Delta Air Lines, Heineken, Founders Brewing Company, Kendall College of Art & Design Among New Sponsors Of 2013 ArtPrize Event

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Sept. 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- ArtPrize, the world's largest art competition, today announced the sponsors for its 2013 event. More than 145 sponsors have come together to participate in the annual ArtPrize event. Joining for the first time are Premier Leadership sponsors, Founders Brewing Company and Kendall College of Art & Design of Ferris State University, and Premier Benefactor sponsors, Delta Air Lines, Heineken, St. Julian Winery and Worksighted.

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The fifth annual ArtPrize event is presented by the Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation and will take place Sept. 18 – Oct. 6, 2013. Artists will install 1,524 works of contemporary art at 168 venues and compete for part of $560,000 in awards. Nearly 500,000 people are expected to attend, vote, discuss and participate in ArtPrize.

Premier Leadership sponsors include Amway, The Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation, Meijer, the Rapid and PNC Bank.

Leadership sponsors include Consumers Energy, the Daniel and Pamella DeVos Foundation, the Douglas and Maria DeVos Foundation, the Frey Foundation, Haworth, The Iserv Company, Steelcase Inc., Subaru, Trivalent Group | HP, the VanderWeide Family Foundation and Wolverine Worldwide.

Other Premier Benefactor sponsors include Adtegrity, Deloitte, Downtown Grand Rapids Inc., Edward Jones, The Gilmore Collection, City of Grand Rapids Parking Services, Grand Valley State University, Herman Miller, ITC, Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, Mighty in the Midwest, the National Endowment for the Arts, On Stage Services/Captus Creative, the Edgar & Elsa Prince Foundation, Scott Christopher Homes, Spectrum Health, Square One Design, Terryberry and WGVU Public Media.

The central component to ArtPrize participation by visitors is the Public Vote. Held in two rounds of voting during the 19-day event, anyone who comes to Grand Rapids decides who should win the $200,000 top prize. Voting is the catalyst for conversation and for the third year, Meijer will help lead the public discussion as the sponsor of the public vote.

Happening concurrently with the public vote are six professional awards, including the Juried Grand Prize, sponsored by Kendall College of Art & Design of Ferris State University. Kendall's five-year commitment also includes being an ArtPrize Exhibition Center.

The other five awards include Two-Dimensional work, sponsored by ITC; Three-Dimensional work, sponsored by Haworth; Time-Based work, sponsored by Delta Air Lines; Use of Urban Space, sponsored by Spectrum Health; and Outstanding Venue, sponsored by Grand Valley State University.

For the fourth consecutive year, PNC Bank will lead ArtPrize's education programming, immersing more than 10,000 children and young adults into contemporary art and helping them understand how art crosses disciplines and translates into their lives.

Earlier in 2013, Founders Brewing Company announced it would make a five-year commitment to be the official brewery of ArtPrize. The company created Inspired Artist Black IPA, a custom beer for the 2013 event, and will sponsor a one-day beer garden to serve as a central gathering point in downtown Grand Rapids.

Attendees will get around ArtPrize with the help of a new sponsorship from The Rapid, the regional transit authority, Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. and the DASH (Downtown Area Shuttle), a service of the City of Grand Rapids Parking Services. The DASH will provide free transportation in the ArtPrize district, while The Rapid will help get people beyond downtown. Riders can purchase an ArtPrize wristband for unlimited rides on The Rapid during the 19-day event. Wristbands are two for $5.00 at the HUB, any Exhibition Center or Showcase Venue, and the nine area Meijer locations.

Mid-way through ArtPrize, the event changes from a voting free-for-all, to a single vote for one of ten finalists. Sponsoring the 2013 Top Ten Announcement in Rosa Parks Circle is Consumers Energy.

Entering its second year as automobile provider, Subaru of America will showcase several of its most popular products, including the Subaru BRZ and Forester, and the ArtPrize team will have a fleet of Outbacks as well as a Tribeca, provided by Fox Motors, to serve as transport vehicles that will keep the event moving.

ArtPrize 2013 Exhibition Centers include the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, presented by Amway; Grand Rapids Art Museum, presented by Wolverine World Wide and Square One Design; the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts (UICA), presented by Steelcase Inc.; and Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, presented by the Daniel and Pamella DeVos Family Foundation.

ArtPrize 2013 Showcase venues include the Grand Rapids Public Museum, presented by Edward Jones; St. Cecilia Music Center, presented by The Edgar and Elsa Prince Foundation; Women's City Club, presented by the VanderWeide Family Foundation; and Cathedral Square, presented by Mike and Sue Jandernoa, Dan and Sherry Bowen and John and Mary Hendrickson.

Sponsored city locations include the Blue Bridge, underwritten by Downtown Grand Rapids, Inc.; Louis Campau Promenade, presented by Kent Companies and Ah-Nab-Awen Park and VandenBerg (Calder) Plaza, both presented by Rockford Construction.

Technology will connect ArtPrize participants including the ArtPrize mobile app, sponsored by Haworth, the ArtPrize Big Screen, presented by The Iserv Company. Iserv will also set up five permanent, free, wi-fi locations around the city, including the ArtPrize HUB, Blue Bridge, Rosa Parks Circle, the Grand Rapids Public Museum and the Grand Rapids Art Museum.

About ArtPrize
ArtPrize, a 501c3 non-profit corporation, is an international art competition, open to any artist and decided by public vote. It invites artists to try out new ideas on a large and diverse population of people. It seeks to broaden the critical dialogue around contemporary art by awarding the world's largest art prize, at $560,000. Registered artists and venues connect online at artprize.org and agree to present the artwork for public display during the 19-day event. The public votes using mobile devices and the web to distribute $360,000, while an additional $200,000 in juried awards are decided by a group of international art experts. ArtPrize 2013 will include 1,524 entries representing 47 countries and 45 U.S. states and territories, and is expected to attract more than 400,000 active participants. Since its inception, individuals of all backgrounds have cast more than 1.7 million votes for public art.

SOURCE ArtPrize