ArtPrize Blog
March 14th, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ARTPRIZE MAKES COMMITMENT
FOR MORE MUSIC AND PERFORMANCE
Grand Rapids, Mich. – March 14, 2011 – Today, venue registration for ArtPrize 2011 opened. ArtPrize officials announced a dedicated Exhibition Center for music and performance. Music and performance have played a small role in the competition, which gives away the world’s largest art prize and had over 250,000 visitors last year, but organizers dedicated St. Cecilia’s Music Center–boasting a 650 seat auditorium–as a focal point for the 2011 event.
“I often say ArtPrize is the world’s largest excuse to get creative, and it’s been explosive its first two years,” says Rick DeVos, ArtPrize founder. “Going into year three, we continue to be intentional about making it open to a broad spectrum of creativity. We invite other performance venues to be ArtPrize venues and really experiment with how music and live shows can play a bigger role.”
General rules stay the same. Any space within the three-mile ArtPrize district can register on the website to become a venue. Artists and venues “connect” through the website to organize their exhibitions (ArtPrize organizers do not select any artists for the event). Exhibition Centers, which serve as large venues and launchpads into each neighborhood, are not-for-profit institutions and include the Grand Rapids Art Museum, the Diocese of Grand Rapids’ Cathedral Square, the Women’s City Club, the Urban Institute of Contemporary Arts, the Grand Rapids Public Museum, Grand Valley State University, St. Cecilia’s Music Center, as well as Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.
Also, a twist on how visitors track the competition, ArtPrize organizers announced that no longer will the website display the top 25 vote getters during the first week of the competition. Instead, the top 25 artists in each of the five neighborhoods will be on display. Read More »
February 11th, 2011
Officials of ArtPrize, a radically open art competition giving away the world’s largest art prize, has announced 2011 registration dates for venues and artists, and special dates for submitting art to be installed in the Grand River. ArtPrize 2011 will run from Sept. 21 through Oct. 9.
“The artist and venue registration process was developed during the last two years based on feedback provided from artists, venues, city hall and ArtPrize visitors,” said Rick DeVos, ArtPrize founder.
Key dates for ArtPrize 2011 include:
Venue Registration
Open: Monday, March 14, 2011
Close: Thursday April 14 (5 p.m. EDT)
Artist Registration
Open: Monday, April 18
Close: Thursday, June 16 (5 p.m. EDT)
Artist/Venue Matching
Open: Tuesday, May 31
Close: Thursday, June 30 (5 p.m. EDT)
“A lot of the most memorable work in the event is created for a specific space,” said ArtPrize Executive Director Bill Holsinger-Robinson. “Artists will know all the venues available as they register.” Holsinger-Robinson cautions artists, “The vast majority of artists who did not secure a venue in 2010 were the ones who signed up at the last minute. Register early.”
Any art proposed for installation in the Grand River, which runs through the heart of the three square-mile ArtPrize district, must be submitted to the city of Grand Rapids and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE) according to the following schedule.
Pre-application filed with the City: Monday, March 28, 2011
Application filed with the DNRE: Friday, April 8
(The DNRE will process the application using the following steps)
- Public notice period begins: Friday, April 22
- Public notice period ends: Friday, May 13
- Public hearing, if requested: Friday, June 10
- Required time for comments: Monday, June 20
Permit Decision: Wednesday, June 29
“This process allows the City to review proposed work to ensure that there is artistic quality and structural integrity to the proposed installations,” said José Reyna Fiscal Services Manager for the city of Grand Rapids. “The DNRE application will review the proposed installations in the context of environmental, structural and navigability impact on the river.”
As in 2010, ArtPrize will partner with institutions like the Grand Rapids Art Museum, the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts and others to form large neighborhood destinations where visitors can launch into surrounding venues. These Exhibition Centers will be professionally managed and bring a minimum of 25 installations to one site and serve as a launchpad into the surrounding neighborhood. Each will offer voter registration, an ArtPrize gift shop, and the ArtPrize shuttle stops at each. Exact locations of the Exhibition Centers are still being determined.
ArtPrize has invited thousands of artists worldwide to register for ArtPrize 2011, which will award the world’s largest cash prize for art totaling $484,000. Prizes include: First place – $250,000, second place $100,000, third place $50,000, fourth through tenth places $7,000 each, and five juried awards at $7,000 each.
In ArtPrize 2010, Chris LaPorte of Grand Rapids, Mich. captured the top prize of $250,000 for his work Cavalry, American Officers, 1921. In ArtPrize 2009, Ran Ortner of Brooklyn, N.Y. captured the top prize of $250,000 for his work Open Water No. 24.
About ArtPrize
ArtPrize is a radically open competition which has no formal jury, curator or judge, and asks the public to vote and decide the winners using mobile devices and the Web. In ArtPrize 2010, more than 1,700 artists from all over the world participated in the unprecedented competition that awarded nearly $500,000 to the prize winners. More than 465,000 votes were cast during the 19-day event. For more information about ArtPrize visit http://artprize.org.
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March 15th, 2010
The Old Federal Building on the final day of ArtPrize 2009. Photo by Paul Moore
If you were part of ArtPrize 2009, you’ll remember the sense of urgency to rush through planning as part of “the experiment.” However, we don’t feel it has to stay that way.
This year, we start registration earlier–and change how we do it–to allow more room for planning and site specific work.
Venue Registration
Opens today! Monday, March 15 (Noon EDT)
Close: Thursday April 15, 2010 (5:00PM EDT)
Artist Registration
Open: Monday, April 19 (Noon EDT)
Close: Thursday, May 27 (5:00PM EDT)
Artist/Venue Matching Period
Open: Tuesday, June 1 (Noon EDT)
Close: Thursday, July 1 (5:00PM EDT)
ArtPrize 2010 Event
September 22 – October 10
Read More »
January 28th, 2010
If you were a part of registering for ArtPrize 2009 and part of the “matching” process between artists and venues (think matchmaker.com, but with artists looking for space to exhibit), you’ll notice a few changes this year. Based on feedback from artists and venues regarding the 2009 event, we’ve changed registration and matching for 2010.
In 2009, artists and venues registered simultaneously. During registration, we even opened up matching. This created some confusion and angst. Many artists wanted to base their work on a specific space, but new venues were signing up all the time. Venues wanted to know all of the artists registered before planning their show, but artists were securing venues as new ones signed up each day. Urgency for artists and venues to rush through planning was part of the first year experiment. However, it doesn’t need to be part of the future.
In 2010, venue registration, artist registration and matching will be broken out into separate time periods.
Venue Registration for 2010
Open: Monday, March 15 (Noon EDT)
Close: Thursday April 15, 2010 (5:00PM EDT)
Artist Registration for 2010
Open: Monday, April 19 (Noon EDT)
Close: Thursday, May 27 (5:00PM EDT)
Artist/Venue Matching Period for 2010
Open: Tuesday, June 1 (Noon EDT)
Close: Thursday, July 1 (5:00PM EDT)
We’ll start with venues. So, when artists register, they can plan their work around a known quantity of spaces available. Then artists will register. Venues can use this time to see who is joining and start planning a show. After artist registration ends, matching begins. Venues and artists will have had time to develop a “game plan” during the registration process, and many will probably have already begun talks informally. So, during the month of June, negotiations over the Hosting Agreement can take place and artists can formally secure venues. By the close of Matching July 1, there’s plenty of time to work on the logistics of staging an exhibition.
ArtPrize 2010, the event, happens September 22 – October 10
Download ArtPrize 2010 Official Rules
