This summer, I attended several concerts at the amphitheater at Frederik Meijer Gardens. Buddy Guy performed as part of his Buddy Guy 90 tour. The Chicago blues legend was joined by Carlise Guy and the Nu Blu Band. A few days later I saw St. Vincent perform with the Grand Rapids Symphony, with Arooj Aftab also on the bill. It was a particularly memorable pairing, bringing St. Vincent’s distinctive alternative-rock sound together with a full symphony orchestra. I also enjoyed Great Lakes Brass, performing “A Love Letter to New Orleans” as part of the Tuesday Evening Music Club. Great Lakes Brass is a Michigan-based 10-piece second-line brass band inspired by the musical traditions of New Orleans.
Of all the large public sculptures by Alexander Calder, and I have seen quite a few across the country, La Grande Vitesse — the one in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan — is by far my favorite.
The Carousel at the Grand Rapids Public Museum — officially called the 1928 Spillman Carousel — has been refurbished and is now open. One of the nicest things about it, is that it is fully accessible.
I’ve been to PBR at Madison Square Garden in New York City, but never before in downtown Grand Rapids!
It was a spectacular ending to the 2025 minor league baseball season. The Brooklyn Cyclones won the High A South Atlantic League Championship, and the West Michigan Whitecaps won the High A Midwest League Championship.
This was extra special for me, because I was lucky enough to catch A LOT of Cyclones games in Brooklyn this year, including an unforgettable Pride Night with 10 amazing friends. I also got to see several Whitecaps games in Grand Rapids, including two awesome outings with my sister and her life partner.
And I can’t forget the Cedar Rapids Kernels, who had an incredible season and were tough competitors in the Midwest League Championship. Watching my nephew Kyle Jones play for the Kernels two years back with my sister Peggy was one of my all-time highlights as a baseball fan. I’ll never forget those moments, either.
What a season. I am already counting the days until next spring! I am hoping to attend more games in Grand Rapids, and hopefully some Wichita Wind Surge games as well!
Alexander Calder was one of the most prolific artists of the 20th Century. He is best known for the mobile, which is a kinetic sculpture featuring moving objects balanced in air. His mobiles are often hung from the ceiling in large public buildings, with delicately balanced metal discs that move in interesting ways. Calder is also known for a static form of sculpture called the stabile. The bright red creation titled “La Grande Vitesse,” located in downtown Grand Rapids, is a stabile. The work pictured on the cover of this book is a stabile-mobile, incorporating both fixed and movable elements.
I picked up this book, by Jacob Baal-Teshuva, several years back at the Museum of Modern Art gift shop for ten dollars. It’s 95 pages and includes photographs of works spanning his entire career, plus a bibliography and a timeline of important events in the artist’s life.
Here are a few more notes about Calder:
- His nickname was Sandy.
- He is described as a loving family man with a sunny disposition. He was known to have had many friends.
- His father and grandfather were both sculptors, in the classical style.
- He was born in Philadelphia and lived in New York City and Connecticut. He also spent many years in France.
- He had a degree in mechanical engineering.
- His works in France included an elaborate model of a circus, with moving elements, as well as wire sculptures of Josephine Baker and other celebrities.
- He did many paintings, most with bright, primary colors.
- He painted three jet airliners for Braniff Airlines.
- He also created toys and jewelry.
- Calder’s Flamingo, a stabile in Chicago, was featured in the 1986 film “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”
- There are THREE Calders in New York City (that I am aware of). There’s a black stabile at Lincoln Center; a red stabile at 57th Street and Madison Avenue; and a red, yellow and blue stabile-mobile called “Janey Waney,” in Gramercy Park.
- He had a big exhibition a few years back at the Whitney Museum, and he’s got a big exhibition currently on display at the MoMA.
- Nobody from Grand Rapids says La Grande Vitesse, ever. To us, it is simply The Calder. It was dedicated in 1969.
- He died in 1976.
If you ask me, most of Calder’s paintings and sculptures are instantly recognizable. I love his works because they bring joy.
With sister Peggy, cousin Patrick and my friend from grade school and high school John Krens, who had us over to his parents’ house in Grand Rapids.
John and I were in town for the Catholic Central High School Reunion.
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