I’m In!
I wanted to, officially, share some exciting news: I am in the ArtPrize International Art Competition! If you have been following the progress of the Jeremiah Tree, then you have had a sneak peek of my piece for ArtPrize. I am so excited to be apart of this competition and experience. ArtPrize takes place in Grand Rapids, Michigan from September 19 through October 7. It sounds like it is going to be a pretty sweet event. There are about 1500 artists (give or take a few) that are competing and showing their work all over the city of Grand Rapids. Different venues are hosting artist’s work that will be exhibited for those two weeks. I believe there are about 195 different venues. The venues range from libraries, stores, galleries and banks, to restaurants, bars and parks.
Any artist could apply/submit their work into ArtPrize. I had heard about it almost a year ago and knew I wanted to definitely try to go for it this year. I had to create an artist profile on the ArtPrize website, complete with images of the work I planned to submit, send in my entry free, and then try to connect with a venue. As I said, anyone can enter and pay the fee, but not everyone will actually get to participate in the actual ArtPrize event. If a venue is not interested in your work and no connection is made, then you will not be in the exhibit and competition. So, you really are at the mercy of the venue’s interests. I submitted my Jeremiah Tree to about eleven different venues that appealed to me and had to anxiously await their responses. I was turned down by several, was given a “possibly” by one, and then and offer to host from another! It has been an exciting process so far.
I am happy to share that the Monroe Community Church will be hosting my Jeremiah Tree for the ArtPrize exhibit and competition this year! I am nearing completion on my installation piece and I think it is coming together nicely. I must have it completed and ready to install on the 15th of September. So, it looks like we will be doing some traveling this fall.
The awards are “people’s choice”, so voting actually takes place during those two weeks, to place the top ten artists. There is also a juried selection for “best in show” as well as best 2D, 3D, mixed media…etc. I am psyched to be apart of it this year. I will be posting more images as my tree nears completion and as the time draws nearer. I hope I win something. That would be so amazing!
Hand-Crafted Pottery by Arryn 