S1E2 Eddie Tadlock

Eddie Tadlock is the Assistant General Manager for ASM Global, the company that manages DeVos Place in downtown Grand Rapids. Throughout the history of ArtPrize, it has been his job to select the art that is displayed in the building. He has a history of picking winners. 

Eddie is a huge art fan, a jazz aficionado, and is well traveled. He also shares a love of this City and ArtPrize. Eddie talks about the past, present and future of ArtPrize in this episode and he knows what he is talking about. 

Plus he has a killer hat!

A big thanks you to WOOD TV 8 for allowing us to use file footage in this episode. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Welcome to the official Art Prize Podcast, a limited series going behind the scenes of Grand Rapids Premier Art Competition. I'm your host, Steve Kelso. I'm a former Art Prize reporter for Wood TVA, a former Art Prize artist, and the owner of Kelso Communications, a proud Art Prize sponsor. In this series, I'm talking with the artists, the organizers, and the decision makers shaping Art Prize 16. Hey everybody, welcome to the next episode of the Art Prize Podcast. We're looking into all kinds of things regarding Art Prize today. I'm very fortunate to have Eddie Tadlock with me. It's a conversation I've wanted to have for a long time. Eddie, thanks for joining me today.

SPEAKER_00 0:43

My pleasure.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

Beautiful day today. Weather spectacular. It is, isn't it? It's gorgeous out there. Kind of this morning, in fact, when I got up, it was like 50 degrees, and it kind of reminded me of that those first fall days when Art Prize is coming. Art Prize is just around the corner, and you've been there since the get-go on this thing.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

Since the very beginning, 2009, when they made the announcement of Art Prize on the steps of the Welsh Auditorium.

SPEAKER_01 1:11

And you were staying, you were there. I was there. And what were your thoughts on that day?

SPEAKER_00 1:16

That day was what the heck is going on? What is this art prize thing? Which a lot of people had those very same questions. They didn't know what to expect. And I had actually had to convince the board of the Convention Arena Authority to be a venue for art prize. They were like, What is this thing? I said, I don't know. I don't know. There should be some cool art, and we'll get to showcase it in the convention center. They said, okay, great. Pick three pieces of art and no naked people. Those were my marching orders. And I ended up, I think the first year he had 32 pieces and three naked interests.

SPEAKER_01 1:59

So you're a rule breaker right off the bat.

SPEAKER_00 2:02

Absolutely. But we had five artists finish in the top 10 and got all kinds of recognition for the great art that we had. And then the board said, that's great. Next year get a hundred pieces. I said it doesn't quite work like that, but they've been very supportive throughout the entire process and even to this day.

SPEAKER_01 2:23

Now explain to the folks uh who may not know what your job is and you and the benefits that your employer sees from Art Prize.

SPEAKER_00 2:32

So day job, I'm assistant general manager for the convention center, and I was um appointed to be the curator for Art Prize, the very first one, because no one else would do it. So I was voluntole that pick the art, make it happen. And they've seen the benefits of hosting artists, because number one, we get people who come into the building who've never been inside before. So it's it's it's an experience for them to see it under a different context. Not like you're going to the boat show or the auto show, but you come in to see art. And that was so enlightening and great to see that very first art prize, and just uh be a fly on the on the wall and listen to conversations as people walk through the building. They're like, I don't know anything about art, but I like this. And just hearing that over and over again and people experiencing art for the first time, and maybe they've never been to a museum before because it's been intimidating, right? But art prize opened this up to a whole new audience of people who can appreciate art.

SPEAKER_01 3:37

You know, it raises the question. We have a long history with art in Grand Rapids. Of course, the Festival of the Arts went on forever. We have the very first piece of art that the uh National Endowment for Public Arts ever placed in the United States with the Calder and the Calder Plaza. How has Art Prize informed the good and great people of Grand Rapids? Are we better patrons now, maybe, than we were before?

