Thanks, Connie, for inviting me to write a bit about ArtPrize here. ArtPrize is an event designed with a very open framework to create dialogue between artists and the public. There's also a prize. Currently, the world's largest art prize: $250,000 1st place $100,000 2nd place $50,000 3rd place $7,000 4th-10th places Any artist can register, but each artist has to secure space within a venue. A venue can be virtually any space within a 3 square mile area of Grand Rapids, MI. Whomever opens their space to become a venue is responsible for selecting artists. ArtPrize is not the jury for the exhibition. Individual venue hosts determine which artists they secure. Artists and venues negotiate everything from how much space the artist can exhibit in to whether or not the artist will give an artist talk. I should also mention the top ten prizes are awarded solely by a public vote. Those of us working on ArtPrize also created Spout.com, a community for movie lovers to spread word of mouth about movies. We like empowering peoples' voices. We like the idea of the city becoming an art gallery. We like giving the public real skin in the game to decide who gets the prize, so they'll think more about the art than they might in a traditional context. We like the variety that venues with a huge range of curatorial experience will create. From spectator to venue to artist, we like the idea that ArtPrize asks everyone to think differently. For artists specifically, its a very wide open proposition. The vote and the prize create an audience ready to be engaged. It is up to you to decide how to engage them. It will take some planning. You register at artprize.org and contact venues where you want to exhibit (currently there are 55 and more are added each day). Once you secure a space within a venue, you're in. (Some venues charge a fee, most do not.) Some frequent questions that come up: - You may only submit one entry, but consider your limitation the amount of space a venue gives to you. Meaning, one entry is not necessarily one painting, but however you choose to exhibit your work within the space the venue allows. - You may sell work--including work not submitted to the event--but the one work that's registered in the event has to remain on exhibit until closing day, October 10. - You and the venue are free to be as entrepreneurial as you wish to be, meaning if you and the venue host turn a lobby into a sales booth for diamond skulls and corn dogs, there are no rules against it. We ask any artist to consider this an opportunity to engage with the public--both spectators and venues--on a level that they might not have engaged before. We think it's going to be a little crazy and a lot of fun. You can find out more and register at artprize.orgPaul Moore is co-founder of Spout.com and currently in charge of communications for ArtPrize
As the time gets nearer for Art Prize, the stories start a comin', look at this one "Man in a Van Collecting Stories of Recession" from the AP. "The beat-up 1989 Dodge van carries a sign with a question: "How has the recession affected you?" Along the side, a request: "Tell me your story."
Aaron Heideman is traveling the nation collecting stories about the recession. He lost his job in a paint store a year ago and has a very special art project. Sleeping in his van, traveling from Grants Pass, OR, he is angling for the $250,000 art prize. He unrolls a 50 foot roll of Tyvek for people to write their message. He will be bringing it, himself and his van and rolling into GR looking for the prize!
I'm thinking there are going to be so many cool things like this in GR late in the month. It is getting exciting. Put GR on your itinerary, that is unless you are exhibiting, in which case I'll see you there!
Hi Connie,
I reworked the post to answer some of your questions, but the short answer is, "Yes." Venue hosts accept/reject work, negotiate with the artist all the specific details of exhibition and each arrangement will be a little different depending on the venue.
1. is it entirely up to the venue owner and the artist to decide how much work the artist displays?
2. does each artist make an arrangement with a venue operator?
3. is up to the artist and the venue operator to reject or accept the art?
Comments
Aaron Heideman is traveling the nation collecting stories about the recession. He lost his job in a paint store a year ago and has a very special art project. Sleeping in his van, traveling from Grants Pass, OR, he is angling for the $250,000 art prize. He unrolls a 50 foot roll of Tyvek for people to write their message. He will be bringing it, himself and his van and rolling into GR looking for the prize!
I'm thinking there are going to be so many cool things like this in GR late in the month. It is getting exciting. Put GR on your itinerary, that is unless you are exhibiting, in which case I'll see you there!
I reworked the post to answer some of your questions, but the short answer is, "Yes." Venue hosts accept/reject work, negotiate with the artist all the specific details of exhibition and each arrangement will be a little different depending on the venue.
My questions are:
1. is it entirely up to the venue owner and the artist to decide how much work the artist displays?
2. does each artist make an arrangement with a venue operator?
3. is up to the artist and the venue operator to reject or accept the art?