GRAND RAPIDS, MI.- ArtPrize, the radically open, international art competition and social experiment, announced plans for the ArtPrize Juried Grand Prize, a new, $100,000 award that will debut during the fourth year of the annual ArtPrize event. Rick DeVos, founder and chairman of ArtPrize, made the announcement before an audience of sponsors and partners.

With its public vote and juried awards, ArtPrize explores the tension between the professional and populist in an epic conversation. The fourth edition of the popular art event will open on Sept. 19 and run through Oct. 7, 2012. Total awards in 2012 will swell to $550,000, making it the largest cash purse for art in the world.

In addition to the Juried Grand Prize, ArtPrize will also increase its other juried awards to $20,000 each. The organization selected five categories to recognize:
*Two-Dimensional
*Three-Dimensional
*Time and Performance
*Urban Space
*Venue

The increased commitment to juried awards will change the dynamic of the event and sets up a purposeful dialog between the opinions of arts professionals and the public, focusing on the artists’ work. Jurors for all of the professional awards will be announced in the spring, prior to artist registration.

“For the past three years, ArtPrize has set itself apart by empowering the public and giving them a critical voice, but the success of the event is based on the exchange of artists’ ideas,” said DeVos. “We want ArtPrize to be accessible for everyone, so we hope the new awards will help artists understand our goals and encourage them bring new ideas to the event.”

The changes in Juried Prizes will result in a revision of the ArtPrize Public Vote Awards.

The prize total for the public awards in 2012 will be $350,000, vastly outweighing the juried awards at $200,000.

“The engagement of the community continues to be at the forefront of ArtPrize’s success,” added Catherine Creamer, executive director of ArtPrize. “More than 400,000 people participated in ArtPrize in 2011, not because we told them art mattered, but because we create a system where THEY matter to art.”

ArtPrize 2011 had more than 38,000 registered voters who submitted 383,000 total votes. With the increase of smartphones, mobile voting via the ArtPrize iPhone and new Android apps increased 62 percent.

ArtPrize 2011 began Sept. 21 with 1,582 artists from 39 countries and 43 U.S. states installing their work at 164 venues in a three-square-mile district in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Artist and venue registration for ArtPrize 2012 will be announced after the beginning of the year.