottled and keg beer, dusty old warehouses and interactive art.

With more than 250 local artists displaying their work at 29 venues, the diverse pieces displayed at the Friday night event lured all types of art enthusiasts to Grand Rapids’ Heartside District.

In its third year, the annual art event was full of firsts.

For the first time since 1998, there was life in the former Junior Achievement building on the southeast corner of Fulton Street and Division Avenue. SiTE:LAB, a Grand Rapids non-profit art organization, used pulsating electronic beats to transform the vacant three-story building into a night club-style atmosphere heavy on art and light on gyrating bodies.

“Right when you walked in you were surrounded by people and light and color. There was music and dancing, and you were able to talk to the artists about their pieces and see them interact with it, too,” said Kelsey Mackie, Grand Valley State University junior and public relations major. “It made it functional in a way. I always drive by that building and wonder about the cool things it could be used for. I think having art there is a really great use of the space.”

Kendall College professor and SiTE:LAB co-creator Paul Amenta acquired use of the 25,000-square foot abandoned building in late January and had been interested in the empty eyesore for some time.

Grand Rapids Press writer Rachel Recker spoke with members of SiTE:LAB in January.

“He’s been quietly plotting to get into that (JA Building),” said Eric Kuhn, part of the SiTE:LAB team. “It’s literally the center of the city. And it’s such a cool building. And it’s been so empty for so long.”

Locus Group, a development company with a successful renovation record, including Brewery Vivant and Thirty-Eight, closed the purchase of the building at a sheriff’s sale for $650,000 last year in December but did not plan to begin work on the building until 2012.

Spaces like the JA building exist all over the downtown area, and with the help of events such as Art.Downtown and SiTE:LAB, interest in vacant properties could draw attention to the potential of other decaying buildings, which could inspire new cultural and economic growth within the city.

Since entry to Grand Rapids Art Museum was $1 Friday night, Art.Downtown goers were able to view a unique collection on its opening night.

The GRAM premiered its “Birds of America” exhibit, a collection of prints by artist and naturalist James Audubon that is widely recognized by art historians and naturalists as the greatest natural history publication of all time.

“We had a lot of people wandering through and off the trolley,” said Kerri Vanderhoff, PR and marketing director for the GRAM. “Members of the Audubon Club were on hand to give background on the different prints during the opening of the exhibit as well, which was special treat to visitors.”

Kendall College opened its graduate artist studio to the public for the first time this year, which revealed the printing, photography, drawing and printmaking of more than 35 master’s students.

Art.Downtown. 2011 also marked the grand opening of Store, an arts boutique on Division Avenue that sells the work of local artists.

Along with all of the premieres, this year’s event marked the end of an era for one of the city’s art mainstays.

The Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts revealed the final exhibits to be displayed in its current Sheldon Boulevard location.

“Civic Studio,” the GVSU public art project offered as part of the visual studies emphasis in the Department of Art and Design, created an exhibit for Art.Downtown. that commemorated the building the UICA called home for the past 13 years.

“We wanted to have something that had to do with the fact that it was the last show in that building,” said Civic Studio member Irisi Tole. “We started thinking and looking around, and we found lots of stuff that was going to be thrown away. So we developed the idea to reuse or transform these objects so we can have our show dedicated to this building.”

To honor the closing of this chapter in the UICA’s history, the GVSU students named their exhibit “Turn of the lights, close the door.”

“It’s like the last hoorah,” said Civic Studio’s Jenica Bock, “the very last show that has the honor of being viewed at the UICA’s Front Street Gallery.”

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