As a vacation spot, this western Michigan city might sound like something from a Chevy Chase joke book, circa 1975. That was when the comedian was a big star and made Grand Rapids’ favorite son, Gerald Ford, the butt of constant jokes.
But that’s old news. Grand Rapids, a city of about 200,000 and three hours from Chicago, has shaken off the Rust Belt blues. A good local economy has helped redevelop the downtown area, and Grand Rapids’ rich history has encouraged city boosters to think of it as nothing less than a tourist destination.
Today, old loft buildings by the Grand River are filled with stylish restaurants and drinking establishments. Heritage Hill nearby is one of the largest urban historic districts in the country. And Pearl Street, a main thoroughfare through the middle of town, has a new nickname: “Museum Row.”
Museums are definitely a growth industry in Grand Rapids, the latest proof of which includes a remarkable exhibit at the Grand Rapids Art Museum. “Perugino: Master of the Italian Renaissance” continues through Feb. 1; it’s a small but splendid show made possible primarily by the loan of nine 500-year-old works from the Italian city of Perugia.
“Perugino” would have been a triumph for any art museum. Pietro Perugino was once called “the best painter in Italy” by a patron during the Renaissance, and his frescoes decorate the Sistine Chapel. Now in Grand Rapids, the paintings from Italy are accompanied by other Peruginos from Chicago, New York, Detroit and elsewhere. A major scholarly catalog has been co-published by Rizzoli and the museum.
The result is that the once-sleepy art museum is the talk of the town (attendance is up tenfold) and of art history circles around the country–credit for which museum director Celeste Adams happily shares with the many civic leaders who helped make the exhibit a big success. “Grand Rapids is a city of diversity and depth,” Adams said. “And now it’s on the cusp of being discovered.”
The Perugino project, five years in the making, came about through a combination of earnest public spirit and good old-fashioned clout. It was also the result of personal enterprise and undeniable good luck, beginning when Joseph Antenucci Becherer, a young dean and art history professor at Grand Rapids Community College, accompanied a Sister Cities delegation to Italy to cement bonds between Grand Rapids and Perugia, the regional capital of Umbria.
Cultural exchange was one of their objectives, and Becherer, a specialist in Renaissance art, initially proposed borrowing a single painting by Perugia’s greatest artist. Pietro Perugino–his surname is an honorific meaning “the one from Perugia”–is not widely known in this country, but he represents a towering force in Italian Renaissance painting. Like Leonardo da Vinci, Perugino was a student of Verrocchio; later he was the teacher of Raphael.
After Becherer’s first visit to Perugia, he developed a warm relationship with curators at the National Gallery of Art of Umbria, which has a large collection of works by Perugino. During the next year, they discussed the possibility of a more substantial exhibit. Maybe two or three pictures, Becherer thought.
Then in 1994, a letter came from the Italian gallery stating that they were willing to lend nine masterpieces, none of which had ever been seen in America. “When I read this, I was so overwhelmed,” Becherer said. “I dropped the letter.”
Sweet stories like this do not happen, naturally, without tangible forces in the background. In this case they included the U.S. ambassador in Italy under President Bush, Peter Secchia, CEO of Grand Rapids-based Universal Forest Products. Also essential was money, and approximately $400,000 was raised from the foundations connected with Jay Van Andel and Richard De Vos, founders of another major local company, Amway Corp..
Perugia should be pleased by the outcome. Grand Rapids has organized an arts festival called “The Grand Renaissance” to accompany the exhibit. The planetarium at the Van Andel Museum Center produced a digital-image sky show chronicling the scientific world of the Italian Renaissance. (It also runs through Feb. 1.) Another major local institution, the Gerald R. Ford Museum, has an exhibit of gifts from Italy to U.S. presidents. And the Frederik Meijer Gardens, outside town, has created an Italian pleasure garden in its towering new conservatory.
Most of all, Perugino will be remembered as a turning point for the Grand Rapids Art Museum. More major exhibits are in the works. The museum is also embarking on a renovation project to enlarge their hulking Beaux Arts building and make an architectural statement.
