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2024 ArtPrize Entry

Vote#70415

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Dance Around the World is a polyptych of five 27” x 36” canvas prints featuring photographs of public dancing taken by the artist during his trips around the world, spanning a period of 37 years. The intent is to show the collage as a one-piece pentaptych, demonstrating how the different cultures of the world celebrate life as one human family.

(Photography on canvas; 135” x 180”)

Venue:

Cornerstone Church at Heritage Hill
48 Lafayette Ave SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49503

The Cornerstone Church resides in the historic Heritage Hill District. “The building is a wonderful blend of the ancient past and contemporary present.” It has been a venue and part of ArtPrize since its inception in 2014 and has grown in artists participation each year. This venue has hosted a wide variety of pieces including 2D, 3D, installation, and digital. It includes large and small entries for both indoor and outdoor environments. In 2022, Cornerstone Heritage Hill hosted 27 art pieces, making it one of the largest display venues on the east side of the festival.

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2023 ArtPrize Entry

The Human Fabric at NCMC_edited.jpg
Venue:

Cornerstone Church at Heritage Hill
48 Lafayette Ave SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49503

The Human Fabric

Now on permanent  display in the Library and Conference Center of North Michigan College, Petoskey, MI!

Artist Statement 

During my trips to all seven continents and more than 100
countries over the past 36 years, I have taken thousands of
photographs of people I observed, experienced or befriended.
Most of these pictures were candid, with only a few “on-the-
spot” poses. All were unplanned. To me, they represent the
“Human Fabric” that weaves us all together as one global
family. Despite our different languages, cultures, clothes,
customs, traditions, ethnicities or skin colors, we are all made
of the same cloth. We all laugh, cry, hope, dream, aspire, love,
communicate, listen, and seek to live meaningful and
purposeful lives. I am thankful for all from every nook and
cranny of the sphere, and the lessons they’ve taught me in
numerous ways. These panels are a representative sample of
my images. I have selected each of these because of a unique
memory or symbolic significance, composition, color, and
contrast, and their collective sense of harmony. Their
arrangement is both serendipitous and what subjectively
appealed to my eye. In my book, “Exploring Humanities Around
the World,” I discuss many of these encounters in vivid detail.
My hope is that this pictorial presentation conveys each of
these even more effectively than 1,000 words. If by seeing and
pondering this work you are struck afresh with the unity and
diversity of our human race, I will have achieved my purpose.

The Cornerstone Church resides in the historic Heritage Hill District. “The building is a wonderful blend of the ancient past and contemporary present.” It has been a venue and part of ArtPrize since its inception in 2014 and has grown in artists participation each year. This venue has hosted a wide variety of pieces including 2D, 3D, installation, and digital. It includes large and small entries for both indoor and outdoor environments. In 2022, Cornerstone Heritage Hill hosted 27 art pieces, making it one of the largest display venues on the east side of the festival.

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Screen Shot 2023-06-16 at 18.51.16 PM.png

About the Artist

Gary L. Hauck holds a PhD from Michigan State University, and has been an educator for more than 40 years in the fields of
humanities, religion, art appreciation, and study abroad. He is the author of numerous books including, "Exploring Humanities
Around the World"; in which he discusses his positive encounters with people across the globe in his quest for learning. He resides in Grand Rapids, MI with his wife of 50+ years, and near their four children and two grandchildren.

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