ARTPRIZE 2016 ARTIST REGISTRATION AND APPLICATIONS FOR $50,000 IN ARTIST SEED GRANTS ARE NOW OPEN

Artist registration opened at Noon today, April 18 for ArtPrize 2016, slated to take place in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan from September 21-October 9. Anyone over 18, working in any medium, from any place on earth can enter to compete for a combination of public vote and juried awards totaling $500,000 at the world’s largest art competition. Over the last seven years, nearly 11,000 artists from around the world have filled every corner of the three-square mile ArtPrize district with their work. Artists seeking to enter the eighth annual event must register by June 2 at 5:00 p.m. EST.

Also opening today are applications for 2016 ArtPrize Artist Seed Grants, presented by the Frey Foundation. For a third consecutive year, ArtPrize will offer 25 artists $2,000 grants each to realize their ambitious art projects at the event this fall. Interested artists must demonstrate both financial need and artistic merit, and submit their applications by the close of Artist Registration onJune 2 at 5:00 p.m. Applications will be reviewed — and the grantees selected — by the ArtPrize Arts Advisory Council, a panel of art critics and experts.

Venue registration for ArtPrize 2016, which ran through April 7, underscored the continued desire for citywide collaboration to showcase Grand Rapids to the entire world. 183 venues — from museums and public parks to restaurants and coffee shops, and including 38 new spaces — seek to participate in the eighth annual event. Registered artists and venues will find each other and connect online at artprize.org during the Connections period, held from April 25-June 16— agreeing to present the artwork for public display during the 19-day event this fall.