ArtPrize Changes for 2010: What Artists Should Know
Artists, there are some new rules and a few rules changes for 2010. A summary is below.
Download Official Rules for ArtPrize 2010
The winning piece will become a part of the ArtPrize collection
This rule was actually in place during artist registration 2009, but was removed when we could not get IRS approval in time for the event. The collection is a tangible way for ArtPrize to be invested in the long term cultural value of the winning works. Learn more here
Entries from ArtPrize 2009 cannot be re-entered in ArtPrize 2010
ArtPrize is meant to be a showcase for new work.
Entries cannot be more than three years old
Again, we want to see new work. If the work took a number of years to execute, the date the work was completed needs to be within three years of September 22, 2010–opening day.
The entry must be wholly owned by the artist or collaborative
This rule was also in the 2009 rules, but was stated less clearly. An artist–or representative of the artist–may not enter a piece that has already been purchased or currently belongs in a collection. Artwork can be sold during the event, but sales are considered pending until the event is over. If the winning artwork has a pending sale, the sale is voided.
Entries with previous awards are allowed to enter
Last year we stated no entry could have won previous awards. Our goal was to bring new work into the event. This year we’ve simplified that goal down to the “three year” rule stated above. So, entries to ArtPrize 2010 may have won previous awards.
Registering as a collaborator will cost $25
Last year, artists paid $50 to register, and could add collaborators at no charge. This year, artist registration still costs $50, but adding a collaborator will cost $25 per collaborator. During the 2009 event, collaborators received the same amenities as artists, so this fee helps offset those costs.
Entry vs. Work
There’s also a verbiage change in the rules this year. The artwork artists enter in the competition is referred to as that artist’s Entry. Last year we used the term Work, which created some confusion, as an Entry can comprise multiple pieces, or a piece with multiple elements.
Artist Accounts on artprize.org
- If you created an account last year, either as an artist, voter, venue, or some combination of the three, you still have an account. This is the account you will use to enter ArtPrize 2010, and you’ll use it to vote when the time comes. Sign in using your e-mail address and the password you created last year. Artists/Venues with pre-existing accounts will still pay a registration fee for 2010.
- For those artists who entered last year, images and information about your entry will be preserved for the sake of archiving the event. This will also give potential venues and voters a chance to see some of your previous work. You are not able to use last year’s entry as your entry this year.
- Artist statements and artist bios from last year will be preserved, and will be able to be edited and updated. Info about your new entry will need to be entered.
Voting Period
Many rules have stayed the same from 2009. One of the rules that will stay the same and was often brought up in feedback sessions, which is why it’s mentioned here, had to do with the voting period. Namely, there is one week to vote on all entries to determine the top 10, and one week to vote on the winner from the top 10. Many people told us the first round of voting should be longer and the second round shorter. “People don’t need a week to decide who the winner will be from the top 10,” was said frequently.
In fact, our research shows that the vast majority did take the entire week to decide on the winner and changed their minds once or twice during the week.
Also, last year ArtPrize was an unknown quantity. Many people came down out of curiosity, became immediately daunted by the scope of the event, and tried to see as much art as possible on the fly. This year, ArtPrize is a known quantity and feedback indicates people are making plans to accommodate a lot more art seeing.
We’ll reevaluate the voting period after 2010 if there is a strong case to change it.
Thanks for the update. How many pieces of art/works will be part of the “known quantity” this year? It will still not be realistic to view all of the art in one week, unless you are limiting it to a smaller quantity.
To be honest, when there are 1,262 artists across 3 square miles, for MOST of the people to view ALL of the art is an unrealistic expectation, even in two weeks. Some people did see all of the art. To draw an analogy to government elections, some people make an effort to be informed about every candidate for every office on the ballot, but they are the minority. The same holds true for ArtPrize.
Our research of trends during the event did not indicate that extending Week 1 voting from 7 days to 10 days would create significant changes. If the 2010 event makes a case that it will make a significant difference, we’ll reconsider the rule. There will be no cap on number of artists.
an open, serious discussion needs to be made about these new rules, hopefully ending in the elimination of them.
last year, ran ortner’s piece was purchased by the devos family to be a part of the “artprize collection”. this year, the winner is supposed to just give their work away, along with the copyright to their work and their ability to sell it to whomever they chose? or to donate it to whatever organization they see fit?
so, now it’s better to not win artprize, and just come in second. you get some money, you get to keep your work, and you get to keep control over it.
and what about art that can’t be sold or be put in a collection? are these entries ineligible to win?
from the artprize website: “There are no restrictions on type or genre of work”
so… what about the performance artists? how does artprize get to own them?
what about non permanent art? site specific installations? what about the guy with the monkey?
serious answers are needed to these questions.
The time period is one thing, what about the number of finalists?
1252 artists got zero for all their expense, time and effort to make Grand Rapids a hot town and enabled business to sell out their food stores.
Still only ten?
