The winners of ArtPrize Eight have been announced including two $200,000 Grand Prize winners.

The Public Grand Prize goes to Wounded Warrior Dogs by James Mellick. The Juried Grand Prize goes to The Bureau of Personal Belonging by Stacey Kirby.

Wounded Warrior Dogs is a series of wood carvings "intended to be symbolic of the sacrifice and exhibit the same wounds as their human companions in battle." It is showing at Amway Grand Plaza Hotel.

The ArtPrize Eight jurors chose Stacey Kirby's The Bureau of Personal Belonging as the Grand Prize winner. The jurors were:

  • Michelle Grabner, artist and professor at School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
  • Paul Ha, Director at the MIT List Visual Arts Center.
  • Eric Shiner, Senior Vice President at Sotheby’s.

Paul Ha explained the jury’s decision: “Stacey’s piece was so thoughtful and so ambitious that it stood out. The production was so high. And you walked in and you weren’t quite sure if you were in an acting studio or part of a piece. Then after you engage with the artist and the actors, you realize they are letting you know there are some points out there that we should be aware of.”

The Bureau of Personal Belonging is an installation comprised of three ongoing works where visitors offer written and verbal responses as they interact with the artist and other performers within a recreation of a 60’s era bureaucratic office space. Visitors are taken through a process to determine if they are indeed valid members of our community. The work asks questions about the way identity is defined, particularly sexual and gender identity.

The category award winners received $12,500 each.

2-D Public: "Portraits of Light and Shadow" at DeVos Place Convention Center, by Joao Paulo Goncalves from Pompano Beach, FL.

Photo Credit: ArtPrize 2016
Photo Credit: ArtPrize 2016
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2-D Juried: "les bêtes" at the City of Grand Rapids Water Building, by Isaac Aoki from Grand Rapids, MI.

Photo Credit: ArtPrize 2016
Photo Credit: ArtPrize 2016
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3-D Public: "Wounded Warrior Dogs" at Amway Grand Plaza, by James Mellick from Milford Center, OH.

Photo Credit: ArtPrize 2016
Photo Credit: ArtPrize 2016
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3-D Juried: "Excavations" at SiTE:LAB/ Rumsey St. Project, by William Lamson from New York, NY.

Photo Credit: ArtPrize 2016
Photo Credit: ArtPrize 2016
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Time-Based Public: "Sweeper's Clock" at Grand Rapids Art Museum, by Maarten Baas from Den Bosch, North Brabant, Netherlands.

Photo Credit: ArtPrize 2016
Photo Credit: ArtPrize 2016
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Time-Based Juried: "Search Engine Vision 'ISIS'" at the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, by Eric Souther from Mishawaka, IN.

Photo Credit: ArtPrize 2016
Photo Credit: ArtPrize 2016
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Installation Public: "The Butterfly Effect" at DeVos Place Convention Center, by Pettit Smith from Durango, CO.

Photo Credit: ArtPrize 2016
Photo Credit: ArtPrize 2016
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Installation Juried: "This Space is Not Abandoned" at 912 Grandville Ave, by 912 CollABORATIVE from Grand Rapids, MI.

Photo Credit: ArtPrize 2016
Photo Credit: ArtPrize 2016
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Outstanding Venue Juried Award

This award is split between EVERYTHING IS TRANSFORMED, SiTE:LAB / Rumsey St. Project and This Space is Not Abandoned, 912 Grandville Avenue.

This is the first time that a juror has chosen to split the Outstanding Venue award between two ArtPrize Venues.

ArtPrize Eight venues will remain open through Sunday, October 9 at 6PM.

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