ArtPrize in Michigan revolutionizes art world

ArtPrize, created by urban leader Rick DeVos, is the paradigm of making art accessible, wide-reaching and empowering to a city. Good Magazine covered the entirety of the Art Prize project:

Earlier in 2009, DeVos imagined an “explosion of creativity” across the city, where artists and designers could engage with the community. “We wanted it to be so distributed that we would own as little as possible," DeVos said.

Grand Rapids, Michigan is revolutionizing the art world.

ArtPrize, created by urban leader Rick DeVos, is the paradigm of making art accessible, wide-reaching and empowering to a city. Good Magazine covered the entirety of the Art Prize project:

Earlier in 2009, DeVos imagined an “explosion of creativity” across the city, where artists and designers could engage with the community. “We wanted it to be so distributed that we would own as little as possible," DeVos said.

Grand Rapids, Michigan is revolutionizing the art world.

The concept of ArtPrize was originally criticized by the art world. Many believed no real artists would apply; others thought that it would result in bad public art pieces; and others argued for curators to have a roll in the process in order to steer and "put a check" on public opinion. DeVos, however, was committed to "decentralization, openness, participation, and entrepreneurship."

DeVos's instincts were right: Within a week of ArtPrize's April launch, 1,700 artists applied, with 1,262 matched with 159 venues in five downtown neighborhoods. Each piece was voted on by the public via online, text message or even iPhone app. So far, more the 7,000 people have registered to vote for their favorite pieces of art. By the end of the project, the top ten will be announced and a winner will be given $500,000 in prize money. That is the most money ever given out to an artist as a contest prize, and it is determined by the people.

"Never has there been a citywide exhibition this large—and this uncurated."

If only DC could do something this amazing and large-scale! Good Magazine has provided us with ways in which DC can learn from ArtPrize and its progressive, decentralized process.

1. Competition threatens the middleman.
2. Rapid decentralization means making mistakes, but approaching those mistakes with newer solutions.
3. People should be given the chance to be entrepreneurial.
4. Platforms such as ArtPrize "completely defy the convention of nonprofits" (in a good way).

With these lessons learned, there is huge reason to believe that ArtPrize is the beginning of something very big. Writer Carol Coletta explained the big-picture beautifully:

I realized that Grand Rapids would essentially be host to a large-scale scavenger hunt. Find this artist, climb inside this venue, poke into dark corners, visit a new neighborhood, campaign on behalf of your favorite artist, debate a piece’s value with your friends, make a decision, and move on to the next one, as quickly as you can. It’s like a massive multi-player, explore-your-city game, and these people were taking it extremely seriously. In that spirit, I’d also like to see a prize go to whoever votes on the most pieces: The challenge to see and pass judgment on all 1262 artworks is a potentially daunting and thrilling task—will anyone achieve it? And what perspective will that person gain from the experience?

Read the full story here.