ArtPrize Decon + Reuse Award

The 2018 Decon + Reuse conference came to Grand Rapids during the kickoff week for ArtPrize, the largest contemporary art exhibition in the United States. ArtPrize takes place across 160 public spaces, including local businesses, throughout downtown Grand Rapids and is visited by over 500,000 people. With the Kent County Department of Public Works, we put together a map of 80 artists using reclaimed materials in their ArtPrize entry. These artists were eligible to win an independent award, sponsored by Build Reuse and Architectural Salvage Works Detroit, in recognition of their decision to reimagine what could have been trash into something much more interesting. Through a public vote, the winner was Jeff Best’s Abiding in the Shadow!

“It all started when I use to make small sculptures for my children to take to show and tell. I'd make small wildlife sculptures out of coat hangers that made the trip to school year after year as they grew up. Then one day I happened upon some old discarded barbed wire and that event forever changed me. I love the story of reclaimed barbed wire. Once used to hold back livestock, yet now discarded in an old farm dump awaiting decay. Barbed Wire has so much character and rugged strength it only make sense to use it to make beautiful works of art. With some trial and error and an artistic eye, l bend miles and miles of rusted yesteryear into today's work of art.” - Jeff Best