Winds whip outside ArtPrize exhibits

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - The high winds that blew through the area late Sunday/early Monday morning damaged some of the work at ArtPrize.

With wind gusts expected to hit 50mph Monday, concern continues among artists with outside displays.

The wind moved a 200-pound piece of art by Garry Perrine off its base. He told 24 Hour News 8 it will take about four people to move it and reconnect his piece along Monroe Avenue. He's planning on doing that Tuesday

Over 1200 artists have their pieces up all over downtown Grand Rapids, but organizers told 24 Hour News 8 they're not tabulating the number of outdoor pieces damaged by the winds.

It's up to the artists and vendors to fix them or repair them if they are damaged.

A few pieces didn't fare well. Aaron Heideman's Man in the Van projects, in which he drove across country gathering stories of how the recession affected people's lives, is one that was damaged.

"Basically, the wind picked it up," Heideman said. "I tried holding it down. The wind was just too strong, and it actually ripped it in three different spots. So, now I've got four pieces total."

Heideman added he "wanted this thing to be a memorial to the recession. I wanted it to be a way to move on. I wanted it to be a way for people to symbolically move forward."