The prize is in the going: Grand Rapids Art Prize

From murals to sculpture to living art, come to Michigan’s second largest city for an experience like no other.

In 2009, Grand Rapids entrepreneur Rick DeVos wanted to launch “a social experiment to rally a city around visual art.” The idea was to create an unconventional art contest with three objectives: any artist, from anywhere, could compete; anyone with property in downtown Grand Rapids could turn their space into a venue; and any visitor could vote for their favorite piece, taking the power to make contest decisions from the hands of curators or selection committees and giving it to the people who showed up to see it. That year, over 1,200 artists displayed their work in over 150 venues. There were over 330,000 votes cast for prizes totaling $449,000. ArtPrize was born.

Considered one of the largest of its kind in the world, the event is an 18-day art competition and festival held in a three-square-mile district in downtown Grand Rapids with over 160 venues hosting works of art. The venues range from the typical museums and galleries to public parks, laundromats, restaurants, auto body shops and even the Grand River itself. It will run from September 13-28 and feature art from all mediums, open to any creative with artwork to share and a venue willing to host it.

The art is as diverse as the artists who make it. Artwork from years past has ranged from conventional pieces to the avant-garde. From 2009’s winner, Ran Ortner’s hyperrealistic nineteen-foot-wide oil on canvas “Open Water No. 24,” a stunning painting that uses shadow and light in such a way that you can practically smell the brine, to last year’s winner, artist Abdoulaye Conde’s massive and vibrantly colorful mural “Raining Wisdom,” depicting elephants in the African Wilderness. There is performance-based art and interactive pieces, there are exhibitions on social justice and installations with complex and compelling narratives. It’s an experience not to be missed.

Dozens of events take place daily during the 18-day festival, from artist meet and greets to performance workshops. There are plenty for kids and families to do as well, including block parties with rotating food trucks, family friendly games, music and dancing, as well as family yoga, daily family fun education stations and drop-in art making workshops for all ages.

All pieces for this year’s contest will be housed within the ArtPrize district in downtown Grand Rapids, along four unique routes in the North, South, Center City, and West districts. To see them, simply follow the routes, which are marked with colorful vinyls on the sidewalk known as the Pantone Pathways. Each route, beginning at the ArtPrize Clubhouse, located at 2 Fulton W, is represented by a different color and serves as a self-guided tour. The Clubhouse, open from noon to 8:00 pm daily, is a great place to start your ArtPrize experience. Inside, at the Concierge, you’ll find customer support, general ArtPrize information and merchandise.

Voting for ArtPrize, which requires a mobile phone, opens on September 14th at 5:00 pm. Voters must be within the ArtPrize district to register, which entails scanning a QR code available on any artist label. Once registered, participants do not need to return to ArtPrize boundaries to vote for additional entries. To vote, scan the QR code or enter the 5-digit artist ID for an entry.

If you can’t make it during the event, many of the pieces from ArtPrize stay in Grand Rapids and can be viewed year-round, including “Open Water No. 24,” and “Raining Wisdom,” as well as dozens of other murals, sculptures, paintings and installations. It truly has turned Michigan’s second largest city into an international art destination.

If you’d rather skip the drive, Amtrak’s Pere Marquette connects Chicago and Grand Rapids, or fly either United or American out of ORD. However you get there, we promise the experience is a prize in itself.

TOP PHOTO: ID 169549148 © Michael Deemer | Dreamstime.com