By Kyle Jackson
ArtPrize, the world-renowned art competition, is starting up again in Grand Rapids! Going from Sept. 18 to Oct. 8, this year’s ArtPrize is set to display over 1,000 entries, the largest number of submitted works in over a decade.
Ranging from paintings to sculptures to glasswork and more, these pieces can be found almost everywhere downtown, located in shops, restaurants, event centers, college campuses, and even in the Grand River some years.
ArtPrize normally draws in thousands of people from all over to the greater Grand Rapids area to both participate and browse the works.
Here at Grand Rapids Community College, six works can be found this year in the Collins Art Gallery on the fifth floor of the Raleigh J. Finkelstein Hall (RJF Hall), and four entries can be found in Spectrum Theatre.
The works located in RJF this year include “Ascension,” a 3D statue by Laura Korch, “Corals Alive and Dying,” a recycled collage by Charlene Moy, “Dislocated Reality,” a painting by Carly Richmond, “Gamma Ray,” a 3D and 2D hybrid painting by Jill King, “Hope Is What You Do With It,” a painting by Hana Girdvainis-Sawyer, and “Reality?,” a 3D piece by Rodney Hoover.
The works located in Spectrum Theater this year include “Someone is Standing There,” a painting by Wanda Moreno-Aguilar, “Embracing The Wellbeing,” a series of large colored scrolls by Anne Labovitz, “CRITICAL MASS,” a Demon Core replica sculpture and painting by Monique Jauw, and “Presence In Light,” a painting by Janice Easterday.
Visitors can vote on which artworks win the prize money via QR codes next to the art that will direct them to the ArtPrize website.
A full map of every venue can be found here.
All this year’s entries can be seen here.
Deputy director of ArtPrize, Coleman Brook Sr.,33, has been a part of ArtPrize since the end of March and has high hopes for the upcoming weeks.
“It’s just been long days, making sure everything is geared up and set and ready to go this weekend,” said Brook.
Brook explained how ArtPrize is trying to make Grand Rapids into Art City, USA, making art more accessible for everyone.
“It really lowers the barrier to entry for a lot of people’s first experience with some of the fine arts,” Brook explained. “So being able to, you, get people of all walks of life exposed to different art forms, whether it’s painting or sculpture, this year we’re partnering with the ballet and the opera, and fashion. It’s really important to, you know, for Americans to have exposure to the arts and creativity. And I think our prize does that like no other arts institution.”
Every year that ArtPrize has been active has seen an enormous increase in the number of people coming to Grand Rapids, nearly doubling the city’s population overnight.
“And we want, you know, Grand Rapids to continue to be part of that national arts conversation when people are in any major hub talking about their experience with the arts; we want Grand Rapids to be listed right next to New York and L.A. in Chicago when they’re talking about a well-rounded arts experience.”
On Sept. 18, ArtPrize is hosting its opening celebration at Rosa Parks Circle from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. At 7 p.m., the party will leave Rosa Parks Circle in a parade, followed by a Performance from William Close & the Earth Harp Collective at Pearl Street Bridge at 7:30 p.m., and fireworks at 9:00 p.m.
Later in its run, ArtPrize will also host a Half Time Show at John Ball Zoo on Sept. 26 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. The event is set to include a live painting session where attendees can vote on the best piece made by one of the 14 life artists throughout the zoo. Additionally, the event will also announce the current frontrunners of ArtPrize. Tickets can be purchased here.
Finally, Oct. 3 marks the final event of ArtPrize at the Acrisure Amphitheater: the ArtPrize Awards Celebration and Fashion Show, starting at 6:30 p.m. and going until 10 p.m. This final event will have the announcement of this year’s winner, a fashion show accompanied by a ballet, symphony, and orchestra, and finally a drone show to cap off the night. Tickets for the event are free and do not need to be purchased.
Currently, ArtPrize is attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the largest attendance at a fashion show.
“We started planning this event and intended to join forces…and kind of do this one big event, and our only motivation was to offer this experience to as many people as possible, you know, general admission to this is free,” Brook explained. “ So at this brand new, amazing venue, and so we started planning this and trying to see how many people we could bring to this event and give this opportunity, you know, exposure to fashion, opera, (and) symphony, and then we just happened to look up what the current record was and saw that it was only 3,100, about a quarter of the capacity of the amphitheater. And so we decided, ‘well, yeah, we should definitely claim a record to break this’.”
In addition to the main events, ArtPrize has also added themed weekends during its duration. The first weekend will be dance-themed, the second will be music-themed, the third will be visual art, and the final weekend will be fashion-themed.
Also new to ArtPrize, “Breaking Bad” actor Bryan Cranston will be at the final event to present an award, reserve a citywide tour, and promote Dos Hombres, the tequila and mezcal brand he launched with his “Breaking Bad” co-star, Aaron Paul. Cranston will also be hosting private seminars with local high school and college students on the art of storytelling and the creative process.
In a report from Wood TV 8, an ArtPrize press release quoted the actor praising art as a whole.
“Experiencing art, in any form, brings joy and balance to our lives. It challenges us, connects us, and invites us to see the world from different perspectives,” Cranston said in the report. “So it’s essential to support it. To witness Grand Rapids transform by that kind of creative energy with ArtPrize is something to be proud of, and I’m really looking forward to attending.”
