Of the 1,582 entries at this year's ARTPRIZE (see blog), 10 winners were voted in and among them is Ann Arbor artist Lynda Cole.

Taking 3rd place, her 3-D kinetic sculpture entitled Rain consists of 7600 squares of silver leaf on polyester film, and is suspended by aluminum monofilament within a 10 ft. cube of space and move with ambient air currents.

This photo at left represents one module. The Art Prize entry comprised of 25 modules. To see all of them, go to the artist's website or blog.

As our commitment to showcase and support local artists, The Ann Arbor District Library is proud to include two of Lynda Cole's work in our circulating art print collection , entitled Winter and Explore. Now you too, could live with great art.

You've been winding your way through the single-lane situation on East Stadium, eagerly anticipating the next phase in the Ann Arbor Bridges project. Well, the wait is almost over. Beginning in November 2011, the Ann Arbor Bridges Reconstruction project will begin.

The Project Update Press Release details, concretely, every phase of the project. Leaving no cone unturned in their effort to keep citizens informed, the city will provide updates on the website throughout the reconstruction.

And speaking of the Big House, Sparty sends his best.

Steve Jobs, brilliant visionary, co-founder (with Steve Wozniak), and CEO of Apple Computers, died yesterday after a seven-year battle with a rare form of pancreatic cancer.

His revolutionary products changed how we compute, listen to music, watch movies, and communicate.

He was the first to bring computers into our homes. His influence can be seen everywhere -- the mouse? Steve Jobs. Beautiful, elegant, easy-to-use technology? Steve Jobs. The signature layout of the Apple stores? Steve Jobs. iPhones? Apps? iPods? iPads? Jobs. Jobs. Jobs.The wild success of Pixar Studios? That was Steve Jobs as well, after he bought the nascent operation from George Lucas and blew the lid off computer-generated animation.

Last night the tributes and analysis of his remarkable career and wide-reaching impact on our everyday lives began within minutes of the announcement of his death, and will continue for several days.No doubt, many of these reports are being produced on and spread by Apple products.

Apple will go on. Steve Jobs, whose gift of seeing far into the future, surely planned for this inevitable day. It is inconceivable that he would have let his passion for creative, fun, esthetically gorgeous technology, die with him. But for this moment, we'll pause and wish that somehow, magically, there was an app to delay his passing for just a little while longer.

No doubt, #iSad will be trending on Twitter today.

Steve Jobs, who died one day after the long-awaited announcement of the latest version of the iPhone, was just 56.

The exhibition Multiple Impressions: Contemporary Chinese Woodblock Prints opened without much fanfare this summer at The University of Michigan Museum of Art. Now that the fall semester is in full swing, interesting programs are popping up on the museum calendar.

The 114 works on view by 41 of China's leading contemporary printmakers showcase the extraordinary innovations, both in technique and conception while providing an important framework for understanding both contemporary art from China and contemporary Chinese society.

On Sunday, September 25 @ 2 pm, (Helmut Stern Auditorium) guest curator of the exhibition Xiaobing Tang will present noted printmakers Fang Limin and Zhang Yuanfan in a series of conversations. Both Fang and Zhang are teachers of the China Academy of Art, an important center for innovation in printmaking.

On Wednesday, September 28, @ 5 pm (Multipurpose Room), Chen Limin — one of the youngest artists in the exhibition, and one of only two women printmakers represented — will talk about her work, as well as the challenges and opportunities for women pursuing careers as artists in China today. Born in Hangzhou, China, Chen Limin was educated in China and France, where she now resides.

The exhibition runs through October 23, 2011.

If you are not planning on attending THE Game or the obligatory tailgate and would like a bit more elbow room on Saturday, you could do a lot worse than getting in the car and heading west.

ARTPRIZE turns the city of Grand Rapids (Michigan) into an art gallery for two weeks every fall. Billed as "a radically open competition", it opens today and will run until October 9. As an international art contest solely voted on by the general public, your votes are essential.

Here is how to vote, and a map to help you navigate all the venues.

The 10 finalists will be announced on Thursday, September 29, and the winners on Thursday, October 6.

The helpful folks running the show have put together some visitors' info. Make good use of it, including the free shuttle.

Tom Jensen, Ann Arbor native and the Director of Public Policy Polling, one of the most accurate polling sources on key political races across the country, talked with AADL about the 2012 elections, voter sentiment, political trends and the art and science of polling.

