The Brilliance!

Ah, I love it. Right in my city, Grand Rapids, the world’s largest art prize. Just announced last week, the 23rd of April, this is going to be just huge both in the art world as well as the impact its going to have on my young city. I’ve made a handful of posts about Grand Rapids and how much I’ve enjoyed living here and participating in its growth over the pst 6 years or so…and this is just bringing it to a whole other level. It’s hard to draw comparisons, and I almost don’t want to as its really a totally new thing, but I would imagine that what SXSW is to Austin the ArtPrize will be to Grand Rapids. I love the thought of that. We have such a fantastic city, I can’t wait to show it off to the world a bit via this project. The official site explains it better than I will here, but the concept is to build a framework where businesses/spaces/parks/etc can open their space to artists to exhibit in - where the public will ultimately decide the winner by popular vote, which requires registration in person, perfect. It’s open to any artist, anywhere in the world. The attention grabber being the prize: $250k for 1st, $100k for 2nd, $50k for 3rd, and $7k each for 4th-10th. More to learn on the site, but its pretty simple and straight-forward stuff with super huge potential. I can’t wait for it…the art, the atmosphere, the parties, the voting, the creative use of spaces, the response, everything. And right here in my city…nuts. Thanks to Rick for putting this together, and Grand Rapids, get ready.