Hey GR, now there’s a website where you can find out about the artsy goings-on around town, without having to scroll through the bar specials.
The Arts Council of Greater Grand Rapids has launched a slick new website –whatsyourartgr.com – that highlights more than 60 arts and cultural organizations from around the Grand Rapids area. The site also includes a comprehensive events calendar, social media feeds from arts groups, and links to each organization’s online ticketing service.
Coolest of all, there’s a function that will allow you to search for last-minute ticket deals that the participating arts organizations will be able to post online. The whatsyourartgr.com site is part of a new marketing initiative by the Arts Council to help spur interest – and ticket sales – for local nonprofit arts groups. The Grand Rapids Community Foundation and Frey Foundation provided financial support.
“We know that people, now more than ever, are making their entertainment decisions based on what they find online,” said Caroline Older, executive director of the GR Arts Council.
She points to the site’s calendar as a “one-stop shop” where West Michigan residents and visitors can find out what’s happening on any given day at Grand Rapids-area theaters, museums and other cultural arts venues. Older acknowledges that there are a variety of sites like REVUE, GRNOW and On The Town that offer entertainment listings, but says whatsyourartgr.com will be more focused for the arts and culture seeker.
“It’s really about wanting to find out what’s going on in the arts and cultural arena and not have it cluttered with restaurant specials and bar specials,” she said.
The last-minute ticket deals could prove to be an especially popular option for thrifty arts fans, but also serve as a welcome source of incremental revenues for local arts groups. In a tight economy, entertainment-goers are looking for low-cost alternatives and, increasingly, they’re also holding off on buying tickets until the day of the event, says the Grand Rapids Ballet’s Misty Hendricks.
The GR Ballet’s last-minute tickets sales have been on the rise over the past few seasons, but this season has been the highest yet, Hendricks said. During the recent run of Flickers, an original ballet based on Charlie Chaplin, more than 20 percent of the tickets were sold the day of the performance. “It’s crazy,” she said. “It’s kind of cool that [the Ballet] is becoming a viable last-minute entertainment alternative, but it is frustrating going into the week not knowing what’s going to happen.”
The frustration may be well worth it, especially for smaller arts organizations, which might be able to pull on the coattails of the larger, well-known arts groups that will be their digital neighbors on whatsyourartgr.com. Site visitors who may be checking out the Grand Rapids Symphony, for example, might click to find out about the Grand Rapids Sweet Adelines, a female barbershop chorus group. And the smaller arts groups “are just as important to the area’s cultural richness as the larger groups,” Older said.
To help formally kick off the site, the Arts Councils is also planning a free event to promote the site on March 11 at McKay Tower in downtown GR. “Opening Night: A What’s Your Art Event” will feature 10-minute performances by a variety of Arts Council member groups, including The Grand Rapids Ballet, Opera Grand Rapids, Civic Theater, GR Symphony and others. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. For more information, visit whatsyourartgr.com or check the event's Facebook page.
