ArtPrize gets people talking and asking "what is art?". This year's winner of ArtPrize Pitch Night Indianapolis is sure to be a part of that conversation.

"Triumphal Entry" by Kipp Normand was selected the winner in Indianapolis by five judges last night. Normand wins a $5,000 cash grant as well as a guaranteed spot in a prime location for ArtPrize Eight in Grand Rapids.

“We loved the concept behind Kipp’s piece,” said juror Scott Stulen. “He’s drawing from his experience of growing up in Detroit, as well as the history of furniture in Grand Rapids, with a playful whimsy and a sense of spectacle that fits ArtPrize very well.”

Normand’s work was selected from among five artists and artist collectives that were invited to present at tonight’s Pitch Night event. Each artist was given five minutes and five slides to sell their site-specific installation idea to a panel of local arts professionals including: Mindy Taylor Ross, owner of Art Strategies and founding Director of Public Art Indianapolis; Tricia Paik, Curator of Contemporary Art at the Indianapolis Museum of Art; Sarah Urist Green, curator and host of PBS Digital Studios’ The Art Assignment and ArtPrize 2015 3-D Category Award Juror; Emily Kennerk, artist, winner of Pitch Night Indianapolis 2015; and Scott Stulen, Curator of Audience Experiences and Performance at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

“The knowledge and context of a piece enriches your understanding of what that piece is. In this particular case, the context is Grand Rapids,” noted Normand during his Pitch Night presentation. “I was born and raised in Detroit near Grand River Avenue. In my neighborhood was a terrifying 1920s amusement park. The music and people screaming on the decrepit roller coasters was the soundtrack to my childhood summers. I learned a lot from that park, and from the city of Detroit -- but most importantly I learned how to make a spectacle out of trash.”

The Indiana-based artist’s work celebrates found objects, bits and pieces that others have made and discarded -- that have acquired a patina of age, neglect or damage. Normand gathers the materials that he employs at yard sales and antique stores, and even dumpsters.

For ArtPrize Eight, Normand draws inspiration by everything from classic architecture and baroque painting, to early amusement parks and circus parades -- with a touch of Midwestern American history. He will construct a baroque entryway into the building at 50 Monroe Avenue. The entry will include heaps of furniture and discarded objects arranged along the length of the patio, adorned with flower garlands, and dramatically lit.

“Yes, what I am proposing is a giant pile of trash. But, it will be an exquisitely beautiful pile of trash -- culled from the yard sales and dumpsters of Indianapolis and offered as a gift to the patrons of ArtPrize,” said Normand.

ArtPrize Eight will take place in Grand Rapids from September 21 - October 9, 2016.

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