ArtPrize Returns for 2010
January 29, 2010
original source: ArtPrize 2010, UICA

Start planning your trip and be sure to tune in as we update you on the ArtPrize 2010 conversation. Read the article and put these important dates on your calendar!

Grand Rapids stunned by success of ArtPrize festival
October 25, 2009
original source: USA Today

Grand Rapids gets national exposure with the ArtPrize festival. Our CVB President, Doug Small comments on the exposure brought to Grand Rapids.

Eyes on the ArtPrize
October 8, 2009
original source: New York Times

As quoted in the New York Times, "For the past two weeks it has been impossible to walk more than a few feet in the city’s downtown, a combination of historic buildings and glistening new structures, without seeing an orange placard declaring, “ArtPrize Venue,” meaning that an artwork was on display." ArtPrize filled the streets, bridges, venues and brought thousands to Grand Rapids all throughout downtown the conversation continues on artists, on the voting, and on next year's "second" ArtPrize spectacle.

Grand Rapids Masters the Art of Urban Engagement
September 28, 2009
original source: GOODis./blogs

See how Grand Rapids is being viewed by one important Los Angeles social media outlet, during ArtPrize.

Will ArtPrize reinvent Grand Rapids?
September 23, 2009
original source: Newvine Growing

A city that has sparked a new conversation, with ArtPrize is in the news, people are flooding into the city to see art come alive at every turn- discover 'a world of art in Grand Rapids.' The question is...will ArtPrize reinvent Grand Rapids? or has it already...

Red Ball Project Rolls into Grand Rapids...
September 22, 2009
original source: SMG Press Release

The Red Ball Project rolls into Grand Rapids for ArtPrize. The Red Ball has been making it's way across the nation and ArtPrize is one of the stops. There will be many locations as the Red Ball rolls to many attractions. Read where you can find the Red Ball during ArtPrize.

Grand Rapids Event Awarding World's Largest ArtPrize
September 22, 2009
original source: USAE- Newspaper

Read about ArtPrize as another lure for meeting planners and Grand Rapids as a premier destination for regional and national conventions in USAE; a national newspaper on weekly news for Associations, CVBs and Hotels.

PACHYDERMS PAINT THE RAPID RED (and blue and yellow…)
September 21, 2009
original source: SMG Press Release

In celebration of the annual arrival of The Greatest Show On Earth® as well as the official kick off of ArtPrize 2009, the painting pachyderms of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® are getting in on the artistic inspiration invading Grand Rapids! Come see the this public show on Thursday, Sept. 24 at Noon. The event will take place on Ottawa Street at the corner of Fulton next to the VanAndel Arena.

Looking for art in all the right places
September 21, 2009
original source: Detroit Free Press

In its inaugural year, ArtPrize, which runs through Oct. 10, features 1,262 professional and amateur artists from 16 countries. They've been streaming into Grand Rapids for weeks, transforming 3 square miles of the center city into a playground of imagination. About 160 venues, from museums and art centers to restaurants, design studios, city parks, bridges and a dry cleaner, are displaying a dizzying variety of art. The works are large and small, ambitious and modest, conventional and bizarre, serious and whimsical, weird and wonderful. Read more of this article featured in the Detroit Free Press.

ArtPrize maps: Complete guide to contest venues
September 21, 2009
original source: MLIVE

A complete guide to the ArtPrize venues was re-issued in the Grand Rapids Press is is posted on-line to download.

The promise of ArtPrize: Region could benefit long after contest ends
September 17, 2009
original source: MLIVE

The term is "destination appeal." Grand Rapids has it. Just not enough. Or at least not the kind of appreciation or awareness nationally for its arts and culture that Douglas Small believes Grand Rapids deserves. Come next week, that void could begin to fade in a big way, as ArtPrize launches in Grand Rapids, giving boosters and businesses not just a unique and high-profile event to rally around and support but a one-of-a-kind opportunity to promote the town as a destination to host conventions and conferences, locate a business and work.

Wristband Deals for ArtPrize with Upgrade
September 17, 2009
original source: ArtPrize Blog

Wristband deals for ArtPrize- when registering to vote at one of the 14 locations on September 23, upgrade for $15, and you'll receive an event guide and wristband. With this wristband you'll get preferred access to Official ArtPrize events, free ArtPrize shuttle rides, plus great deals from GrandRapids merchants.

First installation of art on display at DeVos Place for ArtPrize competition
September 14, 2009
original source: DeVos Place

CVB hopes ArtPrize makes 'needle move'
September 8, 2009
original source: Grand Rapids Business Journal

During ArtPrize the local hospitality industry hopes to capture a few treasures of its own- the CVB extends it's Feel the Grand Rapids Beat hotel package, FREE iPod giveaway through October.

Sculpture city in 'misunderestimated' Michigan
August 24, 2009
original source: McClatchy-Tribune News Service

Michigan's population may be waning, but there's no question that the state has become a sleeper destination for tourists who are passionate about trout fishing, sailing, camping, Big Ten football, theater or the fine arts. George W. Bush, who always has a way with words, might call Michigan the most "misunderestimated" destination in the land.

A Vehicle for Expression
August 20, 2009
original source: The Washington Post

Aaron Heideman, an Oregon native, has spent the past six weeks driving across the country and asking people to write on his orange van stories of how the financial crisis has affected their lives. He provides the Sharpies; they spill their guts. Heideman will make is way to Grand Rapids, Michigan to enter his van in to ArtPrize.

Rob Bliss announces ArtPrize project: release of 100,000 paper airplanes from downtown Grand Rapids rooftops
August 20, 2009
original source: The Grand Rapids Press

Put on a big, international art event downtown, attach a big monetary prize to it, and you're sure to attract all kids of artists, even a 20-year-old college kid know for a zombie walk, pillow fight and electronic music festival.

Grand Rapids: A relaxed urban getaway
August 10, 2009
original source: Chicago Tribune

I'm sitting with my wife on the fringe of Rosa Parks Circle as a multiracial band blasts bluesy tunes for a small but very receptive crowd - it's like a Dave Matthews concert in miniature - and it occurs to me that, for the slightly stressed Chicagoan, this western Michigan town represents the ideal urban getaway.

ArtPrize signs up 200th artist, latest additions include Ferrofluid Magnetoscope and 30-foot video projection
July 20, 2009
original source: The Grand Rapids Press

With two months to go before the ArtPrize display downtown, organziers say 200 artists from all over the United States and several foreign countries have been confirmed to participate.

Grand Rapids named a city "Under the Radar"
July 1, 2009
original source: Meetings and Conventions Magazine

"Be a big fish in a small pond," goes a current sales pitch for planners to consider Grand Rapids. Doug Small, does not mean dull. Indeed, the city has a surprisingly vibrant visual arts scene, achored by the presence of the prestigious Kend College of Art and Design.

Rick DeVos unveiling $500,00 ArtPrize contest to turn Grand Rapids into a gallery
April 23, 2009
original source: The Grand Rapids Press

Artists from around the world are expected to descend on Grand Rapids this fall to compete for votes and the world's largest prize for art during a two-week event announced by Amway heir Rck DeVos.

A Lasting Impression
May 19, 2008
original source: My Midwest Inflight Magazine

Travel writer Barbara Cohen explores "Degas in Bronze: The Complete Sculptures", an exhibition at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, May 30 - August 31.

Make an Artful Getaway to Michigan's second city
April 6, 2008
original source: Chicago Daily Herald

The new Grand Rapids Art Museum and the new JW Marriott along with Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids is a great destination for art lovers.