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THINGS TO DO

Grand Rapids is a destination like no other: art, culture, dining, and nightlife. From a hip and friendly downtown to an endless array of outdoor activities, Grand Rapids will surprise, excite and delight you!
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Grand Rapids Visitor Guide

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ArtPrize Articles

ArtPrize has been the talk of the art world and of course Grand Rapids. Take a look at these articles featuring Grand Rapids and ArtPrize! Don't forget to mark your calendar for ArtPrize 2011 - September  21 - October 9!

ArtPrize

10/13/2010 Eyes on the Prize 2010: Reflecting Post-Prize
After the top three winners of ArtPrize 2010 were announced, a quote from former President Bill Clinton came to mind: “The people have spoken, but it’s going to take a little while to determine exactly what they said.”...more
9/8/2010 Grand Rapids, Mich., Awaits ArtPrize Crowds
ArtPrize, the Grand Rapids art show and competition that surprised locals by drawing tens of thousands of visitors when it debuted in 2009, is back for a second year....more
8/3/2010 ArtPrize unveils 2010 poster, it goes on sale this week
ArtPrize unveils their 2010 ArtPrize poster, which will be going on sale this week! You can purchase these posters for $12 a piece at all seven exhibition centers....more
7/30/2010 ArtPrize winner Ran Ornter's poster for Celebration on the Grand has familiar look
Ortner, the first prize winner of ArtPrize 2009, unveiled the poster he created to promote this fall's Celebration on the Grand....more
7/29/2010 Analysis estimates economic impact of inaugural ArtPrize in Grand Rapids
The inaugural ArtPrize drew as many as 200,000 visitors to Grand Rapids last September, generating an estimated economic impact of $5 million to $7.6 million across Kent County, according to a new analysis by Grand Valley State University economics students....more
7/6/2010 Official ArtPrize 2010 numbers are in
ArtPrize has released its final, audited count for the 2010 exhibition....more
1/29/2010 ArtPrize Returns for 2010
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!...more
10/25/2009 Grand Rapids stunned by success of ArtPrize festival
Grand Rapids gets national exposure with the ArtPrize festival. Our CVB President, Doug Small comments on the exposure brought to Grand Rapids....more
10/8/2009 Eyes on the ArtPrize
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....more
9/28/2009 Grand Rapids Masters the Art of Urban Engagement
See how Grand Rapids is being viewed by one important Los Angeles social media outlet, during ArtPrize....more
9/23/2009 Will ArtPrize reinvent Grand Rapids?
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......more
9/22/2009 Red Ball Project Rolls into Grand Rapids...
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....more
9/22/2009 Grand Rapids Event Awarding World's Largest ArtPrize
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....more
9/21/2009 PACHYDERMS PAINT THE RAPID RED (and blue and yellow…)
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....more
9/21/2009 Looking for art in all the right places
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....more
9/21/2009 ArtPrize maps: Complete guide to contest venues
A complete guide to the ArtPrize venues was re-issued in the Grand Rapids Press is is posted on-line to download....more
9/17/2009 The promise of ArtPrize: Region could benefit long after contest ends
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....more
9/17/2009 Wristband Deals for ArtPrize with Upgrade
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....more
9/14/2009 First installation of art on display at DeVos Place for ArtPrize competition
Brenda Clark’s painting “DH Day’s Awe” is the first installation of artwork at DeVos Place for ArtPrize. The installation was done Thursday, September 10, 2009....more
9/8/2009 CVB hopes ArtPrize makes 'needle move'
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....more
8/24/2009 Sculpture city in 'misunderestimated' Michigan
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....more
8/20/2009 A Vehicle for Expression
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....more
8/20/2009 Rob Bliss announces ArtPrize project: release of 100,000 paper airplanes from downtown Grand Rapids rooftops
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....more
8/10/2009 Grand Rapids: A relaxed urban getaway
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....more
7/20/2009 ArtPrize signs up 200th artist, latest additions include Ferrofluid Magnetoscope and 30-foot video projection
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....more
7/1/2009 Grand Rapids named a city "Under the Radar"
"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....more
4/23/2009 Rick DeVos unveiling $500,00 ArtPrize contest to turn Grand Rapids into a gallery
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....more
5/19/2008 A Lasting Impression
Travel writer Barbara Cohen explores "Degas in Bronze: The Complete Sculptures", an exhibition at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, May 30 - August 31....more
4/6/2008 Make an Artful Getaway to Michigan's second city
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....more