News

Actions

ArtPrize announces Top 20 finalists among the public

Posted at 1:36 PM, Oct 01, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-01 13:37:05-04

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — ArtPrize 9 announced its top 20 public vote finalists Sunday afternoon at Rosa Parks Circle.

The international art competition recognized as the world’s largest annual public art event revealed the visiting public’s top picks for the ninth annual event at the Public Vote Final 20 Announcement presented by Consumers Energy. These 20 artist entries, selected over the past 11 days of the Public Vote presented by Meijer, will move on to Round 2 alongside the Category Jurors’ twenty picks, announced last week. These 40 artist entries continue with the chance of winning $500,000 in prizes, including two $200,000 Grand Prizes and $100,000 in Category Awards.

Hundreds of visitors filled Rosa Parks Circle in downtown Grand Rapids this afternoon for the announcement, as Kristian Grant, ArtPrize Donor Development Manager, and Kevin Buist, ArtPrize Exhibitions Director, revealed the public’s top picks.

“The public vote has been central to ArtPrize since the event’s inception, inviting visitors from around the world to discover hundreds of artist entries across our city and voice their opinions,” noted Christian Gaines, ArtPrize Executive Director. “These twenty finalists selected by visitors, combined with the Category Jurors’ twenty picks, will highlight the distinction between popular and professional opinions, drawing attention to this connection and tension by asking both to consider the other’s picks.”

Round 1 Voting closed last night at 11:59 p.m., with 35,318 visitors casting 327,814 votes for their favorite art. Visitors elevated five artist entries from each category — 2-D, 3-D, Installation, and Time-Based. These 20 ArtPrize Nine entries will move on to the second round of voting, with the chance of winning over $200,000 in cash prizes. Round 1 Voting results were verified by KPMG, the Official Auditor of the Public Vote.

“Year over year, ArtPrize goers respond to the event with a level of enthusiasm and involvement that’s truly amazing to witness,” said Kevin Buist, ArtPrize Exhibitions Director. “Combining the public vote and juried picks into one pool of finalists we hope will ultimately challenge each other to look more deeply at the range of entries spread across the event, and to consider each others’ perspectives when selecting their winners.”

In no particular order, the ArtPrize Nine Public Vote Final 20 are as follows:

Two-Dimensional
The Two-Dimensional Public Vote Award is presented by Foremost Insurance.

  • Crowns of Courage by Amanda Gilbert, David Burgess and Steven Stone at DeVos Place Convention Center (Grand Rapids, MI)
  • Team Spirit by Anni Crouter at Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum (Flint, MI)
  • Life,Deathand Transformation by Frits Hoendervanger at The B.O.B. (Detroit, MI)
  • 9/11 by Mher Khachatryan at Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum (Fort Lee, NJ)
  • A. Lincoln by Richard Schlatter at Amway Grand Plaza (Battle Creek, MI)

Three-Dimensional
The Three-Dimensional Public Vote Award is presented by Edward Jones.

Installation
The Installation Public Vote Award is presented by Amway.

Time-Based
The Time-Based Public Vote Award is presented by DTE Energy Foundation.

  • Red Dirt Rug Monument by Rena Detrixhe at Western Michigan University – Grand Rapids (Tulsa, OK)
  • broke(n)hunger by Kyd Kane at Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts (UICA) (Wyoming, MI)
  • Object-Orientalis by Eva Rocha at The Fed Galleries @ KCAD, Kendall College of Art and Design (San Paulo, Brazil)
  • Monsters Go by Aaron Zenz at Grand Rapids Children’s Museum (Spring Lake, MI)
  • Midtown Flutter by Yuge Zhou at Grand Rapids Art Museum (Chicago, IL)