SPEAKER_00 4:04

I believe so. Just because, you know, when when people come through and experience art prize, um, they take notice of the things that have been here for years that they never would have recognized or even thought to look at twice. So it's really kind of leveled the playing field for art, for what that's worth. And I think it's been a very good thing for the city of Grand Rapids.

SPEAKER_01 4:28

I uh I noticed the the first year I stopped by uh one of the local watering halls and was talking to the the drinkers of beer and breakers of things. And they were sitting there talking about what is art. They were having this conversation. Well, these guys never would have had that conversation before. Come that winter, they rented a bus and they went over to the Art Institute in Chicago. And the next time I catch up with them in the tavern, they're sitting there talking about the Srat. So that was that's really encouraging to me to see. And that idea of opening up conversation was really taking hold.

SPEAKER_00 5:07

Yeah, it really transformed the arts community in Grand Rapids, and not just locally, just around the country. Because when I travel on business, I'm an art junkie, so I usually find a museum or a gallery or something, and I I'll just stripe a conversation. Hey, have you heard about Art Prize? Oh, yeah, that's that thing in Grand Rapids, Michigan. How cool is that? And then continue the conversation and say, Do you know any artists who might be interested in participating? Yeah, so we exchange information, and then next thing you know, I've got artists from Fort Lauderdale, from Phoenix, Arizona, from LA, from Seattle coming to Art Prize, and I've hosted those artists at DeVos Place.

SPEAKER_01 5:53

And you have hosted a number of winners over there.

SPEAKER_00 5:57

Absolutely. Um every year we have artists that finish in the top ten and make it to the finals. And um this year we had, I believe, we had 10 artists placed in the top ten in the this um city center district. Five districts and they pick 20 in each district. Okay. And I had 10 artists at DeVos Place finished there. So they do really, really well. And I'm lucky that I get to select them because it's always a battle to find the right artists, you know, because you're competing against the Grand Rapids Art Museum, the Ford Museum, the Public Museum, and everybody I want to be in a museum, you know, say convention center. What's that? But then once they get in and see the the reception they get from visitors coming through, now I'm beating them off with a stick, you know. Hey, pick me, pick me.

SPEAKER_01 6:57

And it's like competitive. There's an a yeah, there's an actual competition amongst the venues to score the best pieces. Absolutely. Because because they want that foot traffic, or is it just bragging, right? Both. Both.

SPEAKER_00 7:10

Sometimes we have too many people at DeVoz Place. And over the years I've kind of scaled back the number of entries just so there's some breathing room in between the pieces and people can actually walk down the hall without being stuck in the middle. I mean, there are years when I wouldn't even walk on the skywalk. I'd take the stairs and go down on the streets and walk around just because it was faster.

SPEAKER_01 7:32

Yeah, right. Go all the way around the building instead of trying to cut through the building. Yeah. Yeah. I have been in there with some of those crowds. I it's always been my best experience. If you can get out during a weekday and walk around in there, that's when you're gonna have your best chance.

SPEAKER_00 7:46

Well, we have crowds lining up at 8 a.m. when we open the doors to the building. School groups, we get buses packed with tourists who are coming through. And as soon as the doors open, they're in.

SPEAKER_01 8:02

That has made such I I just got done going through the study uh from Seedman about last year's art prize. And I hear this notion out on the street that, oh, art prize just jumped the shark, art prize isn't what it used to be. And yet I look at those numbers and it just doesn't bear that out. We had close to a million visitors last year. And that number, that's not that's not anomalous, that's a trend that that continues to build. How has that how do you how has art price changed in the time that we've been there? And what do we do about that attitude that art price has jumped the shark?

SPEAKER_00 8:39

You know, I find it funny when people say it's it's not what it used to be. Well, everything evolves and changes over time. You know, they've made some changes in the rules for participation and engagement and, you know, prize money and lots of different changes, but I think there have been changes for the good because you can't just be stagnant and remain, this is how it's always been, so we don't change. You've got to change and kind of make things a little different, both for the artist and the patrons who are coming out to see it. But overall, I think most people say that it's with the exception of that one year when they did that art prize one tour thing every other year, that just threw everybody off. It would and it was crazy. I I'll admit, I said, what is this? You know, um, they're not doing it again. Right. You learn.

