ArtPrize takes over Grand Rapids, MI

September 26, 8:54 PMChicago Art Exhibits ExaminerJodie Jacobs

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A table and chairs sit on a Grand Rapids bridge and Nessie hides nearby.   A JJ photo

Imagine pre-teens, golden-agers, families and young couples flooding a downtown’s sidewalks, restaurants, hotels, parks and even a hair salon and cleaners, all because of Art.

Unlikely as it may sound, that is what has been happening since Sept. 23 in Grand Rapids, MI. And it promises to continue through Oct. 10.

The reason is ArtPrize. At about $450,000, it is arguably the largest art purse ever awarded, according to its creator, Grand Rapids entrepreneur Rick DeVos.

First prize is $250,000 followed by $100,000 to second place, $50,000 to third and $7,000 to seven runners-up.

Twenty-something year-old DeVos wanted an event that would bring people to his town and equally excite residents, including his generation. “I wanted to get people interested in art, to expose them to many forms of art,” DeVos said in an interview this weekend.

Sitting in a quiet lounge at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel while bands played just outside the door and people flocked to the dozens of venues displaying the entries, he explained that the people who saw the art would vote for it. “I wanted conversations between the artists and people seeing the art and I wanted people talking about the art.”

Viewers have a lot to see: 1,200 artists from 42 states and 24 countries in about 150 venues. About 1,700 artists applied but the number was limited by venues found for them.

Indeed some sculptures took advantage of the Grand River that runs through Grand Rapids’ downtown by mounting art on or in the water, its bridges and banks.

Just outside the hotel, a giant table and two chairs perched atop a bridge. A Calder style sculpture caught people’s attention in the river as did a Loch Ness type creature everyone called “Nessie.” Across the river, an art entry spread across the lawn of the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum.

People who haven’t seen the art still have time to look and vote online, by text messaging on mobile phones and IPhone app. But registration to vote has to be done in Grand Rapids. The top vote getters will be announced on Oct. 1. Winners will be announced Oct. 8 and the entries will be up through Oct. 10.