Artprize 2014

It's that time again!  Artprize has just finished in Grand Rapids, MI.  It's something that many of us in the area look forward to, but people come from all over the world to compete and attend.
Artprize is an Art competition that started in 2009 and has been growing ever since. Every Fall, 3 square miles of Downtown Grand Rapids is filled with art for 19 days.  The streets are filled with people who come to see the art, and to vote on what they like.  There is also a juried vote, from art professionals.  There are two rounds of voting, the first determines the top 10 in each category; popular vote and juried vote, then 8 days later the winners are announced.
This year there were 1537 art pieces in 174 venues.   The prizes amounted to $560,000.  The 2014 statistics haven't been announced yet, but for an idea of the scope of this, here are some statistics from last year.
Artists came from all 50 states, and 47 other countries.
There were 400,000 visitors, 30,432 were from out of state.
446,832 votes were cast online.
It was featured on CNN, and both Kathy Lee Gifford and Debora Norville visited it.
I've gone every year and always enjoy it.  Here's a few pictures of this years pieces.

 This is one of the top ten popular vote.  It was a selection of amazing wood carvings, all animals that live in or near the ocean.  There was no paint used, only the natural coloring of the wood.

 This was based on the verse "Now is the day of Salvation" 2 Cor 6:2.  As you can see, the letters are covered with clocks of all types.

This was a huge display of photos, following a group from the 101st airborne division as they went into and spent time in Afghanistan.  I found this quite touching and interesting, as my son Andy was also in the 101st and was in Afghanistan.

 Another of the top ten popular vote.  This artist carved and painted fish that were native to the Grand River on rocks.  They are setting on the bank of the Grand River.

 This is an amazing painting in the popular top ten.  The artist is not a professional, she actually was a volunteer who worked with this girl, who was sold into the sex trade at 14 years old.  Thankfully she was rescued, which is when the artist met her.

Another one from the popular top ten.  If you look closely at the eye, you can see a rhinoceros reflected in it.

 This was in the top ten of the jurried vote.  I really think the people have better choices.  This one makes no sense to me.

 These cute guys were drawn by a friends son. He did a "monster" a day.  I think they look like they should be in a Pixar film.

Another amazing painting.

 A living wall...  (also top ten popular)

 This is the other side of the living wall.

This turtle was carved by our UPS man at work!

 Another top ten popular vote.  This is a wooden pond in the rain.  It's 6 feet across.  You can see the little wooden raindrops falling.

 Here you can see a close up of the "pond" with the carved water as the drops hit it.  It was amazing to see in person.

 This is not pretty, but it sure looks real!  It's the foot from a sculpture of a man carrying his Dad.  He talked about the way his Dad cared for him, and now it's his turn to "carry" his Dad.

This is a close up of the big winner this year.  It was the only one that made both the popular and jurried vote, and was actually the winner of both.

It's a laser cut box, which is beautiful just to see, but it hung by itself in a big room with a light in it, casting amazing shadows on the walls, floor and ceiling.

These are just a few of the pieces my friend Becky and I saw as we walked.  We spent about 5 hours walking and could have spent a few more days! 
If you ever get the chance to come and see it yourself, I highly recommend it!