Eyes on the Prize: The Future of ArtPrize
Nicole Caruth is a freelance writer and curator living in New York and frequent contributor to the Art21 blog. She’ll walk around ArtPrize, observe, listen and write about her experience here. Nicole’s thoughts and opinions are her own and in no way represent an endorsement or objection from ArtPrize toward an individual artist or venue.
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Sept. 23, 2009. Photo: N. Caruth
There’s still so much to write about ArtPrize, but the time has come for me to say goodbye. By the time you read this I’ll probably be passing through Detroit on my way back New York. I leave you with some thoughts, hopes, ideas, and suggestions for the future (knowing that I sometimes contradict myself).
- Don’t try to define art. Something or someone will always get left out that shouldn’t be.
- Don’t complain about there being too much art to see. There’s too much of everything right now — ArtPrize reflects our larger culture. Too much art is a good problem to have.
- Don’t let the conversation stop with ArtPrize. Keep it going year round. The discourse is larger than any one event. Continuous dialogue will (hopefully) result in more informed votes next year.
- For sure, there is a direct relationship between location and votes. I don’t know if that’s something that can (or should be) solved by ArtPrize.
- Artists: Now you know what you’re up against, so do what you do best and be creative. Turn it up a notch (without compromising your craft or message). Collaborate with other artists. Win this thing next year. As one artist commented this week, “If you can’t beat them join them.” Start planning for 2010 now.
- Winning is not everything. I applaud artists who recognized from the beginning that ArtPrize is about more than the popular vote and prize money.
- I’ve followed the top 25, 50, … lists since day one, and some days I’ve appreciated having them as a gauge. But they are indeed distracting. I hope ArtPrize will hold these numbers back next year until voting ends. I am certain the conversation around the event will sound quite different.
- Criticism is valuable and necessary, and so is enthusiasm. Og Mandino said: “Every memorable act in the history of the world is a triumph of enthusiasm. Nothing great was ever achieved without it because it gives any challenge or any occupation, no mater how frightening or difficult, a new meaning. Without enthusiasm you are doomed to a life of mediocrity but with it you can accomplish miracles.”
- There’s been a lot of talk about conventional exhibitions and events that ArtPrize should model itself after in order to enter the “serious” art world. Don’t look to the ivory towers, make those people look at you. They need change more than ArtPrize.
- An event such as ArtPrize would be extremely difficult for most museums to pull off, because of the bureaucracy of institutions and “high brow” thinking that governs all that they do. Grand Rapids is lucky to have a free agent like Rick DeVos who has taken an interest in art. (I swear he did not pay me to say that.)
- Embrace your inner state fair and set up cotton candy and ice cream stands. Offer a food map next year (with bakeries in bold). Okay, that’s totally selfish.
- There is always room for improvement. But all suggestions aside, I fear that ArtPrize will make too many changes in years to come and start to look like another art fair or biennial. We don’t need any more of those — they push communities out more often than they bring them in. What makes ArtPrize radical and fresh is its openness. I hope you don’t lose that.
Thank you Grand Rapids, Paul Moore, Rick DeVos, Bill Holsinger-Robinson, Jeffrey Meeuwsen, and everyone else at ArtPrize for having me. I can hardly wait to see what happens next year!
It has been great to have you blogging about Artprize Nicole. I feel totally honored just to be a apart of this awesome competition. Even though I didn’t make it in the top 100 I am already energized and am working on my project for AP 2010. Go Artprize:)
I agree…we don’t want ArtPrize to become like other “high brow” art events. I also agree that venue may have played too large a role, but clearly 1200+ pieces needed a lot of space. Love the state fair/food map addition…maybe I should open a downtown bakery before next year.
This event reflected our city’s culture very well…homey with a little bit of sophistication! It makes me proud to be a Grand Rapidian. I applaud Rick and his crew for giving our city the most fun I’ve seen in a very long time! I know there are those already plotting for next year and I am excited for what is to come (and it isn’t even over yet).
I really agree with what you have to say here. Thank you for writing it.
Well said, Nicole! I agree almost completely.
You know…I’m not sure I’d change a thing. This felt fresh and young and surprising–you seriously never knew what you were going to see. Rock on, ArtPrize!
Thank you, Nicole. Your pieces here have been spot on, well written and well researched. I’ve enjoyed reading them and will come back to them again.
John
Proud to be in the top 1262 at ArtPrize.
For ArtPrize 2010 I would like to see an “after glow” with artists coming together right after the closing with a convention at DeVos Place where artists can bring there works or images to one place for people to talk with artists and learn how they accomplish their works with classes provided. Live performances could be done next door at the DeVos Performance Hall.
~John
John, Possibly a Cabin Fever Art Event? I attended the seminar on Arts & Healing at St. Mary’s and about that time a good dose of the arts would help everyone.
Venues played a large roll because everyone wanted to see as much art as possible; therefore they went to locations that had the largest displays i.e. the B.O.B. or the Blue Bridge. Some locations that had registration also had an advantage because they had a draw for the public to see their art.
Maxfield’s Surf & Turf was in the parking lot at the Ford Museum and many walked by still not knowing there was an Ice Sculpture inside the Truck. It will be there until the end so please check it out. They said they were honored to be in the top 25!
Registration booths were not available in the evenings when people were off work.
All and all I think for the first year things went pretty good.
Great Job Rick AND everyone that helped him. It took many, many people to pull this off.
What a great thing for the city of Grand Rapids. It helped all of us appreciate ART a little more.
THANKS! Nicole, great words, sage advice, and a refreshing alternative to some of the negativity that I’ve heard cropping up from the establishment.
As I tweeted the other day: ArtPrize is a direct threat to art critics. It should surprise nobody that critics are complaining about ArtPrize.
