Grand Rapids’ ArtPrize Is a Grand Experiment

CITYBEAT
By Steven Rosen

MICHIGAN---ArtPrize, which is promoted as a “radically open, independently organized international art competition,” began in 2009 as a “social experiment” to rally a city — an entire region — around visual art. It was the creation of Richard DeVos, a local billionaire who co-founded Amway. Within the ArtPrize District, anyone whose property has public access — from an auto body shop in a gritty industrial strip to downtown’s prestigious Grand Rapids Art Museum — is free to select artists to display work. This year, there were 169 venues — including outdoor sites like parks and plazas. Artists and venues connect via the artprize.org website — ArtPrize does not curate entries. [link]