Thank you to all

of our sponsors!

Throngs of curious visitors encounter and consider work of contemporary art during ArtPrize, its a
phenomenon that happens no
where else on the planet.
- Christian Gaines

ARTPRIZE
2015
September 23-October 11
Grand Rapids, MI

Our Success Stories

Radically open by design, ArtPrize was conceived as a disruption of the traditional top-down
art contesta totally new type of event.

Any artist in the world can compete

Any property downtown can be a venue

Largest cash prize in art world

The community will be the judge

The moment of truth

Who, what, where,

when, why?
ArtPrize is a radically open, independently
organized international art competition and a
501 ( c) (3) non-profit organization. For 19
straight days, three square miles of downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, become an
open playing field where anyone can find a
voice in the conversation about what is art
and why it matters.

Art from around the world pops up in

every inch of downtown.

Free and open to the public.

On opening day (September 23, 2009), 159 venue owners opened their spaces to display the
entries of 1,262 artist from 41 states and 14
countries. Neither the organizations nor the city
were prepared for the massive public response.
By the first Sunday, restaurants had run out of
food, by the next Sunday, hotels had run out of
rooms. On the final day of the event, a line to see
the winning piece stretched down the street for
over two blocks. Ultimately, the venue with the
winning piece would host over 80,000 visitors,
while the number of total event visitors topped
200,000. Total votes cast during the even:
334,219.

What makes ArtPrize

unique?
Open Call for Artists and Venues: Anyone
over the age of 18 can be an artist and any space
within the ArtPrize district can be a venue. Anyone can participate.
Independently Organized: the entire ArtPrize
exhibition is independently organized by venues
and artist who connect through artprize.org.
Public Vote and Juried Awards: Two $200,000
grand prizes and eight category awards, more
than $500,000 is awarded. Half decided by public
vote, and half decided by a jury of art experts.

ArtPrize Events and Dates

September 23Opening Day: Round 1 of Voting
Begins
September 28Jurors' Shortlist Announced
October 3Round 1 Voting Closes
October 4Public Vote Finalists Announced/
Round 2 Voting Begins
October 8Round 2 Voting Closes
October 9Winners Announced at the 2015
ArtPrize Awards

Our story
On a brisk, clear morning in April 2009, Rick
DeVos announced a bold new social experiment. He was going to give away the worlds
largest art prize based solely on a public
vote. DeVos said the event would take over
downtown Grand rapids, Michigan, that fall.
As it turned out, that was just the beginning.

October 11Closing Day

Free by Tina Rae