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 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 & Sculpture Park as one of the reasons to visit Grand Rapids in The New York Times’ "52 Places To Go in 2016." In 2018, ArtPrize announced the Project exhibition to showcase larger works and planned to hold ArtPrize every other year, though the Project 1 event in 2019 experienced substantially less visitors. The twelfth ArtPrize was postponed in 2020 with officials citing the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022 event ran from September 15 to October 2, 2022, with many visitors criticizing the smaller scale of works present.

Concept

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.

2009 competition

The 2009 exhibition occurred in a 3 sqmi 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.

Participation

ArtPrize 2009 official participation numbers:

Public Vote Awards

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

Public Vote Top 10

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

Surprise Awards

Two previously unannounced awards were handed out:

2010 competition

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.

Participation

ArtPrize 2010 official participation numbers:

Public Vote Awards

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

Public Vote Top 10

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

Juried Awards

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.

Categories and winners

Jurors

2011 competition

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.

Participation

ArtPrize 2011 official participation numbers:

Public Vote Awards

The 2011 prizes, which were decided by public vote, totaled $449,000, were:

Public Vote Top 10

On September 30, the 2010 Top 10 entries were announced, and their rankings were revealed during the Winners Announcement on October 6:

Juried Awards

In addition to awards distributed as a result of a public vote, the organization distributed seven juried awards for ArtPrize 2011. An award dedicated to an outstanding venue was added in 2011. Each juried award winner received $7,000.

Categories and winners

Jurors

2012 competition

The 2012 ArtPrize competition ran from September 19 to October 7. The event introduced new changes to the ArtPrize Juried Awards program, including category prizes valued at $20,000 (up from $7,000) and a first-ever $100,000 Juried Grand Prize, decided by panel of three art experts.

Participation

ArtPrize 2012 official participation numbers:

Public Vote Awards

The 2012 prizes, which were decided by public vote, totaled $360,000, were:

Public Vote Top 10

The top 10 entries were determined by a record 412,560 votes, and announced on October 10.

Juried Awards

In addition to awards distributed as a result of a public vote, the organization distributed seven juried awards, totaling $200,000, during ArtPrize 2012 in five categories and a juried grand prize. Each category winner received $20,000. The Juried Grand Prize winner was awarded $100,000. The award was decided by a three-member jury panel.

Juried Grand Prize winner

Category Award winners

Jurors

2013 competition

The 2013 ArtPrize competition ran from September 18 to October 6.

Participation

ArtPrize 2013 official participation numbers:

Public Vote Awards

The 2013 prizes, which were decided by public vote, totaled $360,000, were:

Public Vote Top 10

The top 10 entries were determined by a record 446,850 votes, and announced on October 4.

Juried awards

In addition to awards distributed as a result of a public vote, the organization distributed seven juried awards, totaling $200,000, during ArtPrize 2013 in five categories and a juried grand prize. Each category winner received $20,000. The Juried Grand Prize winner was awarded $100,000. The award was decided by a three-member jury panel.

Juried Grand Prize winner

Category Winners

Jurors

Controversy

David Dodde's Fleurs et riviere was an entry that placed magnetic flowers on the Alexander Calder sculpture La Grande Vitesse. After getting complaints, the City of Grand Rapids contacted the Calder Foundation to get their input. Calder's grandson, Alexander S. C. Rower, replied: "The initiative is luckily temporary and reflects an utter lack of understanding and respect of Calder's genius." The city decided to have the flowers removed before the end of the exhibition.

2014 competition

The 2014 ArtPrize competition ran from September 24 to October 12.

Participation

ArtPrize 2014 official participation numbers:

Public Vote Awards

The public vote determined three $20,000 category winners and a $200,000 grand prize winner. The grand prize winner does not receive $20,000 for their category win.

Public Vote Grand Prize winner

Category Award winners

Juried Awards

The jury awarded five $20,000 category winners and a $200,000 grand prize winner. There was a tie for the grand prize, so each winner received $100,000.

Juried Grand Prize winners

A first in ArtPrize history, the Grand Prize Jury recognized two outstanding works—splitting the $200,000 Juried Grand Prize. This is also the first time the opinions of both the voting public and the jury of art experts converged, awarding a top prize to one piece – Intersections by Anila Quayyum Agha.

Category Award winners

Jurors

2015 competition

The 2015 ArtPrize (also known as ArtPrize Seven) competition ran from September 23 to October 11.

Participation

ArtPrize 2015 official participation numbers:

Public Vote Awards

The public vote determined three $12,500 category winners and a $200,000 grand prize winner. The grand prize winner does not receive $12,500 for their category win.

Public Vote Grand Prize winner

Category Award winners

Juried Awards

The jury awarded five $12,500 category winners and a $200,000 grand prize winner.

Juried Grand Prize winner

Category Award winners

The category winners were:

Jurors

The jurors were:

2016 Competition

The 2016 ArtPrize competition, also known as ArtPrize Eight, took place from September 21 to October 9.

Participation

Public Vote Awards

The public vote determined three $12,500 category winners and a $200,000 grand prize winner. The grand prize winner does not receive $12,500 for their category win.

Public Vote Grand Prize Winner

Wounded Warrior Dogs – James Mellick, Milford Center, Ohio

Category Award Winners

Juried Awards

The jury awarded five $12,500 category winners and a $200,000 grand prize winner.

Juried Grand Prize Winner

The Bureau of Personal Belonging – Stacey Kirby, Durham, North Carolina

Category Award Winners

Jurors

The ArtPrize Eight jurors included:

2017 Competition

The 2017 ArtPrize competition, also known as ArtPrize Nine, took place from September 20 to October 8.

Participation

Public Vote Awards

The public vote determined three $12,500 category winners and a $200,000 grand prize winner. The grand prize winner does not receive $12,500 for their category win.

Public Vote Grand Prize Winner

A. Lincoln – Richard Schlatter, Battle Creek, Michigan

Category Award Winners

Juried Awards

The jury awarded five $12,500 category winners and a $200,000 grand prize winner.

Juried Grand Prize Winner

The Heartside Community Meal – Seitu Jones, St. Paul, Minnesota

Category Award Winners

Jurors

The ArtPrize Nine jurors included:

2018 Competition

The 2018 ArtPrize competition, also known as ArtPrize 10, ran from September 19 to October 7. Important Dates

2019 Project 1

For 2019, ArtPrize began its "Project" exhibition series, with Project 1 running from September 7 to October 27. The concept was to alternate between ArtPrize and the Project series every year. While ArtPrize organizers described Project 1 as a success, crowds were much smaller and visitors criticized the event as being less festive. As Project 1 was concluding, the executive director of ArtPrize, Jori Bennett, announced that she would step down.