SPEAKER_01 9:32

You learn slogan now is it's every year.

SPEAKER_00 9:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:35

Because that stock, people are like, oh, are they doing that this year? I thought it was every other year.

SPEAKER_00 9:40

Because I would have friends and family come from out of town um specifically for art prize because they enjoyed it so much. Before when they had the um the art club or whatever, the clubhouse for art prize, and you can pay an additional fee and you get to go to the clubhouse. My sister and her husband and all my other friends, they came up specifically so they can go to the art prize clubhouse.

SPEAKER_01 10:05

Go hang in the clubhouse.

SPEAKER_00 10:06

Yeah. And spend the whole day going around seeing art, which is pretty awesome.

SPEAKER_01 10:11

Which is pretty awesome. And you can't, I don't know, I don't know anyone who ever claims to have seen it all. Uh, there's just no way we can go over a thousand artists this year, which is a great I tried the second year of Art Prize.

SPEAKER_00 10:24

I said, I'm gonna see every single entry. And I did, I will never do that again.

SPEAKER_01 10:31

And you and you're an art fan.

SPEAKER_00 10:33

Yeah. Yeah. It was it was just too much to cover in that time frame, that window of art prize. You know, when I go to other cities for art festivals and other things, nothing compares to art prize. It's a completely different vibe, completely different type of engagement. It's not like you're going down the street and there's booths set up and artists are selling trinkets and trash. This is people who put their blood, sweat, and tears into their artistic expression and it's on display for the world to see, which I think is pretty cool and unique.

SPEAKER_01 11:07

I remember some pieces that you showed me uh when I was working as a reporter at Channel 8. And uh one in particular, uh Gretchen Lauer, I don't remember the name of the piece. I remember the piece. It was um The woman crying. With a single tear. Yes. It struck me, you you mentioned the word bravery. It struck me the bravery of that artist to create that and put it out there.

SPEAKER_00 11:36

And interesting story about Gretchen. So she was a student at GRCC in the music program. So she plays classical piano. That was the first painting she ever did in her life.

SPEAKER_01 11:49

Uh yeah, I remember that. I remember that, and I did a story with her. I went and heard her play, and I was in tears.

SPEAKER_00 11:55

And so another little funny story when um, you know, I curate the show, so I know where each piece is gonna go based on my experience of curating space for all these years. And I said, there's only one spot that you can go. And she came and she saw the spot and she started crying. I was like, what's wrong? Well, no one's gonna be able to see it from here and here and there. I said, trust me. They'll see it, and the way they have the lights focused on it, it's gonna pop out. And lo and behold, she was one of the winners.

SPEAKER_01 12:32

Yeah, she was. It was an amazing I had no idea who that woman was. I had no idea what the tear in her eye was about, but there was something that struck you when you saw that that it was just just mind-blowing, earth shattering. I guess that's well, let's go to this question. What is art? Is that art? Is that because it made me something? What what is art? It's whatever speaks to you.

SPEAKER_00 12:59

I think Andy Warhol said it best. Art is a man's name. As corny as it sounds, it is because different things speak differently to the observer, you know. And it it gives you an opportunity to make your own interpretation of what is this, you know. And it's always funny here saying, Well, I could have made that, but you didn't. But you didn't. And if you did, you didn't bring it here to show it off. Exactly. So I I think that's an ongoing conversation, which is great, right? You know, but no one gets to define what art is. It's up to individual interpretation. That that's my feeling about the whole thing.

SPEAKER_01 13:45

To that end, does anyone get to define what art prize is?

SPEAKER_00 13:51

No, it's a thing.

SPEAKER_01 13:52

I you know, you said you said you sit on those steps in 2009 wondering what the heck this art prize thing is. There's part of me that still kind of wonders all these years later, what the heck is this art prize thing?

