Grand Rapids, MI, may not be New York or Los Angeles, but it’s attempting to top both through its new ArtPrize competition. Announced last week, ArtPrize boasts the “world’s largest prize” for the arts, which will be selected by public vote.
The competition is the initiative of Rick DeVos, a dot-com entrepreneur, and underwritten by his family’s Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation. Says DeVos the junior:
“It’s time to reboot the conversation between artists and the public. ArtPrize will be a celebration of art, design, and innovation that will bring artists and the public together like never before.”
The event is already hyper-connected — through Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and Facebook account — and is pushing the social with downloadable wallpaper for desktops and iPhones, a YouTube town hall meeting, and obvious plants by well-placed people in the social network space.
In a brilliant move, ArtPrize is both an international competition for artists and an effort to transform downtown Grand Rapids into an art gallery for two weeks this fall. Anyone in any venue within the ”ArtPrize boundary” can offer their space — storefront, front yard, garage, warehouse, whatever — as an art venue.
It’s a bold move on behalf of Grand Rapids, and in pursuit of both an artistic and civic mission. And it seeks to make a direct and persuasive connection between artistic expression and social innovation. Grand Rapids as a world center of culture? Why not?
“Grand Rapids, MI, may not be New York or Los Angeles, but it’s attempting to top both through its new ArtPrize competition.”
So why is this sentence the lead? Why is it necessary to invoke NY and LA in order to tell this story? Why does the myth need to be repeated so frequently?
I think this is just what we need! You always hear about movie and music awards but what if your specialty isn’t in that category? This is a great way for other artist to be recognized and I think it’s wonderful that Grand Rapids is taking the lead with this idea!
LA and NYC better up their game…Cities like Austin, Boston, and Grand Rapids are the new “it” cities…No suprise here that Grand Rapids would steer something as innovative as ArtPrize. Keep your eyes on the largest city in Michigan- Grand Rapids!
What a great way to get the whole city involved in promoting the arts. I think this is a great idea for smaller cities because I can imagine this festival taking over the whole city. I’d be interested to see what the people of Grand Rapids think of this idea. I love how they admit on their website that this is “an experiment. A fun experiment. Come and see.” I wish I had enough money to perform such experiments.
I think its cool that we can start looking to other areas of the country for ideas, inspiration and leadership in the arts. New York and Los Angeles are hubs for art, but it is encouraging to see a movement like this in such an unlikely place. Right now the arts are in a compromising place with the economy doing so poorly, but to know that there are movements out there to continue the appreciation art is exciting. It gets back to the issue of Lewis Hyde’s “The Gift,” they are wanting as many people as possible to enter, and the venue can be anywhere. The whole town will be transformed into a gallery, if you live within certain blocks you can donate your front lawn! ArtPrize is an ingenious idea, and I hope other places will try to put on similar events.
I love the idea of bringing the public back to the arts as much as possible like Grand Rapids, MI is doing. I am from Dallas and there are a lot of chances to become involved in art down there but in smaller towns, people really have to work to get the whole public involved in the arts. This will be a great way for everyone in every aspect of the arts to get recognition, space, availability, leadership, and other resources and awards. I love this idea.
I think that this is another clear case of how technology has made a positive impact on the arts. This is a perfect example of how being connected whether through facebook, twitter or other means can expose people to different types of art they never would have seen before. Although some people make the case that technology waters down great pieces of art, this would surely be a case that would refute that.
Doesn’t seem too radical, except that lots of money can be “won.” They are just using the time-tested Fringe Festival DIY and non-traditional venues approach, more common in British Commonwealth cities than the US of A. The negative funding on the front end ($50 fee to apply) and lack of production or promotion grants (even $1000 per project) may hamper the end-result diversity and quality.
There is great potential, however, for Midwest-based new genre public art operators, social engagement and intervention artists, internet and new media folks, and young and hungry MFA candidates on an austerity budget to do radical and kooky things in Grand Rapids. Just as they do with most of the world’s Fringe Festivals. For subversive artists who want to play with front lawns and boutique shops and public spaces, this might be the late summer ticket!
And just think what ultra-subversive artists might do on the fringe, outside of the official ArtPrize boundary!
No, ArtPrize isn’t a new idea but its producers should be given their credit due. Funding for the arts is abysmal here in the USA so kudos for their effort. FotoFest in Houston, TX has the oldest (25 years and counting) and longest running city-wide art exhibition in the United States. CURATE THIS! (conceived as an experiment by 2 artists/gallery directors in New Orleans, LA) held in June, 2008 was the first global online voting event for a public art exhibition here in the United States drawing 400 ‘guest curators’ from 11 countries, followed shortly thereafter by The Brooklyn Art Museum’s ‘Click: A Crowd Curated Exhibition’. The CURATE THIS! creators were scheduled to create a city-wide public art exhibition (inspired by FotoFest) in the fall of 2008 during Prospect 1: New Orleans but their
limited artist budgets had to allow for a longer brewing period. During that time, they founded The BECA Foundation – Bridge for Emerging Contemporary Art, a non-profit, proudly artist-centric arts organization and in June of 2010, they will finally add the long awaited city-wide public exhibition component to CURATE THIS! in Denver during the Denver Biennial of the Americas followed by a second incarnation in New Orleans in the fall of 2010 during Prospect 2: New Orleans. Don’t look for a $400K purse but it will be one hell of an event focused on the organization’s
mission of creating public exhibition opportunities for emerging artists + designers!