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ArtPrize competition announces info on Michigan event

November 30, 2018 GMT

FILE - In this Oct. 5, 2018, file photo, a woman walks by "THE STRING PROJECT" by Chelsea Nix and Mariano Cortez during ArtPrize at the DeVos Place Convention Center in Grand Rapids, Mich. The international ArtPrize competition has announced the schedule and advisory committee for a Michigan art event. Project 1 will be held from Sept. 7 to Oct. 27 next year in Grand Rapids. The event is the first in a series of citywide public art commissions that will be held in the years between biennial ArtPrize competitions. (Neil Blake/The Grand Rapids Press via AP, File)

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — The international ArtPrize competition has announced the schedule and advisory committee for the first in a new series of Michigan art events.

Project 1 will be held from Sept. 7 to Oct. 27 in Grand Rapids.

ArtPrize announced in June that the annual competition would move to a biennial schedule after this year’s event . Project 1 is the first in a series of citywide public art commissions that will be held in the years between ArtPrize competitions.

“Alternating that ArtPrize competition with these commissioned projects, I think, is going to be a way of really infusing new energy and new vision, and sort of challenging the creative thinking of the whole community,” said Kevin Buist, ArtPrize’s artistic director.

Project 1′s advisory committee includes museum representatives and independent curators who will work with Buist to invite three to five artists from around the world to create installations for the event.

Buist said ArtPrize and Project 1 will be two very different experiences, which is part of why Project 1′s seven-week run lasts much longer than the three-week ArtPrize event.

ArtPrize has a “festival-like” atmosphere, where a public vote selects a grand prize winner from the thousands of entries, which range from small paintings to large sculptures.

But Project 1 will be more like a traditional art exhibit, with expansive outdoor exhibits that are expected to extend into various parts of the city, Buist said.

“Artists that are putting that much work and that much resources and design into a project, it makes a lot more sense to keep it up for longer than 2 1/2 weeks,” he said.

Officials will announce the project’s theme early next year.

Project 1 will also feature musical performances, volunteer opportunities and education programs.