WKTV Staff

Quote of the Day

"I would travel only by horse, if I had a choice."- Linda McCartney

Come One, Come All

Patrons visit the GRAM for free during ArtPrize.

The Grand Rapids Art Museum recently announced it would be part of the Museums for All programs, providing free admission, for up to four people, with the presentation of a SNAP Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card; commonly known as the Michigan Bridge Card. The GRAM joins the Grand Rapids Children Museum and the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts in offering free and reduce admission. The Grand Rapids Symphony has the Symphony Scorecard program, which provides up to four free tickets to those receiving financial assistance from the State of Michigan and/or are active, reserve or guard military families.

A horse is a horse, of course, of course…

Bill catches up with an old friend at Lee’s Summit Equestrian.

WKTV volunteers Bill and Charlotte Rinderknecht have hit the road in search of stories about horses and the people who work with them for their documentary series “Horses and Their People.” Follow the couple as they journey through the United States, visiting ranches and exploring the local culture of the communities they visit.

Feeding the Mind and the Body

During the summer, Kent District Library’s newest branch, the Kelloggsville branch, has been participating in The Meet Up and Eat Up program. Sponsored by the state, the program is designed to bring nutritious meals to lower income areas. Set to wrap up this week on Aug. 17, the KDL Kelloggsville Meet Up and Eat Up served students living near the high school, where the facility is located. As KDL Executive Director stated “Feeding the minds, imaginations and spirits is something that we have always done at KDL, but now we are literally feeding hungry people.”

Murder She Wrote

The cast of the upcoming production of “And Then There Were None”

At first, no one wanted to produce the play version of Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” because they insisted that the storyline wouldn’t work on stage and that people would laugh at it. In 2015, it was voted the World’s Favorite Christie having been made into several movies with such groups as the Superman comics and “Family Guy” making parodies of it. This weekend you can catch several local residents as they perform the murder mystery at the Jenison Theater of the Arts, which has productions running Aug. 17-19 and 24-26. If you can’t make that production, Grand Rapids Civic Theatre will be offering a production in January. In between the two productions, you can always read the book.

Fun Fact:

17 hours

That is how long it took to make all the costumes and puppets for the Broadway production of Disney's The Lion King. It took 750 pounds of silicone rubber with the tallest animal being the 18-foot giraffes and the smallest being a five-inch trick mouse on Scar's cane. You can see it all next year as Broadway Grand Rapids recently announced that Disney's The Lion King will be part of its 2019-2020 season.

The Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM) announced today that it has joined Museums for All, a national access program of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and Association of Children’s Museums (ACM). Museums for All is designed to encourage people of all backgrounds to visit museums regularly and build lifelong museum-going habits. The program is effective as of today, Aug. 13, 2018.

The Museum for All program grants those receiving food assistance (SNAP) benefits visiting GRAM free admission, for up to four people, with the presentation of a SNAP Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card; commonly known as the Michigan Bridge Card. Similar free and reduced admission is available to eligible members of the public at more than 250 museums across the country. Museums for All is part of the Grand Rapids Art Museum’s broad commitment to seek, include and welcome all.

Grand Rapids Art Museum Director and CEO Dana Friis-Hansen visits with a student. Hansen just announced a new that the GRAM will be part of the Museums for All program.

“The Grand Rapids Art Museum is proud to announce its participation in Museums for All,” said GRAM Director and CEO Dana Friis-Hansen. “Access to the arts is critical for the vibrancy of our community, and this program furthers the Museum’s initiative of offering inclusive and accessible experiences for visitors year-round.”

Museums for All helps expand access to museums and also raise public awareness about how museums in the U.S. are reaching their entire communities. More than 250 institutions participate in the initiative, including art museums, children’s museums, science centers, botanical gardens, zoos, history museums and more. Participating museums are located nationwide, representing more than 40 states.

GRAM is one of three institutions in West Michigan participating in Museums for All, along with the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum and Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts. GRAM joins Museums for All after a year piloting the Grand Rapids Symphony’s access program, Symphony Scorecard. The Scorecard program is in effect at the Museum through the end of August 2018.

The Museum’s fall 2018 season offers a dynamic lineup of art experiences for eligible visitors to enjoy, including Who Shot Sports: A Photographic History, 1843 to the Present and Dylan Miner: Water is Sacred // Trees are Relative. Visitors are additionally invited to participate in a wide array of the Museum’s free programming and events, including Drop-in Studio, Artist and Curator lectures, Drop-in Tours, Yoga at GRAM, Lunch and Learns, Baby & Me Tours, Discovery Club, and the Sunday Classical Concert Series.

For more about the Grand Rapids Art Museum programming, visit artmuseumgr.org.