Some have argued it’s the largest public art event on earth, with nearly a half-million attendees and more than $500,000 in cash and other prizes. The eighth installment of this extraordinary festival kicks off September 21. Details here!
 
For seven — soon to be eight — years, Grand Rapids, Michigan, has played host to a gigantic art festival: ArtPrize. Beginning September 21 and continuing through October 9, ArtPrize is a full 19 days of pure artistic and entertainment joy. In arguably the largest public art event on earth, organizers have routinely expected over 400,000 attendees to descend upon the three square miles of downtown Grand Rapids.
 
Attendees of 2016’s edition of ArtPrize can expect to encounter over 160 participating venues hosting a complete variety of over-18 artists working in every conceivable style and medium. They may be found in a museum, gallery, bar, restaurant, theater, hotel, park, wall, bridge, laundromat, or auto parts store — ArtPrize is independently organized by artists and venues through the event website at artprize.org.
 
What makes ArtPrize particularly exciting? That would be the opportunity for artists to collect a number of cash prizes, including two Grand Prize awards of $200,000. All told, over a half-million in cash and other prizes are awarded to artists. Another interesting facet of the awards us how they’re determined. In a unique twist, winners of awards are chosen half by public vote and half by a jury of art experts. Categories of awards include two-dimensional, three-dimensional, time-based, and installation. Another award honors one of the outstanding venues.
 

 
To learn more about this year’s event and how to plan your trip, visit ArtPrize.
 
This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a weekly e-newsletter from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine. To start receiving Fine Art Today for free, click here.
 


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Andrew Webster is the former Editor of Fine Art Today and worked as an editorial and creative marketing assistant for Streamline Publishing. Andrew graduated from The University of North Carolina at Asheville with a B.A. in Art History and Ceramics. He then moved on to the University of Oregon, where he completed an M.A. in Art History. Studying under scholar Kathleen Nicholson, he completed a thesis project that investigated the peculiar practice of embedded self-portraiture within Christian imagery during the 15th and early 16th centuries in Italy.

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