Tj
Actually, according to our survey 20% of artists either sold work or received a commission from their time at ArtPrize. Also, their will be more awards this year brought in by sponsors and we’ll announce them closer to the event.
why not a juried event as well as a “peoples choice” …when the art is solely judged by the public and that public is centered around art schools it becomes an unfair event… more of a popularity contest… I heard of several situations where groups of people voted for a piece of work solely because they knew the artist and not because the work ranked superior in their minds to other pieces. A juried event would speak to the artists and re-assure them that there efforts would be viewed and scrutinized and judged fairly against their competition.. and maintaining a “peoples choice” prize would keep the community involved… Otherwise there is little motivation for artists to incur the cost of long distant travel and expense and risk of transporting work. Would it really be an “International event” then ?
Actually, there will be sponsors of the event introducing juried awards. We’ll announce those closer to the event. However, the cash prize for the top 10 will be decided by public vote again.
Have you considered having a juvenile category? I have a 13 year old who takes spectacular photos and unfortunately can’t compete because of the age minimum.
Unfortunately for your 13 year old, the age minimum to compete is 18. ArtPrize does not create categories for the popular vote, however outside sponsors will bring in awards for certain categories.
Why the year restriction? Is there a reason for 3 years?
Nothing more than what was explained in the post above. The event is designed to push production of new ideas.
I,m new to this event and wonder why some of the venues are all ready full or not taking artist are the dates set in stone or just a guide line?
In my body of work extending back over 50 years, I easily have 100 pieces available that have NOT had general public review. When I slide my file of pieces finished or in process, I am amazed at what I find. Some are nearly like I have never seen them before. To say these are not “new” or “fresh” or “qualified” is ridiculous.
Remember where these pieces of art often reside, in an Art MUSEUM!!!!! Hello you dusty and dank and dark hall with spotlights…. We make trips for miles and miles to see works that are on the walls of these places, and items done in, say, the 30′s or 40′s are often as fresh as the new snow. Let alone those of the Old Masters..
This concept of ITS GOTTA BE NEW AND FRESH????
People, if you ain’t seen it before its NEW!!
You mean you toss your pieces bought earlier in your life ,
just to replace em with NEW?
Something iis WRONG here, and this apparently fine idea to SOME is in direct conflect with the integrity of a piece of art.
Time to can the reviewers!!!!
bad Bad BAD IDEA.
@L Larson,
The three year rule is not meant to devalue older works of art. You’re absolutely right that museums house old works, and those works continue to have tremendous value and freshness. But ArtPrize is not a museum. It’s an event that’s temporal and cyclical. We want the prize to incentivize the creation of new work, and we want the collection of winning works to serve as a record of the point in time each piece was created as well as the moment it gained audience support during the ArtPrize event.
@scott
No venues are full yet. The dates are set in stone. Artists must register between April 19 and May 27, and artist/venue connections must be made on the website between June 1 and July 1. Artists and venues can certainly have conversations and begin negotiations offline at any time.
Clarification: Are artists posting their finished piece between April 10-May 27th for venues to review during that time? Actual conversations and
commitments with the venues cannot occur until June
1-July 1st? Is that correct? In other words, venues
cannot make any decisions until the June 1-July 1st
time, correct? I also have concerns that conversations can occur offline at any time. For those who are out of town, how does this affect
their ability to find the right venue for themselves
if the venues are already made offline commitments
before June 1-July 1st. Seems to me the venues and artists should comply to the online guidelines only.
Not offline conversations should be allowed.
Christine,
Your entry only has to be completed by the opening of the event, September 22. The profile you build on artprize.org is a proposal, and does not have to be a completed piece.
Artists may have offline conversations with venues. If you are out of town and have questions regarding which venues are optimal for your piece, please call Kevin Buist. You can find him under “Contact us” on artprize.org.
As an artist living in Greece, I’m wondering about the size of the work. If all of the entries are so big as those winning last year, what chance does an artist not working on that scale have? Perhaps foreign artists abroad should have some special place, as the cost of sending my work w/ ins. packing etc. is very expensive. I would like to send a tryptic that is 3ft.height and 6ft. width.oil on canvas. If I send a smaller work it will seem perhaps insignificant to such larger works, which are probably artists within the state.
I also saw a venue that has already fulfilled their art contact, don’t want to name names but a venue stated they will be showing the many works of an Italian artist.Perhaps there are some Greek Venues for showing Greek artists???
Janet,
Some venues may be interested in showing international artists, but it’s ultimately up to them. Each venue gets to choose which artists they show, and each will approach that task with different ideas and criteria in mind.
It’s true that large entries did well last year. Remember that an entry can be made up of a series of works. This is a way for artists working on a smaller scale to still have a large impact.
Mark Dunning says:
The three year grace period to have your paintings completed for ArtPrize is debatable. Because this time period could mean that you are still producing and growing as an artist and critics will know if there is a breakthrough in style. In contrast, works in the past are valuable because artists are not always able to sell, or realize which works of art are his or her best and need to reflect on this thinking process. Theoretically, do you think this contests three year rule conforms to other competitions that have had continued success and will work for ArtPrize?
