ArtPrize

This year, Grand Rapids is hosting a brand new art competition open to anybody from any state or nation called ArtPrize, running now through Oct. 10. The art takes many forms, inside and outside numerous venues around downtown. The fun thing about it is that anybody can vote for their favorite entry. The entry with the most votes will get a top prize of $250,000, the largest of its kind in the world! This was the first weekend of the competition, and downtown was packed with curious spectators, including us. It really was fun to be a part of the action and take in just some of the over 1200 entries.


My personal favorite was the shrubbery family at the BOB. I'm posing with Dad, but they had a whole circle of shrub people. Very fun!


This guy was dressed up as some sort of tree, walking around on stilts with his entry number, trying to score votes.



Of course, Jason's favorite was this car sculpture.



I don't know if Hannah was more intrigued by the art or the diverse cross-section of people walking all around us.


Another one of our favorites was the giant table and chairs perched atop the pedestrian bridge.


Nessie in the river.


I think this display called "Airing Dirty Laundry" was secretly one of Jason's favorites, located on GVSU's campus.

We barely even noticed this entry in the river until we looked a little closer. Definitely some very creative, insightful ideas.