SPEAKER_00 14:04

I would say art prize is a catalyst to starting conversations on things. Be it a sculpture, be it a painting, be it some mishmash of uh old automobile parts and everything else, but it starts a conversation. And it's uh it's really more interesting when the artist is actually there next to their work and explaining what their thought process was and putting this thing together and having that conversation with the patrons who come in. That's always interesting to hear. Or you see the artist kind of stand off to the side, and then people have their own interpretation, and they're talking out loud, well, he meant this, he meant this. Artist comes over. I didn't mean any of that. I just threw some stuff together.

SPEAKER_01 14:57

And that's gotta be real value for the artist. But beyond that, looking across our country these days, conversation's something we're a little short on, yo. I mean, we are not good at it, and it just seems to go like this, especially on social media. Maybe there's a real social value to art prize.

SPEAKER_00 15:18

Because, you know, over the years we've had political pieces in different venues, and I try and stray away from those because I don't think those conversations are healthy, you know, because it's just it's just baiting people into some type of thing, political or religious for that matter. So I try and stay away from those things and I try and find pieces that make a a common ground for everyone to to interpret what they see and not become volatile or political or you know, all those kinds of crazy things.

SPEAKER_01 16:03

So eventually it leads us to discussions on the the the human condition, right? And we find maybe we have a whole lot more common ground than we really have a part. I think that's a that's a valuable thing. If you were gonna change one thing about art prize, what would it be?

SPEAKER_00 16:27

More on the venue side, um I would change some of the requirements of artists when they're submitting work. And this is just like technical stuff, dimensions, weight, kind of all those things because it's really hard to curate a piece and place it if you don't know the size, you don't know the dimensions, they just have this raggedy photo of the piece on the website. Um because a lot of times I'll have to go out and if I like a piece of art, I'll have to go contact the artists somehow, some way, and have a conversation. What is this thing? I like the concept, but how big is it? Right. Is it gonna forklift it? Forklift, right? Yeah, yeah. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 17:14

Literally, you could use a forklift to move some of these stuff. Yeah, yeah, I would imagine so. Advice to someone if they're gonna take off and see it for the first time. I've never been to Art Prize.

SPEAKER_00 17:30

I would say start at the larger venues first because you get a bigger bang for your buck. So, say like DeVos Place, for instance. I've had upwards of a hundred pieces of art in one location. I don't do that anymore. But you can start there and see uh quite a bit in a variety of art. And then we're connected to the Anway Grand Plaza Hotel, so you can continue that journey to the hotel, and they have great art. And then when you finish at the hotel, you can go across the bridge to the Ford Museum, and they always have a great collection of art. And then you can go from the Ford Museum to the public museum, and you can just make this circuit and see a lot of art in a short time frame if you're limited on time.

SPEAKER_01 18:16

And within a pretty easy walk.

SPEAKER_00 18:18

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:19

And most folks can can get around that pretty easily. That's a good idea because you're you are gonna catch a lot of it in there. All right. It's one thing your neighbor doesn't know anything about art prize, but the one thing you wish you could make him understand and know about art prize.

SPEAKER_00 18:38

It's an experience, it's a very unique experience. You know, walk and see it firsthand, and you decide if it's a junk show or if it's a conversation starter. And I'm the biggest promoter of art prize, not only in Grand Rapids, but whenever I travel around the country, around the world, I'm talking to people about art prize because I wouldn't say it's a spectacle, but it's a unique environment to kind of see art and meet artists from all around the world. I've had artists from 17 different countries showcase at DeVoz Place and still keep in touch with them as well.

SPEAKER_01 19:21

Then you started the conversation, didn't you? All right. Eddie Tadlock, thanks so much for your time today. My pleasure. Stay tuned right here because you want to catch more of the Art Prize podcast. We'll have further episodes for you coming up. Thanks for joining us for this episode of the official Art Prize Podcast. Make sure to download the Art Prize app and cast your votes. Visit artprize.org for more information.