The organizers of Artprize announced Wednesday the dates for next year’s contest. The winner of the art competition is decided by the voting public who visit the event in downtown Grand Rapids.
Not much will change for next year’s contest besides the thousands of art installations. This year the event had more artists, venues and people casting ballots for their favorite works. Organizers want to see the momentum continue through ArtPrize 2011, so they’re not messing with the formula too much.
Executive Director Bill Holsinger-Robinson says they do hope to increase the number of artists by focusing on expanding more venues out into Grand Rapids’ neighborhoods. “We want people to go out into the venues as deeply as possible to find these little hidden gems,” Holsinger-Robinson said.
Holsinger-Robinson admits that means artists and venues in far-flung places will have to get creative to attract more visitors. But he says that quarter-of-million-dollar top prize is worth the effort. “The event itself is kind of designed to be way too much art for anybody to see. You have to talk to people, you have to read articles and blogs and tweets and facebook status updates to find out where to go,” Holsinger-Robinson said.
The third annual contest is set to run from September 21 to October 9.
