ArtPrize: Top 10 Finalists Unveiled For $560K Prize
GRAND RAPIDS (CBS Detroit) ArtPrize, the international art world sensation founded in west Michigan, has unveiled its top 10 contenders.
Culled during an unprecedented 11 days of public voting, ArtPrize revealed the ten finalists who garnered the most public votes during the first round of voting -- and can move on to the second round of voting.
These finalists were chosen from a field of 1,517 artists from 46 countries and 41 U.S. states and territories. More than 41,000 voters contributed nearly 400,000 votes.
So, with no further ado, the list of finalists includes:
- Sandra Bryant
- Mark Carpenter and Dan Johnson
- Dennis Harris
- Dan Heffron
- Frits Hoendervanger
- Adonna Khare
- Chris LaPorte
- Richard Morse
- Martijn van Wagtendonk
- Kumi Yamashita
All 10 move on to round two of voting, which is available HERE. Participants are limited to one vote each in the voting that continues until 11:59 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 4, 2012. Voters must visit an Exhibition Center, The HUB, or registration site and present a government-issued photo ID to activate their voting account.
The ArtPrize winner will take home the world's largest art prize, at $560,000.
Beyond artists, it's a very big deal for the community, too. Grand Valley State University researchers found that during the 2010 ArtPrize roughly 400,000 visitor days generated an estimated economic impact of as much as $7.5 million for the Grand Rapids area.
ArtPrize was founded by Rick DeVos, a member of the family that owns Amway, and he discussed the initiative on an earlier episode of "Michigan Matters" with host Carol Cain.
"Originally we thought about doing a film festival in Grand Rapids , decided pretty quickly everyone did film festivals, why not try and do something completely different, something that celebrates creativity," DeVos said. "Then we thought of a large prize, something that was really collaborative and involved the community in terms of pulling the event off, so we started this kind of crazy idea called Art Prize."
Watch Rick DeVos discuss ArtPrize on an episode of "Michigan Matters" HERE.
