In 2009, we saw so much conversation whirling around ArtPrize–both on the street and online–but no central place where the visiting public could join in.

“This year we’re trying out a central resource center, called The Hub, where voters get support and information,” says Rick DeVos, ArtPrize founder. “It will be home to our Speaker Series–where ArtPrize and the international art world collide–and it’s a practical start and end point for the visiting public.”

The Hub will provide a lounge decked out with Herman Miller furniture where the visiting public can relax and talk. It will have free access to computers for voting and trained technical support. There’s an artist lounge, volunteer offices, voter registration and the only store carrying the full line of ArtPrize merchandise.

What will be at The Hub?
Computers for voting
Mapping and navigational assistance
Store with exclusive product
Voter registration
Public lounge
Artist lounge
Volunteer headquarters
The Speaker Series
Shuttle stop

Guest speakers
Hasan Bakhshi – Economist, Director of Creative Industries at NESTA

Brett Colley – Associate Professor at Grand Valley State University
David Greenwood – Professor of Sculpture & Functional Art at Kendall College of Art & Design
Xenia Kalpaktsoglou- Curator & Co-director of the Athens Biennale
Adam Lerner Ph. D. – Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver
Jeff Speck – Urban planner, architectural designer, author of Suburban Nation

Paul Ha – Director of the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis
Patricia Phillips – Dean of Graduate Studies at the Rhode Island School of Design
Raphaela Platow – Director & Chief Curator, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati
Julie Rodrigues Widholm – Associate Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago
Deborah Rockman – Chair of Drawing and Printmaking  at Kendall College of Art and Design
Norwood Viviano – Assistant Professor at Grand Valley State University

Here’s a tease of what’s for sale (this is not a complete catalog of products, there’s a lot more than will fit on this page). All ArtPrize 2010 apparel is designed by Neil Hubert and printed on American Apparel®.

ArtPrize merchandise is available at all Exhibition Centers, as well as additional locations (listed below).

Grand Rapids Art Museum

101 Monroe Center

Grand Rapids, MI 49503

UICA

41 Sheldon Boulevard SE

Grand Rapids, MI 49503

Women’s City Club

254 East Fulton Street

Grand Rapids, MI 49503

Cathedral Square (Diocese of Grand Rapids)

360 Division Ave. S

Grand Rapids, MI 49503

Grand Valley State University, Pew Campus

301 & 401 Fulton Street West

Grand Rapids, MI 40504

Grand Rapids Public Museum

272 Pearl ST NW

Grand Rapids, MI 49504

Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park

1000 East Beltline Ave NE

Grand Rapids, MI 49525

Other Retailers

• Schuler Books & Music – all three Grand Rapids locations
• Lafontsee Galleries/Underground Studio
• Spirit Dreams
• Amway Grand Plaza Hotel
• JW Marriott

The poster is reminiscent of many artists who deconstructed the printing process by deliberately separating the four colors. The ArtPrize logo is printed in four different colors, overlaid on each other, with the additional colors that result created naturally from the layering.

EXHIBITION CENTERS

• Cathedral Square
• Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park
• Grand Rapids Art Museum
• Grand Rapids Public Museum
• Grand Valley State University – Pew Campus
• Urban Institute for Contemporary Art
• Women’s City Club

RETAIL OUTLETS

• Amway Grand Plaza Hotel
• Frames Unlimited – 28th Street
• Frames Unlimited – Plainfield
• Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce
• Grand Rapids Public Library – Main Library
• JW Marriott
• LaFontsee Galleries
• Schuler Books – 28th Street
• Schuler Books – Alpine
• Schuler Books – Downtown
• Spirit Dreams

View ArtPrize Poster 2010 in a larger map

• 1,713 artists
• 192 venues

Artists from 21 different countries will exhibit, including the United States. 44 different states in the U.S. will be represented.

