By Kyle Jackson
Saturday, Oct. 3, marked the end of this year’s ArtPrize, and it went out with a bang.
The ArtPrize Award Ceremony and Fashion Show was held at Acrisure Amphitheater. Even before the event doors were open, dozens of artists and community members lined up outside the amphitheater in anticipation.
An event this size is a first for the competition, acting as a representation of all forms of art from the Grand Rapids area and beyond.
“I think it’s going to be a lot of fun. We’ve done an award show in the past, and they’ve been pretty fun, but I love the new venue, I think is really interesting, said Lucas Buck, an attendee for the show, who was joined by his wife of two years, Rachel Buck.
The Bucks explained that Lucas’s parents are prominent photographers in the Grand Rapids area, covering everything from shows to major events, and as a result, they have seen everything GR has to offer.
“There is no other city like Grand Rapids,” Lucas said.
Caralyn Jellison, 24, was also in attendance as both an artist and the curator behind the “Metamorphosis” exhibition during ArtPrize.
“I’m doing good!” Jellison said. “It was a lot of work, so I’m excited for some rest, but it’s been a great time just talking to other artists and other people participating in ArtPrize as well as ArtPrize goers, so it’s been great.”
As seats were still filling, Deputy Director of ArtPrize Coleman Brook Sr. and Vice President of Broadway Grand Rapids Jennifer Pascua took the stage welcoming everyone in attendance, the sponsors of ArtPrize, and the artists who participated in the event.
“You all will be a part of making history, so thank you for showing up (to) celebrate creativity and inspiring future creators,” Brook said.
Brook and Pascua first introduced Senita Lenear, a representative from South Prize, an adjacent competition to ArtPrize, to announce the winners for the South Prize competition.
The prizes were $2,000 for first, $1,000 for second, and $750 for third.
Third place was awarded to artist Xavier Almighty X, second to Kyree Westerfield, and first to Stephen Smith.
Next, Brook and Pascua introduced Grand Rapids Mayor David LeGrand and Grand Rapids Vice President of Engagement and Inclusion Jordoun Eatman to the stage to present awards from the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Asian Chamber of Commerce, and the Grand Rapids African-American Music Festival.
“I want to just point out that if we want to live in a welcoming community, and we want to live in a welcoming society, part of that is lifting up different cultural traditions in our community,” Mayor LeGrand said. “… I am so glad we are able to do that as part of ArtPrize.”
LeGrand first presented the first of two Asian Art Awards to the piece “It’s Behind You” by Felicity Frobom, after accidentally saying the second award winner’s piece in its place. The second winner for the Asian Art Award was “Portiture in Action 4” by Leon Lou.
LeGrand then presented the Latina Artista Awards to “The Shape Of Care” by Mari Barros, and to “Masking Tears With Sweat” by Gustavo Uriel Ayala.
Eatman then took LeGrand’s place on stage to present the Grand Rapids African-American Music Festival Awards (GRAAMF Awards).
Eatman awarded the GRAAMF Awards to “In Case You Didn’t Know” by Alfield Reeves, and to “Seven Deadly Sins” by Ella Aimee Webber.
Next, Brook and Pascua introduced Fox 17 Host Michelle Dunaway to present the Visiting Artist Award.
“I am not an artist, but I interview a lot of them,” Dunaway said. “And one thing that everyone always says, for the most part, is that they are inspired by nature. So when we wonder why we have such an impactful, vibrant arts community in our state, just look around.”
Dunaway presented the Visiting Artist Award to “Imago Dei” by Sophie Bouwsma and Danielle Heflin.
Next to the stage were Tom Hillen and Rachael Ruiz from WOOD TV8’s recently launched lifestyle show, “On the Town with Rachael & Tom,” to present the Time Based Awards.
Hillen and Ruiz presented the two awards to “Glitch/Go” by Currents Dance Theater, and to “Lady of the House” by Ruby Duimstra.
Brook and Pascua once again took the stage to present the winners of the New Media Awards, the Design Awards, the 2D Awards, the 3D Awards, and the Installation Awards.
The New Media Awards were presented to “This Unremarkable Life” by Jake Brush, and to “Phenomina: Rerendered” by Wendi Gwartney.
The Design Awards were presented to The Glass Between Us by Amelia Volwiler-Stanley, and to Change or Change by Mpresson.
The 2D Awards were presented to Mater(hood) by Emily Mayo, and to American Bison by Scott Gelander.
The 3D Awards were presented to “The Appreciation Project” by Wendy Anderson Halperin, and to “Archangel St. Michael” by Steve Anderson.
The Installation Awards were presented to “We Are Not Criminals” by Maria Plata, and to “Michigan Poem Lighthouse Sculpture 26ft Tall” by Daniel Muellerleile.
After presenting those awards, Brook and Pascua invited celebrity guest Bryan Cranston to the stage to present the Delta Sky Club Award.
“I am smitten with your city, I must say,” Cranston said. “That’s something old people say, ‘smitten.’ It’s beautiful. I’ve never been here before, but I wanna come back. The way communities support artists of all areas and cultures says a lot about the people of the community. All of you should be very proud of being able to put on an exhibition like this that supports all artists of all kinds.”
The winner of the award would have their art piece displayed in the Detroit Airport Delta Sky Club Lounge for a year.
Cranston presented the award to “Nougat Sand Dunes” by Gerry Giorgio.
After Cranston left the stage, Brook and Pascua took a short break from presenting awards to introduce Brenna Brooklyn, dance choreographer and co-owner of Expressions Dance GR, to present a dance by The Revived Renaissance Collision dance group.
The dance lasted several minutes and depicted dancers dressed in black and red moving to the beat of various classical song remixes.
As the dances concluded, Executive Director of ArtPrize Tyler Loftis took the stage to present the grand prize winner.
“We’re all artists, in some way. If you dream, you’re an artist,” Loftis said. “Dreaming is weird. That’s a creative act. We’re artists, so I say together, for this thing to continue and for us to be Art City, USA, we all need to buy into the fact that this could be a real thing.”
Loftis awarded the Juried Grand Prize of $100,000 to Room for Lost Paradise by Robert Horvath.
For the final award, Brook and Pascua invited the City Manager for Grand Rapids, Mark Washington, to present the community-voted winner of ArtPrize. The winner of this award would have their piece laser-engraved into a plaque and sent into low orbit of the Earth, along with $100,000.
Washington presented this interstellar prize to Sketchdiet: “A Year Of Drawing Everything I Eat” by Kristion Pennock.
After the awards concluded, Brook and Pascua reintroduced the dance group. After another performance, this time accompanied by the Grand Rapids Orchestra and Opera singers, the fashion show began.
The fashion show, also accompanied by the Grand Rapids Orchestra, depicted various pieces by RC Caylan, a Grand Rapids-based fashion designer.
Chloe McCarthy from Guinness Book of World Records then took the stage to determine whether or not ArtPrize broke the record for the most attendance for a fashion show.
McCarthy proudly announced that ArtPrize successfully broke the previous record of 3,131 attendees by 487 additional people, having a total of 3,618 people in attendance.
As the award was passed to RC Caylan, Brook and Pascua thanked the crowd for their support and continued interest in ArtPrize and directed them to the back of the amphitheater.
To round out the night, ArtPrize held a drone show, depicting Grand Rapids landmarks, the ArtPrize mascot, the motto of ArtPrize, “Art Is For Everyone,” along with MC Caylan’s logo and the final message of “See You Next Year.”
Collegiate photographer Kole Meschke contributed to this report.