ArtPrize 2010 will be the biggest art prize in the world… and I predict it will also have the biggest art.
I agree w/your food comments! I read a few other comments that “fear” a carnival atmosphere, but I think a vibrant, creative outside food scene would add a great deal. I took six kids (4-16) to the event last Sunday- had a great time…but we would of stayed outside with more food/drink….spent over two hours in a restaurant waiting for food/service.
I totally understand the food planning issue and support local restaurants 100%, but with that many people next year, there should be room for knoshing inside and outside! Maybe real creative food venues would be a good way to drive traffic to ArtPrize sites beyond the bridge, the BOB and central downtown.
Great effort by all involved. Not sure everyone appreciates all the attention to detail that the ArtPrize team managed…like this blog.
Nicole, I enjoyed reading your posts about ArtPrize. I really like your parting thoughts and ideas, they leave me feeling hopeful. I know as being the Matriarch of the Beerhorst family ArtPrize ‘09 really surprized us. We went from epiphanies to burn-out in that first week. What a wild ride — it has been good. Now in the 2nd week we can just have fun and relax – Thanks for your contribution.
Great objective comments coming from an outsider who has experienced more than the average viewer! Thank you for your contributions to the whole scene!
Add street food vendors to ArtPrize and the result will be another ‘Festival’. Let the established restaurants feed the hungry crowds. Now that they know what to expect, they will be better prepared next year. More ‘carnival’ is not needed or wanted.
While many seem to fear a ‘high-brow’ atmosphere, there is nothing to add to the reputation of ArtPrize by appealing to the lowest common denominator, either. Keep it real, but don’t degrade the art or the artists as without them, there would be no reason for the huge crowds coming downtown nor would there be cheering how great this event is for the city of Grand Rapids. Clearly, the city ‘wins’ off the backs of the artists and their art – good, bad, or indifferent.
Jane,
With regard to street vendors and a food map: I wasn’t totally serious. Notice that everything I mentioned was some sort of sweet. It reflects one of my personal interests (see my blog), which is why I said the suggestion was selfish. I was joking.
To add to the comment above, in my other posts, I think it’s pretty obvious that I see where changes could be made. I suspect this experiment will evolve and, as I said in one post, define its mission as time goes on. Artists will decide if they want to be part of that mission or if it’s not to their benefit or liking. I don’t believe ArtPrize has to be either high-brow or “appealing the lowest common denominator.” Ideally, the event will create or find a new spot on that spectrum.
Hi Nicole – well said!
I really enjoyed Artprize and will return Friday for de-install and to see as much work as possible. I really like the fact that there is an excellent calendar of events to follow. Artprize has really brought community together, and I think this experiment will also help to define and perhaps re-define Grand Rapids.
Hey, check out another friend, E. Ethelbert Miller – he’s awesome.
Blessings,
Milt
oh, I forgot – cool picture!
“The Prize of the Art is: Fellowship” This has been better than any festival. People interacting with each other and being a part of the art works like never before! What a great social event just walking around helping people find art and venues. I have never been to an event where people talked to each other (strangers) more than here at ArtPrize. The conversations and interaction has been way more than the highest expectations for this event. The voting is just one small part of it. It has been totally cool seeing the flow of umbrellas around downtown on Saturday and the numbers out on cloudy Sunday. ArtPrize 2009 is already a TOTAL SUCCESS!
~John
For ArtPrize 2010, It would be super cool to have a specially designed artsy fireworks display for the grand finale of ArtPrize 2010!
I would also like to see a 1 to 5 thumbs up and thumbs down voting scale to get a more accurate rating from the public. And a pocket notebook to keep score for votiing on computers and a reminder of the pieces we like the most. A box with “look at again” would be cool also.
And of course we need more ArtPrize food with ArtPrize hours. (Hint, hint, Quiznos!) Hmm, no Arby’s in the ArtPrize boundries.
Yes, it would be SUPER coolio to have the ArtPrize headquarters at the new UICA building at the future Gallery on Fulton site.
Thank you everbody for making ArtPrize 2009 such and exciting and successful event for everybody.
~John
http://twitter.com/johnegr
Nicole!
Let’s hope they do nothing to “fix” it. Having been there the first weekend the true joy was people like myself trying to figure out what the heck was going on and the venues not really knowing what to do with all these people. Don’t give em any ideas; that’s what made it so great.
What a great piece you wrote here. Really. I only disagree with you on one point – the cotton candy. Fried dough would be so much better. LOL
Nicole, I agree with what you said about this event.
I hope that it doesn’t change too much. It certainly was unlike any other art event I have ever been to. It’s been bigger than the art itself. It was a wonderful experience that pulled the entire city together. Bravo to Rick DeVos, all the artist and everyone who made this incredible experience possible.
I’m looking forward to enjoying it for the last few days, until next year!
All in all, this has been a great educational experience. Artists have learned about the necessity of marketing themselves, a tool most successful artists have; the general public has been exposed to a wonderful variety of artwork, good and bad, and has hopefully broken the “high art” barrier, realizing that art is for everyone’s enjoyment; more people have learned about Grand Rapids and what this city has to offer! I have found several new artists that I would like to invite for solo exhibits in the next couple of years,and I have been further inspired to continue with my own work. All this in two weeks, I’d say that’s a success! Kudos…changes needed in voting possibly, but thanks to the ArtPrize team!
The real prize of ArtPrize was getting to be in Grand Rapids and meeting its friendly and generous citizens and being a part of a real community. Meeting other artists and sharing our passions for deep self-expression and reflection was very valuable to me. I think ArtPrize infrastructure could have celebrated the 1200 artists that made the event the success it was. We put GR on the cultural scene not the 10 who won the prizes.