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Artworks
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Description
Artworks operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts and humanities center at 106 N Michigan Avenue in downtown Big Rapids, running 8 to 12 rotating exhibits a year in its Batdorff Gallery. The Painted Turtle Gift Shop on the main floor carries work from more than 150 Michigan artists, ranging from pottery and jewelry to wood carving and acrylics. The lower-level Creative Education Center holds a pottery studio and workshop space, and the building also includes two dance floors used for classes and rentals. Locals return for the standing groups that meet on a set weekly schedule, including a harmonica circle, a woodworking club, and a book club that gathers monthly. Summer camps run three days at a stretch for kids ages 7 to 13, with past sessions built around pottery and photography. Area students display their work each year through the Art Attack exhibit, and the organization partners with the City of Big Rapids on the Festival of Banners and the summer Music at Pocket Park concert series downtown. Artworks also extends its programming beyond its own building, providing art services to Hope Network of West Michigan and the Mecosta Osceola Intermediate School District. Partial funding comes through a grant from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs. Visitors exploring downtown Big Rapids can easily fold a stop here into an afternoon of other shops and restaurants nearby.
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