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says New York art critic Jerry Saltz.

As the culmination of Grand Rapids' ArtPrize one of the jurors, Jerry Saltz, gave a talk at the Kendall School of Design to the students:

“If you’re gay, you know when you’re young. If you’re a ventriloquist, you know when you’re young. There’s another thing people know they are when they’re young – artists,” Saltz began to standing room-only crowd inside the Old Federal Building...

This week I was speaking with an artist and asked her what she liked the least about the art fairs and she replied, "sitting all by myself." Do you know that feeling? So when I saw Saltz' quote above I thought about her. The vulnerability of the life. You've been there, you've seen them, those tentative people trying not to hover in their booths, putting their lives out for the public to see, sharing their creative lives and waiting for the affirmation. It is tough.

So, I think you'll like this article about Saltz' talk including:

• although he is a prestigious critic why he joined up with the maligned TV program Next Great Artist

• that art critics are not the only purveyors of taste

• his belief that the public can choose great art

• how the high brows call ArtPrize a showcase for "junk" -- his reply: “85% of the shows in Chelsea are shit. Don’t be upset when 85% of the things you see during ArtPrize are the same. You don’t have to like it to look at it.”

Alexandra Fluegel's article in The Rapidian can be read here: therapidian.org/make-art-dance-naked-public-says-art-critic-and-artprize-juror-jerry-saltz

I thought the article was a breath of fresh air. So, you don't think much of your neighbor's art and oh, you didn't think much of the art you saw recently in a gallery show. Really?

What do you think?