For the remainder of summer, we’ll be featuring some great new places downtown to explore before classes hit full swing. First up: the brand-new Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM), which has already drawn international acclaim for its breathtaking architectural design and commitment to energy efficiency. Although the brilliant Andy Warhol exhibit is gone, the GRAM offers something for everyone - from classical to contemporary (and even live music on Friday nights). This is without a doubt THE place to be in Grand Rapids.

The space, principally funded by Aquinas supporter Peter M. Wege and the Wege Foundation, is the first newly constructed art museum in the world to attain LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, an amazing feat in light of the heightened sensitivity of displayed artwork to fluctuating temperature and direct sunlight. Designed by principal architect Kulapat Yantrasast, the GRAM was already named one of the world’s six best new buildings in 2007 by Newsweek’s architecture critic Cathleen McGuigan.

On top of its green credentials, the GRAM is particularly remarkable for its minimalist style and concrete-intensive construction, a design chosen by Yantrasast to allow for maximum freedom in charting the museum’s future.

“Twenty or 30 years from now people may have a different definition of art,” said Yantrasast. “If they want to be able to change the museum, you have to give them room to do that.”

For now at the new GRAM, however, no change is a very good thing.