ArtPrize Sparks Creativity in Metal Sculptors Downtown Grand Rapids, Mich., was transformed for 19 days in Fall 2015 for ArtPrize Seven, an international art competition in which public voting plays a large role in the distribution of large cash prizes. Bill Secunda’s Unbridled stood in the fountain outside the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum. It was voted into the top 25 of the 3D category. If you happened to be in Grand Rapids, Mich., between September 23 and October 11, 2015, it is likely you passed sculptures in public squares, noticed nature photography in the windows of banks, and were beckoned inside local institutions that normally you wouldn’t have a reason or possibly an interest in visiting. Even if you didn’t know it, you were participating in ArtPrize Seven, an unorthodox international art competition founded in 2009. During the 19 days of the 2015 competition, more than 1500 works of art were shown at 162 venues across three square miles of the city center. In total, $500,000 in prizes were given out to artists, half of which was awarded by a jury of art experts, and half of which was decided by public vote. The top prize for both the juried and public vote winners is $200,000. More than 35,000 voters registered with ArtPrize, and they placed more than 422,000 votes from their phones. We caught up with seven ArtPrize artists who used welding in their competition entry and spoke with them about why they chose welding, and how they started making welded art. If you’ve been tinkering with scrap metal in the shop, listen up! ArtPrize could have a place for you in 2016. BY ANNIK BABINSKI AND MARY RUTH JOHNSEN This 19-day public art fair in Michigan proves a powerful venue for welded art 36 WELDING JOURNAL / MARCH 2016
Welding Journal | March 2016
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