GRAND RAPIDS, MI — The multi-week ArtPrize art competition comes to a close this weekend. On Friday evening, over $400,000 will be awarded directly to artists through both popular and juried voting at Studio Park.
For those looking to see the wide variety of art across the city, venues will remain open through Saturday, Oct. 4.
ArtPrize is divided into five districts across the city at 155 venues. MLive compiled some of the must-see and popular venues that are teeming with art. Voting remains open to the public until Oct. 3.
North District (12 venues)
Silva turned its new parking garage space at 975 Ottawa Ave. NW into the immersive BioPhilia Gallery featuring over 20 artists. The venue of a selected group of artists highlights the relationship between humans and the natural world with captivating and innovative artwork.
Monroe Community Church showcases work from 30 artists from small to large-scale pieces. MCC won the Outstanding Venue Award by the jury in 2022, and its artists have won jury prizes in each of the past three years.
City Center (55 venues)
There is a lot of artwork to be found in the heart of downtown Grand Rapids, and the original home of ArtPrize. For starters, Amway Grand Plaza Hotel and DeVos Place Convention Center are very accessible venues filled with a variety of art.
Amway Grand Plaza features pieces like the 1/78th scale “Iron Lady,” a 300-pound steel replica of the Eiffel Tower and Keven Bahoora’s “Red Rose” made entirely from preserved rose petals.
From Amway you can take a stroll through the connecting skywalk to DeVos Place, which features a wide variety of work from nearly 60 artists.
Art For Honor at Veterans Memorial Park (101 Fulton St. E) this outdoor venue celebrates military veterans’ creativity and expression from 26 different artists.
South District (42 venues)
There is a bounty of artwork to be found spread across 42 venues in ArtPrize’s South District. Western Michigan University features two galleries, the Resonant and Prismatic, that are dedicated to advancing the boundaries of contemporary experimental media art. The venue features over 20 artists entered in ArtPrize’s new media category.
Swinging over to 200 S Division Ave. is the ArtPrize popup, The Art of Life Studio NOW Gallery. This expansive gallery took a vacant 15,000 square-foot building and filled it with art representing all six ArtPrize categories.
The spacious venue features art from 59 different artists, three of which were named in the top 20 for the South District at the halftime show. The gallery also features work from two dozen artists that are not competing in ArtPrize.
West District (25 Venues)
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum (303 Pearl St. NW) had 40 artists between the indoor and outdoor spaces and a majority of the top 20 entries from the West District that were announced during the ArtPrize halftime show.
Because of the federal government shutdown, the museum closed at noon on Wednesday. A majority of the indoor pieces were moved over to The Morton apartment building at 55 Ionia Ave. NW. There are still several pieces that are on display outside the museum
The museum features several 3D sculptures outside and an array of art inside including a piece from John Katerberg, who took home the $125,000 grand prize for ArtPrize 2024.
The iconic Blue Bridge features one the largest installations from this year’s contest, “Sky by Day, Sky by Night” by Rachel Hayes. The piece transforms light through the hand-sewn textile into a shifting canopy of color that stretches across the top of the 575-foot-long metal truss bridge.
East District (26 venues)
There is art spread across the east side with lots of small business showcasing ArtPrize pieces. One of the can’t miss venues is Hermitage at Diamond. The former Third Reformed Church is being restored for the creation, performance, display and teaching of the arts.
The venue features work from eight different artists.
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To cast a vote, attendees must be 13 years or older and be registered. Registration can be completed on either a mobile device within the ArtPrize Boundary or in person at the ArtPrize ClubHouse, 40 Pearl St. NW.
The public voting process will be the same as last year. All artists will be eligible for voting throughout the event, until Oct. 3, for the awards ceremony.
Voters can select one winner for six categories, so all genres and mediums are recognized and visitors can lend their voices.
Additionally, the jury will select one winner from each category and a winner for the juried Grand Prize, as well as five visibility awards that recognize BIPOC, LGBTQ and artists with disabilities who excel in their work.
The following is the breakdown: