Today, ArtPrize announced this fall's competition will host a total of 1,554 artists representing 44 countries and 40 U.S. states with 1,453 entries.

Seed grant winners and a new crowdsourcing grant opportunity were also announced.

In the U.S., Midwest states beyond Michigan with the most participating artists include Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin and Minnesota while leading states outside the Midwest include New York, California, Texas, Florida and Colorado.

The entries will be displayed at 171 venues across Grand Rapids during ArtPrize Eight.

Over 2,000 entries were submitted, but not all found a venue during the connection period.

Artist Seed Grant Winners

Artist Seed Grant winners were also announced today. The 25 winners each receive a $2,000 grant. Members of the ArtPrize Art Advisory Council reviewed the applications, and looked for entries from artists who demonstrated both financial need and artistic merit.

• Faig Ahmed, Coherency
• Collin Bradford, End Light
• Mandy Cano Villalobos, Dislocated Æffects
• Ana Belen Cantoni, Of Plank and Nail
• Liz Collins, KNITTING NATION Phase 16: Grand Finale
• Susana Cook, Ghost Rain
• Timothy Gonchoroff, Catalog
• Scott Hocking, The Well
• Jiyon Hong, Corrected Memory of a City_Grand Rapids
• Kirsi Ihalainen, Finnish Forest Frequencies - sound installation
• Mathias Kessler, California Dreaming
• Alois Kronschlaeger, Elevated Pathways (working title)
• William Lamson, Untitled (excavations)
• Catie Newell, 345 Franklin
• Lora Robertson, Gran Jericho
• Corey Ruffin, Super Happy Funtime
• Stephanie Sandberg, Stories in Blue: A Pilgrimage to Heal Human Trafficking
• Julie Schenkelberg, TransMigration
• Jeff Schmuki & Wendy Deschene, PlantBot
• Tracey Snelling, One Thousand Shacks
• Eric Souther, Search Engine Vision "ISIS"
• Matthew Steinke, The Magnetosphere
• Kimberly Sutton, tumultum populi
• Indiana University Sculpture MFAs, 339 Franklin St SW
• Zimoun, 250 prepared ac-motors, 325kg roof laths, 1.0km rope

CrowdRise Matching Grant Challenge

ArtPrize also announced a new grant program today. ArtPrize and Michigan Lottery will offer ten current ArtPrize artists $1,000 with the CrowdRise Matching Grant Challenge.

The program launched at noon today and will offer ten $1,000 matching grants to the first ten artists to reach a goal of $1,000 from at least ten unique donors in their own CrowdRise.com crowdsourcing campaigns. To qualify, artists must have successfully made a connection with an ArtPrize venue.

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