GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Ashley Miller, a graphic designer for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, was already sweating the prospect of a state government shutdown early this week when a federal budget stalemate upended her ArtPrize experience.
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, where her entry in the 18-day art competition was on display, closed Wednesday because of the federal government shutdown. Busy with work, the Ann Arbor resident said she didn’t have time to to move her six-foot tall drawing, No such Thing as Flightless Birds, to another venue before the museum’s closure.
“It was kind of just the cherry on top for the stress of this week,” said Miller, 30.
Miller is one of the numerous artists whose entries are stuck in limbo at the museum, one of ArtPrize’s busiest venues, as the federal government shutdown rolls on.
While ArtPrize says the public can still vote for the entries through its mobile app, the closure brought the museum’s indoor foot traffic to an abrupt end, leaving artists such as Miller concerned that they’ll see fewer votes in event’s final days.
“It’s one of those things that’s frustrating,” Miller said. “But ArtPrize and the Gerald Ford can only do so much.”
ArtPrize 2025 ends Saturday, and $375,000 in prize money is up for grabs this year, including a $100,000 grand prize for the entry that gets the most public votes. ArtPrize’s 2025 winners are set to be announced Friday night.
Mark Osgerby, ArtPrize’s director of communications and marketing, said 38 entries were on display inside the Ford museum.
In the lead up to the closure, ArtPrize worked with Rockford, a Grand Rapids-based construction and property management firm, to create an alternative venue for the entries that were housed in the museum.
Osgerby on Wednesday said he didn’t know how many artists moved their pieces to that venue, The Morton apartment building at 55 Ionia Ave. NW. On Thursday, ArtPrize’s website listed 11 entries on display there.
The closure was an annoyance not only for artists but for visitors, too, who were hoping to get a look at the entries on display inside the museum. Last year, the Ford museum hosted ArtPrize’s grand prize-winning entry, Dynamic Sunset.
“Last year there was such an unbelievable amount of cool exhibits here,” said Kensey Barnes, of Springport, who stopped by the museum Thursday but discovered it was closed because of the shutdown. “It’s disappointing.”
Once it became clear late Tuesday that the federal government was shutting down, some artists sprang into action.
Kelly Vander Kley, who lives outside Kalamazoo, hopped in her vehicle early Wednesday morning and arrived at the museum in time to collect her entry, Bear Necessities, which consists of 12 acrylic paintings, and move it to The Morton.
“All the artists had to make a very quick decision and organize moving significant artwork to a new location,” said Vander Kley, a print design instructor at Van Buren Vocational Technical Center “The hardest part was trying to find people to help me, but nobody was available. I realized it was just me.”
Miller and Vander Kley said staff from the Ford museum and ArtPrize were helpful in the leadup to the museum’s closure.
Though staff from the two organizations did not offer to move the artists’ entries to The Morton, they kept artists in the loop about their options. Those options included pulling their artwork from the event, moving it to the new location, or leaving it locked inside the museum until the shutdown ends, Vander Kley said.
“Both the Ford Museum federal employees and the ArtPrize coordinators were extremely helpful to the artists in getting us situated,” she said. “They all went above and beyond what we would have expected.”
One artist took a different approach to the closure.
Rather than attempting to move his ArtPrize entry, a 10-foot hanging glass tapestry called ARRAS, Mark Lewanski installed a smaller but similar glass tapestry outside the museum. As visitors explored entries outside the museum on Thursday, including his smaller work, he discussed ARRAS and showed pictures of it to those who were interested.
“I really wanted people to share the piece and to see my work and to see the hard work that went into making this piece,” said Lewanski, 54. “It’s a disappointment to me.”
However, Lewanski, who lives west of Lansing in Portland, was staying positive Thursday. The shutdown only impacted the final few days of ArtPrize, he noted, and he said he’s gotten a boost from media coverage about the museum’s closure.
Additionally, foot traffic outside the museum, where various other ArtPrize entries are located, remained strong Wednesday and Thursday, he said.
“I did get a little more attention just from being left out in the rain,” he said. “I’m kind of out here just doing my mini booth, and I have a small little piece. And so I got a little bump in media attention that was beneficial to me.”