ArtPrize Informations

ArtPrize is an art competition and festival in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Anyone over the age of 18 can display their art, and any space within the three-square-mile ArtPrize district can be a venue. There are typically over 160 venues such as museums, galleries, bars, restaurants, hotels, public parks, bridges, laundromats, auto body shops, and more.

ArtPrize lasts for 19 days beginning in late September, and during each festival $500,000 in cash prizes are awarded based on public voting and a jury of art experts. ArtPrize was originally an annual event; in 2018 it was switched to a biennial schedule.

ArtPrize was created in 2009 by Rick DeVos, the son of Republican gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos and United States Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. The DeVos family contributes approximately $560,000 annually to the ArtPrize budget. In 2017, the festival's connection to the DeVos family's wealth and their conservative politics was criticized by artist Eric Millikin in his “Made of Money” installation, placed within ArtPrize.

In 2014, The Art Newspaper listed ArtPrize as one of the most-attended "big ticket" art events (those where visitors are often counted more than once), with ArtPrize's attendance of 440,000 being roughly one quarter of the 1.6 million who attended the Russian Imperial Costume exhibition at the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. ArtPrize was highlighted along with Slows Bar BQ and the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park as one of the reasons to visit Grand Rapids in The New York Times’ "52 Places To Go in 2016."

ArtPrize was conceived by Rick DeVos as an untraditional art contest with its goals being: any artist in the world could compete; anyone with property in downtown Grand Rapids could turn their space into a venue; and any visitor could vote for their favorite artwork. Event organizers would provide no selection committees or curators. And the largest cash prize in the art world would be awarded entirely by popular vote.

At the inaugural ArtPrize, held in 2009, the winners were determined solely by the public, voting from mobile devices and the ArtPrize website. In 2010, ArtPrize added categories judged by art experts, and in 2014 restructured the awards format bringing two parallel tracks of public vote and juried awards with equal prize amounts. The updated award structure includes two Grand Prizes of $200,000, one chosen by public vote and one selected by a panel of three arts experts. An additional $100,000 in awards are given to artists in four entry categories—Two-Dimensional, Three-Dimensional, Time-Based, and Installation—as well as the Outstanding Venue Juried Award for best curatorial presentation.

Visitors must attend the annual event in person in order to vote. They can either download the ArtPrize mobile app, free for iOS and Android devices, which uses location services to determine when a visitor has stepped into the three square-mile event district—or visit an ArtPrize HUB location to register in person. Each artist is assigned a 5-digit vote code which is posted near their entry during the event, and available both online and in the mobile app.

The 2009 exhibition occurred in a 3-square-mile (7.8 km2) area of downtown Grand Rapids, from September 21 to October 9, 2009. 1,262 artists or artist collaboratives displayed their work in 159 venues. An estimated 200,000 attendees visited the event, with 334,219 total votes cast throughout the 19 days.

ArtPrize 2009 official participation numbers:

The 2009 prizes, totaling to $449,000, were:

On October 1, the top 10 entries were announced, and their ranking was announced October 8:

Two previously unannounced awards were handed out:

The 2010 event took place from September 22 to October 10. The event introduced "Exhibition Centers," local cultural institutions featuring professional curation. Each ArtPrize Exhibition Center was required to host voter registration/activation as well as a retail presence. ArtPrize sought to have at least one Exhibition Center in each downtown Grand Rapids neighborhood.

ArtPrize 2010 official participation numbers:

The 2010 prizes, which were decided by public vote, totaled $449,000, were:

On September 30, the 2010 Top 10 entries were announced, and their rankings were revealed during the Winners Announcement on October 7:

Event organizers announced the addition of four juried awards for ArtPrize 2010. Event organizers noted that, depending on sponsor availability, more juried awards might be added to the program.

The 2011 event ran from September 21 to October 9. The biggest change to the competition was the addition of an exhibition center dedicated to performance art—St. Cecilia Music Society. The organization was also the recipient of a $100,000 Our Town grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

ArtPrize 2011 official participation numbers:

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