ArtPrize V was as lame and limp as the plump West Michigan gypsies that jammed our streets like the asses that pack their husky Wranglers. The most impressive part of it all was my amazement when one of the 49,000 "art experts" managed to walk more than a block without their heart exploding or eating their fists.

The picturesque lakeside town of Grand Haven doesn't have an official art museum, but that may be what adds to the unique mix as an emerging area for fine art appreciation.

Before glittering diamond skin, vegetarianism and werewolf hatred came around to screw up classic lore, vampires owned the night, seducing countless victims. In 1897, Bram Stoker sculpted the first iconic vampire: Dracula.

In Stoker's novel, Dracula possessed all the legend qualities – lust for human blood, the ability to fly as a bat, repelled by garlic, allergic to the sun – to display this horror character.

During the first week of October, art transforms downtown Grand Rapids into a pretty frickin' crazy place. There's stuff everywhere, and the cause [ArtPrize] pretty much provides the context for talk about art for the three weeks it takes over town. So, in the spirit of art's magnificent role in civic life, this month's featured event is something happening in the one place in town that has made art its mission.