GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — After 13 events, ArtPrize is no more.
The organization behind ArtPrize announced Thursday that they will be dissolving, handing the reins over to the city of Grand Rapids, DGRL and Kendall College of Art and Design.
What the next iteration of the massive art contest will actually look like remains up in the air.
"Art prize is a big part of Grand Rapids," says Elia Saenz with The Old World Olive Company. "I would kind of be a little bummed out that that's no longer happening."
But that doesn't mean the massive public art contest won't happen again.
"It's a big melting pot of people from all over the place that come here specifically just to see that," adds Saenz.
ArtPrize said Thursday that the new handlers will produce a similar event annually in the fall — but when that will happen or what that will look like remains to be seen.
"It does bring in quite a different wave of people," says Oli Bailey with Vault of Midnight.
Downtown businesses like Vault of Midnight, a comic book store, say the event consistently brings in people, particularly families — a crowd they don't always have stopping in.
"It's that first week of, like, nice weather and stuff where it's not too hot but not too cold,” says Bailey. “So it brings a lot of people."
Shops like Old World Olive Company, which opened in 2009, the same year ArtPrize started, hope it continues in a similar vein as previous years.
"People from other countries, other places,” says Saenz. “It's just really, really interesting how you get such a variety of people that come in.”
ArtPrize has certainly left a legacy, and businesses downtown hope it will soon rise again.
"For this shop, it's like a little mini Christmas," says Saenz.
READ MORE: ArtPrize announces end of 13-year experiment, signals 'ArtPrize 2.0'
