GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — An Indianapolis woman on Friday won $300,000 in the annual ArtPrize competition in Michigan for a sculpture called Intersections.
Anila Quayyum Agha, a native of Pakistan, won the public vote prize of $200,000 for the work, which is a cube that’s illuminated from the inside. She also split a $200,000 jury prize with Sonya Clark of Richmond, Virginia. Clark’s two-dimensional entry is called “The Hair Craft Project” and explores African-American hairstyling.
The 19-day ArtPrize is open to any artist. The 1,536 entries have come from artists in 42 states and territories and 51 countries.
The public votes using mobile devices and the Internet to distribute $260,000, while an additional $300,000 in juried awards is decided by a group of international art experts. This was the first time in the contest’s six-year history that a winner took home both the jury prize and the public vote prize.
“The push and pull between the popular and expert approaches to assessing art is what makes the parallel award structure so intriguing,” Christian Gaines, ArtPrize executive director, said in a news release announcing the winners. “Over the last couple of weeks we’ve seen this conversation grow and change, showing us that it is possible to find a consensus, to find that sweet spot where popular and expert opinions coincide.”
The works will remain on display at venues across Grand Rapids through Sunday.
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Online:
http://www.artprize.org
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