6,802
Recent Tweets
- Celebrate Small Business Week by helping us pick the winner of our Up & Coming #Entrepreneur Contest:. Like you fav: http://t.co/WIsiFA22
- INDEED! RT @CreditUnionLink: @BuyMichiganNow And a shout out to the Michigan credit unions who are providing some of them with loans.
- It's National Small #Business Week! Shout out to all our #Michipreneurs who are bringing our economy BACK!! #Michigan
- Sounds like fun! RT @SteinerTractors: Gera Old Tractor Days is having a Pig Roast on Sunday at the Gera Tavern (N. of #Frankenmuth)
- What's the best thing happening in #Michigan this weekend?
- @BetterMade @DinaJ @BernieRitchey @TBDEnterprises @248Landscape @natmmom @jAtApA071012 Thanks for the #FF love! Happy weekend!!
- Kudos! RT @nustep_annarbor: NuStep, Inc. an Ann Arbor Company receives Presidential “E” Award for Exports #50thEAward http://t.co/NEjODckO
Did You Know?
The nation's first 4-way traffic signal was installed at the intersection of Fort...
What Can I Do?
Invite your out of state friends and/or family to come for a visit.
ArtPrize: And the “Real” Winners Are…
by Angela Klinske
The “experiment” that is called ArtPrize has proven to be successful, as the first-time event drew thousands of people from throughout the host city, the state, and even the world to see and experience art.
Last fall, the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan became the world’s largest art venue, hosting ArtPrize (www.ArtPrize.org), a non-juried arts competition that attracted more than 1,200 artists from 44 states and 14 countries and awarded $449,000 in cash prizes to the top 10 finalists. Winners were chosen by public vote, and more than 37,264 registered voters casted 334,219 votes in a system where the public was invited to vote via online or mobile phone (similar to the voting system on TV’s American Idol).
“It was way bigger and way more successful than we hoped for,” said ArtPrize founder Rick DeVos. “Everything was three times more than we hoped for.” DeVos, an entrepreneur, created ArtPrize to “reboot the conversation between artists and audiences on a grand scale.”
The two-week event ran Sept. 23 through Oct. 8, 2009 and drew worldwide attention, garnering international media coverage and buzz throughout the art world and the west Michigan community.
A three-mile radius of Grand Rapids, which included downtown, was the location for the competition, with local businesses offering their space as venues for artists to showcase original sculpture, paintings, mixed media and performing arts.
First Place, and a $250,000-cash prize, went to New York artist Ran Ortner for his oil painting, “Open Water no. 24.”
Though there was only one first-place winner, many came out as “winners”, including The Grand Rapids Children’s Museum, where second-place artist Tracy Van Duinen donated his mosaic, “Imagine That!” as a permanent fixture on the venue’s exterior. “Open Water no. 24” was recently purchased by Dick and Betsy DeVos for an undisclosed amount and gifted to the Grand Rapids Art Museum where it remains on exhibit.
Artists placing second through tenth were awarded a combined prize of $199,000. And the west Michigan community became a hub for creativity.
Local businesses came out winners as well, experiencing higher sales and more traffic throughout the two-week event.
Kim Lemmen-Braat, director of operations at The B.O.B. and Gilmore Collection Catering said that sales were up by as much as 35 percent during ArtPrize. The B.O.B., a local hot spot that houses four restaurants, two night clubs, a private banquet facility and comedy club was one of 159 venues.
“It was a huge boost to the community,” said Lemmen-Braat. “People were thrilled, the artwork itself was incredible.” The B.O.B. has begun preparing for ArtPrize 2010.
“(ArtPrize) brands Grand Rapids as an area for creative thought,” said Sharon Evoy, whose organization, Downtown Alliance, is a stakeholder group of downtown residents committed to the marketing and beautification of the downtown area.
Despite the economic shot in the arm ArtPrize may have provided the city, DeVos says money was not the motive.
“The goal (of ArtPrize) is not economic development,” said DeVos. “If it happens, great… It’s about creating a different culture that’s engaged and involved in the arts.”
ArtPrize 2010 is scheduled for September 22 - October 10. Organizers are taking what they learned from last year’s event to make this year’s even better. While DeVos says the major variables of the event will see little to no change, there will be improved methods for visitors to get to all of the artwork on display.
--------------------------------------------------
Angela Klinske is a writer, editor and consultant living in west Michigan. She can be contacted at aklinske@gmail.com.
Photos 1 & 2 by Brian Kelly Photography
Photos 3 - 5 by Angela Klinske
User Comments (0)
No comments posted yet.
To post a comment you have to login. Login here