As Director, Tom Jensen oversees Public Policy Polling's day to day operations. During his time at PPP he has been a frequent guest for television and radio stations across the region, and has been called on for expert analysis by publications including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, and US News and World Report.

The City of Ann Arbor Fall Leaf Management Guide offers five ways to manage leaves this fall:
-Mulching
-Compostable pickup
-Compost at home
-Free Leaf Drop-off @ Ann Arbor Compost Center
-Free Leaf Drop-off @ Recycle Ann Arbor

Grab a Rake, Help a Neighbor . . .
Neighborhood Senior Services is coordinating its 35th annual fall chore day on a Saturday, in mid-November from 10-2. Volunteers sign up online by Oct 31 at www.nssweb.org and assist raking leaves, checking smoke alarms, and helping seniors throughout Washtenaw County. 734.712.7775. Groups, individuals, and families are welcome to participate.

A more infamous side of Washtenaw County history will come to life in Fallen Women & Female Felons, a presentation by Susan Nenadic that covers everything from pickpocketing to murder by the fairer sex. The program will be held at the Bentley Historical Library on Sunday, Sept. 18th, 2:00 p.m. ~ 4:00 p.m. The WCHS program is free and open to the public. For more information, call 734.662.9092 or email wchs-500@ameritech.net.

Drive, an action-packed speed thriller starring Ryan Gosling as a Los Angeles wheelman for hire, stunt driving for movie productions by day and steering getaway vehicles for armed heists by night.
When he falls for Irene (Carey Mulligan), a vulnerable young mother dragged into a dangerous underworld, he find himself shifting gears and going on the offense. Based on the mystery novel Drive by James Sallis (also available in audio).

I Don’t Know How She Does It is based on the novel by Allison Pearson. Sarah Jessica Parker plays Kate Reddy, whose daily life is a non-stop balancing act - between her job and family. Complicating matters is Kate's charming new business associate Jack (Pierce Brosnan), who begins to prove an unexpected source of temptation.

Straw Dogs is based on The Siege of Trencher's Farm-Straw Dogs by British writer Gordon Williams. In this re-make of a 1971 film, David and Amy Sumner, a Hollywood screenwriter and his actress wife, return to her small hometown in the deep South to prepare the family home for sale after her father's death. Once there, tensions build in their marriage and old conflicts re-emerge with the locals, including Amy's ex-boyfriend Charlie, leading to a violent confrontation.

Killer Elite is based on a shocking true story that pits two of the world's most elite operatives --- Danny, an ex-special ops agent, and Hunter, his longtime mentor --- against the cunning leader of a secret military society. Originally published as The Feather Men by Ranulph Fiennes.

Michael Lewis's Moneyball : the art of winning an unfair game (also in audio) is now adapted in a film starring Brad Pitt as Billy Beane - the Oakland A’s general manager who reinvents his team to outsmart the richer teams by signing undervalued players considered flawed but who have a knack for winning games.

What’s Your Number? is based on the novel 20 Times a Lady by Karyn Bosnak. When Delilah Darling reads a survey revealing that most people have 10.5 sexual partners in their lifetime, she begins to feel like a tramp. She’s slept with 19 men so far --- almost twice the national average. Unwilling to up her number, but also unable to imagine a life of celibacy, Delilah tracks down every man she’s ever slept with in a last-ditch effort to make it work with one of them.

Michael S. Hart, credited with inventing ebooks and founding Project Gutenberg 40 years ago, died September 6th.

As a 24-year-old with an insatiable appetite for all things electronic and mechanical, his very first free shared ebook was launched on July 4, 1971. Granted unlimited computer access at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, he transmitted an electronic copy of the Declaration of Independence. And thus began the revolutionary transformation of the world of books and free access.

As with many geniuses, Hart was considered a bit eccentric. A real do-it-yourself person who loved frugality, he preferred home remedies to traditional medicine, served as his own home handyman and auto mechanic, and had strong opinions about everything and was comfortable sharing them.

Currently, Project Gutenberg has 36,000 copyright-free ebooks that can be shared in the U.S. An additional 100,000-plus free ebooks are available from their partners and affiliates. New titles are being added all the time as the copyrights on titles continue to expire.

Hart, who was just 64, died in Illinois. Cause of death has not been disclosed as of this writing.