Note: If you were watching reports last week, you may have noticed a sightly lower number of countries and slightly higher number of states. Those numbers were pulled from a report generated a day prior to Connections closing, with hundreds of artists still left to secure venues. Artists and venues also canceled connections they decided–for whatever reason–were made prematurely. Hence, the shift in numbers has the ability go up or down.

• 1,713 artists secured a venues (up from 1,262 in 2009)
• 192 venues secured artists (up from 159 in 2009)

With that said, over the increased quantity of artists and venues, we at ArtPrize are far more encouraged at signs that the overall quality of the event will go up a notch this year. There are more international artists coming and from more states in the US, and many more emerging artists who are rising through the ranks of the art world.

With venues, the Urban Institute for Contemporary Art put on fantastic exhibitions at their facility and the Old Federal Building in 2009. They’re back this year, and joined by other regional institutions–like the Grand Rapids Art Museum, The Public Museum, Grand Valley State University, Meijer Gardens and others–who’ve all stepped up the scale of their exhibitions this year.

Maybe most encouraging is to see places like Stepping Stones Montessori School, which is located in the farthest northeast corner of the district, use the platform of ArtPrize the way we’ve designed it to be used. They’re bringing in artists with work that enhances the experiential learning of their students. Whether or not one of those artists goes home with an award, their show will leave an imprint of the lives of the students and artists involved. Which is just the type of experience we hoped ArtPrize would become an excuse to create.

Finalize connections!

Artists and venues, you must finalize your connections on artprize.org before 5:00 PM EDT tomorrow, July 1. After that, it’s too late, and connections cannot be made. Do not wait until the last minute!

Once the hosting agreement is complete, artist and venue return to artprize.org to make it official. Both artist and venue must click the SECURE button before the artist is secured. Note: the SECURE button is not on the artist or venue profiles, it’s on your Manage Connections page. To find your Manage Connections page, log in and click the “Connections” link (it’s over to the right).

What about artists without venues?

While we won’t know for sure until tomorrow, there’s a good chance that not all artists will secure a venue. Artists who do not secure a venue will not compete in ArtPrize 2010. Also, venues that do not secure at least one artist will not be a venue during the event.

When will we know the final number of artists and venues?

After matching ends at 5:00 PM EDT tomorrow, we’ll perform an audit. We’ll know the final numbers early next week. You’ll be able to see a complete list of artists here, and a complete list of venues here. Each venue profile contains a list of the artists showing there.

Painting of squid by Meg Perec from ArtPrize 2009. Photo by JohnE777 on flickr.com

To be registered you must:

1. Complete a personal profile
2. Complete an entry proposal
3. Pay the $50 registration fee (nonrefundable)

Register now for ArtPrize 2010.

A receipt will be emailed to you after you pay the $50 fee. Please, keep this receipt for your records.

After registration closes, artists have until July 1 to secure a venue.
Artists must secure a venue to participate in the ArtPrize event. Learn more about securing a venue.

Will I appear on the list of artists when I register?
When you register, you will appear on a list of artists that only venues can see. Once you secure a venue, you are officially in the 2010 event and will appear on this list.

Collaborators
All collaborators must be registered by June 17. Each collaborator must be added under the entry, and a $25 fee must be paid for each one added.

In the case of a winning entry, ArtPrize only recognizes the artist who submitted the entry and registered collaborators under that entry as stakeholders in prizes and copyright.

To be registered as an artist, you must

1. Complete a personal profile
2. Complete an entry proposal
3. Pay the $50 registration fee

Register now for ArtPrize 2010.

Registering for ArtPrize does not guarantee an artist a venue at the event. Each artist must secure a venue, and artists are securing venues from now until July 1.

Learn more about securing a venues or view artists that have currently secured venues for 2010.

What about collaborators?

No collaborators can be registered after June 17. Each collaborator must be added under the entry, and a $25 fee must be paid for each one added.

In the case of a winning entry, ArtPrize will only recognize the artist who submitted the entry and registered collaborators under that entry as stakeholders in prizes and copyright.

