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On the top floor of the GRAM are selected piece rotated from the permanent collection of the art museum. While the main halls lie on the other side of the opening in the wall, several pieces reside here in the corridor where the wide staircase brings self-powered visitors to the galleries. Those riding the elevator emerge in the distance, to the left of this photo.
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Part of the permanent exhibition (3rd Floor of the G.R.A.M.) is beauty found in the design of furniture and other parts of work or home life. This raises the question of 'beauty'. By putting things on a pedestal with studio spot lighting, and perhaps a security box surrounding it, visitors are invited to regard the 3-D pieces as a special kind of sculpture; one that is beautify to the eyes, but also succeeds (or fails) in its functional uses. The practical and the aesthetically pleasing should amplify each other, increasing the delight of use and the delight of looking. More often, though, one aspect outweighs the other: more beauty as an object than as a practical tool or furnishing. Or the reverse: more value in its pleasure of use than in the look of the thing.
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The disks in the Plexiglas columns represent the votes cast by gallery visitors for each of the animal images in front of the respective box. The instructions at the lower right corner invite voters to choose which of the animals (plucked from gallery images containing animals) the voter identifies with or favors.
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Thanks to corporate financial support Tuesday afternoons and Thursday evenings are open to the public at no charge at the Grand Rapids Art Museum. This photo of the top floor shows parts of the permanent collection on display, with some pieces removed and others added from time to time so that repeat visitors may see more and more of the holdings. Although most pieces are 2-dimensional, here and there sculptures small and medium also have a place here.
While the rest of the world comes and goes outside, driving or walking past the museum, a steady stream of keen viewers make their one once or multiple times to explore the permanent and the temporary (special or traveling) exhibitions. Perhaps this reflects the wider society of 2025 in general: most without time, money, awareness, or interest in galleries. But some with deep interest and keen (emotional) response to visual expression ancient and modern.
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