ArtPrize! It’s over.
The awards have been announced. “Elephants” by Adonna Khare won the main award, and “Displacement (13208 Klinger St)” by Design 99 won the juried award.
Design 99 won, and I’m going to get all my feelings about that out right now:
OHMYGOSHDESIGN99I’MSOHAPPYFORYOUTWOYOUAREGREATANDFANTASTICYAYWOOHOOYAY!
Um, yeah. SiTE:LAB cleaned up pretty well at the awards, winning the juried award for best venue, and with “Habitat” by Alois Kronschlaeger winning the 2D juried award, so that’s fantastic.
I think the creation of the juried awards has a huge effect on the contest. It divides ArtPrize into two separate competitions, one for art that is more critic-friendly, and one for art that is crowd-friendly. The juried prizes make ArtPrize worth it for artists who are unlikely to win the crowds over, but add to the serious art aspect of the event. The public award favors conceptually accessible, representational, 2D pieces, and the public award is what creates the buzz. The buzz is a lot of what matters for ArtPrize, that sort of arts and crafts carnival feeling. ArtPrize brings a lot of money into the city, and a majority of the people who come aren’t looking for something like SiTE:LAB, they’re looking for OMG DINOSAUR.
I really liked this dinosaur, not so much from an artistic perspective, but from a place of deep love for all sorts of prehistoric reptiles.
I think the reason that I’m not a huge fan of ArtPrize is simply demographics. ArtPrize appeals to people who are from the city and the region, but don’t spend a lot of time in downtown Grand Rapids. I go downtown almost every day, since I go to school there. ArtPrize tries to be a gateway to art, saying “Hey, you aren’t the type to go to an art museum, but this is art, and this in a type of place where you might feel more comfortable”. ArtPrize makes it okay not to know a lot about art, but still be a part of things. That’s something that the greater art community could learn a lesson from, that it helps to be more inclusive, and that’s the work that ArtPrize can do. We need to start asking people who aren’t “art people” what they think of art, and make art the conversation in this town, even when it’s not ArtPrize.
