After registering more than 37,000 people who cast more than 334,000 votes in just its first year of existence, ArtPrize is back for its second year and looks to grow with the experience.

The 2010 edition of ArtPrize will see almost 500 more artists, up to 1,713 from last year’s 1,262, and 30 new venues to total 192 compared to last year’s 159. ArtPrize officials expect voter numbers to also increase at a high rate.

“We are trying to expand the event in any and every way that we possibly can,” said Tyler Lecceadone, senior account executive for Seyferth Public Relations. “We’ve upped the amount of venues holding pieces, we’ve upped the amount of entrants into the event and we will hopefully find that registered voters and the votes they have cast will also follow suit.”

Spanning the globe, artists will come from around the world to the greater Grand Rapids area from countries such as Italy, Peru and Syria. All of these artists will look to receive one of the event’s awards, given to the top 10 pieces based on the number of votes cast, with the first place winner receiving $250,000.

“Last year proved to be such a great success for us and the artists involved that we can’t help but think that this may be an exponentially greater year for everyone involved,” said Kevin Buist, artist consultant for ArtPrize. “With artists from 21 different countries coming to the area to show their art, it’s going to be a really interesting year.”

Michael Zalewski, who works with Syferth Public Relations, said he could have never foreseen how the ArtPrize competition would grow.

“When ArtPrize started, there is no way we could have truly expected the reception to be like this,” he said. “To have a truly expansive art competition decided completely by the public, not some jury of critics, is perfect for this area and for the art world as a whole. The community itself continues to grow, making the art surrounding it grow exponentially.”

ArtPrize is an open-to-the-public art competition that transforms property in the downtown Grand Rapids area, ranging from a restaurant to a body of water, into an open air art institute.

Voters choose the respective piece they want to vote for, and the 10 highest vote-grossing pieces receive respective prizes.

On Wednesday, voters can begin to vote online through the ArtPrize iPhone application, text message or at the competition’s website. Registration continues from now until Oct. 6 for this year’s event.

“ArtPrize was full of good art, bad art, some just plain entertaining,” said GVSU student Charles Jurries. “More than that, it felt like GR bonded over all of it. It was a wonderful experience that will only grow in quality and reputation as the years go. I can’t wait for this year’s event.”

ArtPrize runs until Oct. 10 throughout the downtown Grand Rapids area. For more information about how to get involved or to register to vote, visit the competition’s website at www.artprize.org.

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