If last week's ArtPrize Game release via Rapid Growth was about playful banter around the topic of art, then this next week is a serious full court press for the ten who will advance to the October 7 awards ceremony where the top vote-getter will receive $250,000.
As one, like many, who has experienced the crowds of ArtPrize, I made a conscious effort to visit many big, as well as the smaller, venues this past week.
And while I waded through a lot of work that had me scratching my head as to what was the artist thinking and how could they have garnered such a high ranking against much stronger works that had not even cracked the Top 100 threshold, I was reminded that art is subjective.
Or as 2009 ArtPrize winner Ran Ortner illustrated in the USA Today article this week, "If you have children voting on a culinary competition, they are going to vote for the ice cream and candy."
Artprize allows people of various backgrounds to approach art, and not everyone is on the same path or experience level with creative works as another.
Yes, this does explain a part of the issue of why some works are overlooked as other ones advance, but ultimately I've come up with a theory based now on two years of observations that the old phrase, "Location, Location, Location," is probably one of the biggest factors in determining one's rank.
It wasn't just me that was chanting this mantra as I raced around town trying to take in as much art as possible in this short window of voting for round one.
My email inbox was full of venues asking me to post, tweet or make a comment about the empty venues hosting not only wonderful works of art that would not be seen by most, but also of visiting artists who sat in these silent spaces hoping to engage in dialogue with the masses who descended upon, but rarely ventured beyond the center city.
Now before you get to thinking this is where I begin to slap around the creators of ArtPrize, let me just say it does not fall on them.
That would be an easy target that I think is unwarranted in the pursuit of a thoughtful solution.
In fact, ArtPrize, billed as a social experiment, has done a fine job of addressing this very issue in year two and has responded with a greater emphasis on serving the outlying areas.
Was it perfect? No, but ArtPrize has vastly improved.
The key to evolving to ArtPrize 3.0 is learning to observe from this year and listen to the feedback of this "social experiment" coming up from the street. No doubt the theme going forward as the event continues to grow is that "the location is what matters" if getting traffic and votes is your goal as a venue or an artist.
The embrace of this dynamic is nothing new in commerce or in art for centuries in both of their individual history and sometimes together.
The church used to commission artists to create works that were used to attract people to their spaces in an attempt to fill the pews. In recent history, artists are paid for their works to be placed in corporations who proudly enshrine them within their spaces to enhance their surroundings.
So what is the solution?
I think outlying venues need to take a cue from places like the mega-stops in downtown. And rather than just place a lot of "filler art" within the space, truly focus on curating a space with the very best works of ArtPrize for year three.
It takes a healthy mix of creativity and business savvy to make this work, so now is the time to start.
One suggestion is to begin by not only talking with your area businesses about harnessing the power of the neighborhood to attract, but also hiring (i.e. as in paying) a reputable curator to help structure your venue.
Remember: If your venue only has five artists that are mostly unknown to this region and is across town, then it is going to be difficult to get people to venture out when in the center city is an art megaplex.
While I was at UICA in the early aughts, we had a marketing report produced that indicated that people are not willing to take a 30-minute ride to have a five-minute experience. The number of people who have chosen to drive to the city and then spend hours wandering proves this point.
If we are able to learn a bit each year from ArtPrize as a community, then we will become smarter with each offering not only in how we operate as a business, but when we harness the creative power of artists who are creating challenging works. Only then will we begin to see the transformation of ArtPrize within our region.
The seeds have been planted, but it will take some tending to make this event grow into what many of us feel could be a dynamic event that is truly world class. The key is to put the easy path of negativity aside and move forward towards a workable solution.
The Future Needs All of Us (to map it.)
Tommy Allen, Lifestyle Editor
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