If nothing else, the art museum has to meet the standards of the other institutions on Museum Row, such as the Gerald R. Ford Museum, a graceful granite and glass monument on the bank of the Grand River. Presidential museums provide in-depth views of relatively short periods of history. This one features an elaborate new exhibit about the Ford years with a profusion of pictures, clippings, letters, videos (such as Betty Ford’s first televised remarks on drugs, sex and other views made during the White House years) and many other media. It even pipes in Marvin Gaye music to remember the ’70s by.
Across the street are the new quarters of the Grand Rapids Public Museum. Exhibits range from natural history to technology; a 76-foot finback whale skeleton and 1928 carousel are among its big, impressive treasures. Most important, perhaps, is the museum’s treatment of furniture history. Grand Rapids was once the center of America’s furniture-making industry, and the museum has one of the most important collections anywhere.
The majority of this industry has migrated to the South, but the important furniture makers that remain continue to make contributions to local culture. Among them, Steelcase Inc. is prospering nicely–their business is “re-engineering the modern office,” in the words of a spokesman. Steelcase also does what it can to preserve history, which in its case includes furniture designs by Frank Lloyd Wright designs.
Wright’s Grand Rapids story naturally interests outsiders. Besides working with Steelcase on office furniture–primarily for the Johnson Wax Building in Racine, Wis.–he also designed at least two homes here. One of them, the Meyer May House of 1909, was purchased in 1985 by Steelcase and restored to its pristine original state. It is a classic Prairie-style work and a delight for any Wright aficionado.
The house is in a neighborhood of fine old Victorians, and the story is that the children of Meyer May, a local merchant, were teased by neighbors for living in such a strange place.
Today, of course, it is the prize of the Heritage Hill neighborhood, and not only because of an appreciation for Frank Lloyd Wright houses wherever they’re found. The Meyer May house represents a vivid link with the past, which is something that Grand Rapids sees as a permanent ingredient in its future.
DETAILS ON GRAND RAPIDS
Getting there: Grand Rapids is about three hours by car from downtown Chicago. The best routes are Interstate Highway 94 east to Interstate Highway 196 north through Holland, or I-94 east to U. S. Highway 131 through Kalamazoo. Amtrak has daily service between Chicago and Grand Rapids as do several airlines.
Accommodations: The Amway Grand Hotel (616-774-2000 or 800-253-3590), Marriott Courtyard (616-242-6000 or 800-321-2211) and the Days Inn (616-235-7611 or 800-325-2525) are within walking distance of the museums.
Museums, etc: Among cultural institutions are:
– Meyer May House, Madison Avenue and Logan Street; 616-246-4821. Tours between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, and between 1 and 5 p.m. Sundays. Admission: free.
– Gerald R. Ford Museum, Pearl and Scribner Streets; 616-451-9263. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Admission: $3 for adults, $2 for seniors, and free for children under 16.
– Grand Rapids Art Museum, Pearl and Division Streets; 616-459-4677. Hours for the duration of the “Perugino” exhibit (through Feb. 1): 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily with a late closing of 9 p.m. Thursdays; closed Mondays. The museum will then close through Feb. 17. Hours after Feb. 17: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m daily with a late closing of 9 p.m. Fridays; closed on Mondays. Admission: $7 for adults, $5 for seniors and children, and $6 for college students.
– Public Museum of Grand Rapids and Chaffee Planetarium, Pearl and Front Streets; 616-456-3977. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Admission: $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, and $2 for children 3-17; planetarium admission $1.50 additional for shows during the day.
– Frederik Meijer Gardens, 3411 Bradford NE; 616-957-1580. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. Admission: $4 for adults, $3.50 for seniors, and $1.50 for children 5-13.
Information: Stop by the Visitor Center at 134 Monroe Center NW, or contact: Grand Rapids/Kent County Convention & Visitors Bureau, 140 Monroe Center NW, Suite 300, Grand Rapids, Mich. 49503; 800-678-9859; www.grcvb.org.
