I had not heard of it till you posted this but as an award winning artist I checked it out.

To be honest I am leery of worldwide contests that have steep non-refundable admission fees. In this case it is $50.00 which is pretty high (average entry fees I pay have been around $20.00).

As an out of area artist there are a lot of additional costs with exhibiting (if even chosen)
Framing
Crating
Shipping
Return Shipping

The above have cost me about $1,200 for each exhibit I have entered with a quality size work. If I attend the opening jack that cost up by another $1,500—$2,500 depending on hotel costs, flights, meals and rental.

Another thing which makes me a bit off on this one is that it is a public popularity vote and the exhibit is scattered all around the city. The home town advantage would could possibly make it difficult for an unknown out of state artist to win any reasonable prize. Also the numbers competing for the prize are staggering- last year there were 1,713 artists competing for just 10 prizes.

Another thing that makes me a bit uneasy is the scattered venues that are non- gallery businesses. I have a good friend whose painting was returned from such an exhibit with a transparent sticky film across it. Her venue was classy restaurant. In this contest the venue chooses the artist so if you refuse a family restaurant then you may not get in at all.

So to me this would not be a good investment of my time and energy.

That being said though- if it was LOCAL to me I think I would be favorable toward entering as the highest expense would be the entry fee. I would not mind rejecting a potentially damaging venue and would consider it more fun than serious business.

Those are all very valid points. I personally just got involved in it because I’m an intern for the civic theatre. It really is a great thing that started in Grand Rapids, but has recently been made into a national organization so that other cities may do it as well. Its amazing to see the different forms and talent of the artists spread around the city! So I really enjoy it =]

The event is pretty well covered by the New York Times and earlier this year there was a piece in Art Daily about the 2009 winner

A friend of mine was involved in that.She just picked up her piece from Grand Rapids.It was a sculptural wall piece made of clay and glass.She didn’t make the opening and neither did I.

I’m always taking classes at the student art league in NYC, and I’m getting technically proficient! But I’m not an artist… not sure why. I just don’t have the right filters maybe… I admire artists who have vision. What was the question?

@BarnacleBill I’m glad to hear that! It really is a pretty cool competition =] Not only does it give a large range of artists an opportunity to show their work but it also brings such great culture to Grand Rapids and makes it available for the whole community!

@lucillelucillelucille Do you know what her venue was?

@CrazyRedHead -She did tell me,but I can’t remember all the details.I can give her a call today if you have other questions:)

@lucillelucillelucille I was just interested in knowing if it was one of the ones I saw, I think it was but I’m not positive haha