HalfTime: ArtPrize announces 100 top vote-getters at midpoint of competition

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — ArtPrize celebrated the midpoint of the massive art competition with a party Friday night.

The highlight of the HalfTime Show was the announcement of 100 of the top vote-getters so far — though ArtPrizegoers can continue to vote for any piece they wish through the end of the competition.

“We want all of our artists to feel valued and engaged throughout the event,” ArtPrize Executive Director Catlin Whitington said in a statement. “And we want to encourage visitors to keep exploring all of the art on display throughout the city, voting for their favorites through the second week of the competition.”

Organizers on Friday announced approximately 20 of the top pieces from each of ArtPrize’s five districts: Westside, Eastside, Northside, Southside and Center City.

WESTSIDE

• John Katerberg: “Dynamic Sunset”
• Anni Crouter: “E PLURIBUS UNUM”
• Kathryn Johnson: MI Lakeshore Victorian
• Rick Gann: Moon landing
• Jillian Bartsch: “Empowered Women”
• Zak Doezema-Nuñez: Ash desk with drawers
• Tails Jekel: “1-100”
• Thom Cicchelli: Avian Shores
• Suzanne Wilson: Hombre Quilt
• Joy Bradley: Symbiosis
• The Smoke Artist: “I Was Your Child”
• Erica Kuhl: “Way of the Eye Dancing”
• Ann Dyer: “End of the Storm”
• Isabel Maternowski: “Home”
• Kelli Bishop: Sisters on the Grand
• Majaha Arts: Rose Patch
• Bruce Mackley: Turbulence
• Ken Rogers: “Blue & Red”
• Edward Skellie: “Opus”
• Tanner Bosma: “Be There In Five”
• The Obelisk: “Egyptian Dream”

EASTSIDE

• Nidal Kanaan: “Suds”
• Aminah “Ace” Coppage: “Pisces SuperMoon”
• Colin Gaddis: “Gadatonic”
• John Hamilton: Syntaxx an AI Robotikz Performer
• Erik White: “Sun God”
• Savannah Bachert: “Until death”
• Josh Leduc: “Tree of Emotions”
• Lisa Balderrama: “Glistening Quiet”
• Jasmine Hedstrom: Embodied Origins
• Jane Elizabeth Roberts-Hoffmeyer: “Solitude”
• Cameron Klingenberg: “Michigan Sunset”
• Richard Samuel: “Goddess of Death”
• Devin DuMond: “A Postcard of Eastown”
• Debbie Shaffer: “Lakeshore Gems”
• Alix: “Aphantasia”
• Bradley Conway: “Big Ass Sunflower”
• Ezra Chan: “Highrise”
• Andrew Peterson: “Aligning with the trials of the anti-Midas”
• Marshall Ranke: “Adam and Eve”
• C Marie: “The Chalice”

NORTHSIDE

• Danielle Mims: Ephemerality
• Shirin Abedinirad: Reflective Journey
• Marie Wohadlo: First the colors.
• Jane Otto: “Lamentation”
• Tammy Campbell: “Shine”
• Shane Morris: Prism Series
• Victoria Hankins: “Forest Floor – Everything As It Was”
• Lana Lechkina: “Night Watcher”
• Craig Paul Nowak: Community
• Rashawn Hart-Campbell: “Broken Lines”
• Heather Megan Briggs and Kim Long: Flourishing Heirlooms
• Nora Faber Overvoorde: “In Life and In Death”
• CHALK RIVER LABS: Stargate
• Mechele Shoneman: “Echoes of Change”
• Mariano Catague: “Poll”
• Olaniyi Akindiya: INHALE & EXHALE
• Ricardo Tavarez: “Drag Into Light: Portrait Study of Drag Queen Luz De La Rica”
• Mark Esse: Issue
• Kristy Kurjan: “New Heights”
• Timothy Gonchoroff: Garment/View

SOUTHSIDE

• C Glass Dance Company: Breaking Rank
• Collaborative Artists, curated by Scoob The Artist: Trauma Project
• Michelle Lucas: “The Turtle Clan”
• Tess Mashour: Just Words
• Oalliyah Hornes: Burning Bush
• Kevin Vanek: One Last Sip
• David Mekibel: “Eve”
• Ivan Iler: Pod of Whales
• Jackie Blue Weddell: “Blank Canvas”
• Angelica Jubran-Bishara: “Enshrouding”
• Renee Kuharchuk: “Picking”
• Steve Elliott: “Hobson”
• Ian and Neil Deatrick: Free as the wind
• Andrés Bustamante: Palabras De Esperanza. Words of Hope
• Betsy Thompson: “Fight or Flight”
• Emma Anderson: Ethereal Lantern Tree
• G Signore: “Fireflies in the summer night”
• J Maloof: “It’s City”
• Sydney Bickel: horsegirl
• James VanFarowe: “Intersection”
• Mariekie Parzuchowski: “Generational Acceptance”

CENTER CITY

• Gina Wolfrum: “Northern Brilliance”
• Bruce Gorsline: Tut’s Tomb
• Lala Marookian: The Butterfly Effect Project
• Jessica Bohus: Armor of Flowers
• Robert VanderZee: “The Prophets”
• Stephanie Glen Ducasse: “One Line Drawing of a Princess”
• Dorelle Brock: “Nostalgia in the Present”
• Kym Nicolas: Covid Memorial: Love and Loss in the Time of Corona 2020-2023
• Endlesswill: My Poem Your Topic
• Shelley Lynn van Gilse: “Ruling the North”
• Tom Gifford: Michigan Oasis
• H Highwater: Old Stories
• Robert Shangle: Hangin’ by a Thread
• Bruce Holwerda: Too Much Information
• Marlin Baker: Born to be Wild
• Randy Dusdal: Otto’s Good Stuff “Batteries not Included”
• Brett Farmer: “Reflecting in Michigan”
• Franklin Delgado: “The Mother”
• Sara Black: “Euphoric Blooms”
• JP Goncalves: Sarah – City of Peace

Friday’s party also included entertainment from Chicago-based The Pack Drumline.

Wendy Robbert is a first-time artist this year in ArtPrize. Her piece Baby Africa is on display at Le Macaron.

She told News 8 she is just excited to be part of the competition.

“It’s actually very humbling. This is the first time I’ve ever done it,” Robbert said. “Just to see the amount of people come out to see the art.”

Cathy Anderson visited Grand Rapids to see entries by her daughter-in-law and granddaughter. She says she has been coming for years, but this year is a little extra special because of her family connection.

“My husband and I came in on Wednesday to kind of check it out and learn the streets again and learn where we are and come to visit my daughter-in-law, who has the lantern tree here,” Anderson said. “My granddaughter has a display at DeVos. We’re so excited for the both of them.”

ArtPrize 2024 includes around 900 pieces at more than 160 venues. Voting ends at 10 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 26. The winners will be announced the following evening during a block party outside Kendall College of Art and Design.

In all, $390,000 in prizes will be handed out. The public vote grand prize winner will take home $125,000. Winners of six public vote and six juried category winners will get $10,000 each, plus there’s a $10,000 award for the venue jurors select as outstanding. There are five juried visibility awards each carrying a $15,000 prize and a juried grand prize of $50,000. The winner of the Artist to Artist award also wins $10,000.