ArtPrize

In 2009 a Grand Rapids entrepreneur proposed a social experiment: any artist from anywhere could enter, any downtown property owner could become a venue, and the public - not curators - would decide the winner. Critics called it American Idol for artists and predicted the city would become a laughingstock. Instead it became the largest art competition in the world, filling three square miles of downtown with 1,500 works across 160 venues. The first winner, a Brooklyn painter living on ramen with his phone shut off for nonpayment, took home $250,000; his painting still hangs above a bar in Grand Rapids.

Dates

Mid-September to early October (2027 dates TBA)

Town

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Venue

Venues across downtown Grand Rapids, MI

Price

Free

Type

Arts / Quirky