Tips for visiting ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, MI

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Mark Dahle's tips for visiting ArtPrize 2012

On this page:
Tips for Visiting
ArtPrize Hotels
ArtPrize Transportation

ArtPrize is an art competition in Grand Rapids, MI, created by Rick DeVos. Prizes totalling $550,000 will be awarded at the 2012 event, making it the largest total prize purse for art in the world. In 2012 ArtPrize is open from September 19 through October 7.

ArtPrize 2011

When you visit, you'll find that great art is hidden throughout Grand Rapids, and it takes time to find it. Unless you've got four or five days and really like walking, send an art advisor who knows your tastes to scout the area for you. If you don't have an art advisor, here's some general guidelines:

If you only have one day: If you only have a day and you like paintings best, go to The Spot at 29 Pearl St., the De Vos Convention Center, the Grand Rapids Public Museum, the Grand Rapids Art Museum and, just for fun, the inside of The BOB (the Big Old Building). Check the list of the top ten to see if there's anything you have to look at. You're going to miss lots, but you'll have fun and you'll probably see or experience something to make your trip worth it.

ArtPrize 2011

If you only have one day and you like sculpture best, start at the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park. If this will be your only trip to Grand Rapids, plan on spending at least half a day looking at their year-round collection as well as the ArtPrize entries.

Permanent Sculpture, Meier Sulpture Park

Outdoor sculpture at Meijer Gardens

Next try the sculptures at the two GVSU locations, then walk across the Blue Bridge to see the sculptures along the riverbank and in the plaza outside the B.O.B. If you still have time, head for the Grand Rapids Public Museum or the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts. Spend any remaining moments in the downtown core, soaking up the atmosphere.

If you only have a day and like cutting edge art best, try the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts and Grand Rapids Public Museum. Check out The Spot at 29 Pearl St. and Green Lion Gallery. After you've seen those sites, ask people at them what else you should see.

ArtPrize2011

If you only have three days: Pick up a map for $3 at any Exhibition Center. Forget the outlying venues, unless you hear reports about something great at one of them. You'll miss good stuff, but you don't have enough time. Concentrate on the central core of downtown, the venues with the most artists and the seven or eight exhibition centers. Focus your time on spots with the densest collections of art.

ArtPrize 2011 Small spaces to see include the Green Lion Gallery and The Spot at 29 Pearl St.

If you have five days: If you use the shuttle, walk fast, are methodical, start at noon, and keep at it until 9 p.m., you might be able to see every venue.

If you have a week: You'll barely have enough time to see all the ArtPrize venues. But if this is your one trip to Grand Rapids, you should spend some time enjoying the permanent displays around town and the bridges over Grand River.

At the top of your list should be The Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park even if you're not that wild about sculpture.

Outdoor sculpture, Frederik Meijer Gardens

Outdoor sculpture at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.

The Grand Rapids Museum has an excellent permanent display on furniture manufacturing.

Grand Rapids Museum

The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum is in Grand Rapids, and it is worth a visit as well.

When to visit: In the middle of the event, the top ten are announced and voting starts for best of the top ten. You'll be able to have fun no matter when you visit, but if you're in town after the top ten are announced, you can plan your travels around them.

Media coverage, ArtPrize 2011

After you visit: Thanks to the great reporting at Mlive.com you can stay on top of all the ArtPrize news long after you've left Michigan. Tell Google to notify you about new stories on ArtPrize at http://www.google.com/alerts.

2012 ArtPrize Hotels

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You can get a good picture of your 2011 ArtPrize hotel options at maps.google.com. Type in "hotels near Grand Rapids, MI." You'll see a small cluster of hotels at the intersection of 131 (the yellow line running north and south) and 196 (the Gerald R. Ford Freeway). In the map above, look for the red "A." That's the downtown area.

Downtown. If you stay in a downtown hotel, you'll be at the center of all the action. Your options are the Amway Grand Plaza, the JW Marriott Grand Rapids, the Courtyard Grand Rapids Downtown, and the Holiday Inn Grand Rapids Downtown. These hotels are at the best locations for ArtPrize.

Other options. If you want something less expensive, there are lots of hotels clustered on 28 St. SE closer to the airport (the "J" on the map above). If you have a car, your commute time to town will be about 20 minutes, plus time stuck in traffic and time to park. There are parking lots all over downtown, with a maximum charge of $12 for a day. On a bus or taxi, your commute time will be about an hour (see below).

ArtPrize 2011

2012 ArtPrize Transportation

If you're at a hotel on 28th Street, estimate about $20 one way for a taxi, with a 20 to 40 minute wait to get a cab to your hotel, and another 20 or 30 minutes for the ride to town.

The bus is about as fast as a taxi. There is excellent bus service from Woodland Shopping Center on 28th Street (you can take either route 5 or 6 to town). But check the distance from your hotel: it's a two- or three-mile walk from some of the 28th Street hotels to Woodland Shopping Center.

There is a small cluster of hotels along 28th St SE at Division Ave S. The route 1 (Division) bus serves these hotels.

Passes to ride the bus are available at ArtPrize gift shops for $5. Bus schedules are available at http://www. RideTheRapid.org.

Duct tape painting, ArtPrize 2011