The three year limitation, we believe, is a step in the right direction. We conceived ArtPrize as an event to showcase new work, new ideas. If the simple rule that the work must have been completed in the last three years does not adequately meet our desire for new work and new ideas, we’ll rework it until it does.
Hi,
I was an artist in the ArtPrize competition last year. I just registered for this year’s competition, but my account was not available and I had to make a new one. I was even told that my email address was inaccurate – but it’s the same one I had last year. Has this happened to anyone else?
Rita
Rita,
You raise a good question regarding problems with registration, however you are more likely to get an answer on the following forum than here on the blog.
http://getsatisfaction.com/artprize/topics
“Artists and venues can certainly have conversations and begin negotiations offline at any time.”
I too am new to this grand event. If this is being permitted, it appears the cards are being stacked against hundreds or thousands of unsung masters who’ve paid the $50.00 non-refundable registration fee, believing they are on equal footing with regards to connecting with a venue on June 1. Artprize should FORBID all offline conversations/negotiations prior to June 1 and make it clear, ALL violators (whether artist or venue) be suspended from participation. At the very least, it will APPEAR as some form of policing is being instituted by Artprize…for ALL to benefit. Respectively, Achara
Achara,
ArtPrize is intentionally designed with as few and as simple rules as possible to allow for unexpected results. If you are looking for ArtPrize to forbid and police, you will be continually frustrated with how the rest of the event is organized.
I think the question Achara is getting at has to do with artists that live in GR or know vendors in GR and, therefore, have an inside connection. This was a big problem last year and should have been addressed in some manner. To say that “ArtPrize is intentionally designed with as few and as simple rules as possible to allow for unexpected results” is at best flippant. Every entering artist would like to know that their entry is given equal consideration by vendors.
Kevin Buist is our artist relations manager and is prepared to counsel any artist on how to best navigate ArtPrize. If an artist has questions about which venues are best situated for their work, they can contact Kevin at kevin@artprize.org.
Dear all,
No one is required to participate in this event. You go into this competition knowing what the risks are. Of course your venue placement affects the number of votes you get, the Grand Rapids artists have benefits that others don’t, bigger work gets bigger results, and those with lots of friends in the area get lots of votes. Not everything is entirely fair in this contest, but I think you’ll find that many will risk the $50 to at least be a part of this massive show. I had a really bad experience last year with my positioning, but essentially Artprize was a good experience. You can look at all the flaws and get mad over them, or you can look at what’s good about it and be proud that you were/are a part of it. You gain experience, you’ll have exposure, whether or not it’s to voters, you get to see some amazing things and meet lots of amazing people. If you don’t find that the benefits outweigh the risks and expense, save yourself the $50 and don’t enter. There’s no way you can feel cheated out of your money because you had plenty of opportunity to research this event before you took the risk to do it. And to conclude my small rant, considering this competition offers more money for it’s 10th place prize than a lot of competitions offer for all 3 top prizes, I find it a bit selfish to now ask for more money and prizes than the ten offered. Please remember that it is not the worst injustice ever committed to not be one of ten winners of a massive prize. There are only ten out of all these people. Don’t be sore losers before the competition has even begun. Offer suggestions for next year, sure. But don’t demand changes. Many of these comments could be illustrated with a stamping foot and a pout. Good luck to all.
First let me say I love the idea of Artprize. Im very impressed with the commitment the venues have made to make this happen. I didnt enter it last year because I was feeling very intimidated. I am entering it this year (feel better after seeing some of the “stuff” others call art). Keeping in mind that this is only the second year of the event, I must say it is very unorganized. Art prize web site is very poorly made, Artprize organizers dont respond to questions and the info they post is inaccurate (ie. they say “artist, find your venue starting June 1. I follow THEIR info and find out on June one, alot of the venues are full?!). Last year, their maps were more or less worthless.
I dont expect to win, obviously it would be nice, but really, getting people to know my paintings, and seeing what the impression of my work is, is the intresting part. Join, experience, but take a BIG chunk of salt.
Kevin,
Where did you send your question within ArtPrize that it was not responded to? Do you have suggestions as to how we can better organize the 2010 event?
-Paul
Everything sounds great. See you this fall!
I think that since there is so many venues it is very hard to get to see all of them. Especially with work, kids, and the kids school. I suggest it all be downtown next year. It seemed to worjk Better.
quote: In fact, our research shows that the vast majority did take the entire week to decide on the winner and changed their minds once or twice during the week.
That is not relevant. That is procrastination and indeciveness. Plus I’m sure much of those people have not had a chance to see the art yet and would rather be voting up/down and not be limited to top 10. I certainly felt that way. I was quite frustrated when I went out to see the art during second week that I could no longer vote for. At this point the voting is silly and pointless, and the signs at every piece are a constant reminder of that. Really kinda detracted from the community involvement aspect of the experience.
Personally, I think the first Sunday should be the first time Top 100 are revealed, the second Sunday when Top 10 are revealed, and final announcement can stay on last Thursday like it is now.