Artists and venues have now entered the time we refer to as “matching” or “connections,” when they formally commit to each other for the 2010 event. It’s when artprize.org, essentially, becomes a dating website.

So, how does it work?

WE LIKE SURPRISES
The process of connections is what makes ArtPrize fundamentally different from any other event. We like surprises, and that’s what we get when the event is handed over to artists and venues to organize themselves. ArtPrize, the organization, has no curator or jury to pick artists for the event.

Each venue independently chooses which artists to show from the website. Some venues will be run by highly qualified curators in the art world, others by amateur enthusiasts. The huge variety in venues–and decisions made by venues–is what makes ArtPrize so radically open and unpredictable.

Venues have been browsing artists on artrpize.org since April 19 (when artist registration opened). Many artists have contacted venues to informally discuss their options. From today until July 1, they can make their agreement official on artprize.org. As they do, you will see the list of artists slowly grow as the program for ArtPrize 2010 is built real-time.

FIRST, MAKE A CONNECTION
It all starts with requesting a connection.

Artists, when you see a venue you’re interested in, click the “Connect” button. Likewise, venues, when you see an artist you’re interested in, click “Connect.”

As an artist, all requests appear under Artists Home

As a venue, all requests appear under Venues Home

THEN, GO OFFLINE TO WORK OUT THE DETAILS
Each venue has a hosting agreement (we provide a template, but they may very). If the venue is interested in the artist–whether the artist requested the connection or the venue–that venue emails the hosting agreement. Artist and venue negotiate the terms of their agreement, until each party knows exactly what to expect.

When the agreement is signed, it’s time to let ArtPrize know you’re ready to make it official…

RETURN TO ARTPRIZE.ORG TO SECURE THE RELATIONSHIP
Once the hosting agreement is worked out, artist and venue return to artprize.org to make it official.

If the artist requested the venue…
The venue must reciprocate and click “Secure artist.” Then, the artist must agree to being secured by clicking “Secure venue.” You’ll see a confirmation immediately.

If the venue requested the artist…
The artist must reciprocate and click “Secure venue.” Then, the venue must agree to being secured by clicking “Secure artist.” You’ll see a confirmation immediately.

Press release follows:

ARTPRIZE EXTENDS 2010 ARTIST REGISTRATION
With More Competition, Venues Ask for More Time to Build Exhibitions

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – May 18, 2010 – While more than 1,000 artists have already begun their registration process to enroll in ArtPrize 2010, several of the more than 220 venues have reported that increased competition for artists has already begun for the 2010 event, and asked ArtPrize organizers to extend the artist registration deadline. ArtPrize officially announced that the artist registration date will be extended from May 27 to the new deadline of June 17, 2010. The matching period between the artist and venue will remain the same as published between June 1 and July 1, 2010.

“There is a huge demand for art this year,” said Bill Holsinger-Robinson, ArtPrize, Executive Director. “We’ve heard that many artists have informal agreements with venues already in place.” ArtPrize has gone from 159 to more than 220 venues. Many of the venues from 2009 have plans to increase the artists they’ll show.

“We showed maybe six or seven artists last year,” says Linda Lafontsee of Lafontsee Galleries, “We plan to fill the gallery with up to 40 artists this year.”

In addition, ArtPrize is seeing a number of curators who have been engaged by venues, such as the Blue Bridge and the Monroe Promenade. These curators bring their own network of artists that they would like more time communicating with.

“There is real competition for art happening, which is great for artists, but stressful for venues,” said Holsinger-Robinson. “The artists and venues want the opportunity to put on an even better show, they need a bit more time to help these new relationships take hold.”

• The new deadline for artist registration is June 17, 2010
• Artists have three weeks left to register
• The matching period will still begin on artprize.org June 1
• The matching period will still end Thursday, July 1
• Between June 17 (end of registration) and July 1 (end of matching) is two weeks for artists and venues to wrap up their agreements and secure each other on artprize.org