2 appeal to ArtPrize public, critics

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Monday evening, 24 Hour News 8 broadcast the announcement of the ArtPrize Short List live.

The Short List includes the Top 25 in the public vote as of 6 p.m. Monday and the finalists for juried awards in five categories: 2D Art, 3D Art, Time/performance, Urban Space and Outstanding Venue.

Photos: ArtPrize 2012 Short List

But the announcement brought back up the conflict that has followed ArtPrize since year one: The public versus the critics.

What impresses families and ArtPrize voters doesn't always agree with art experts.

But among the more than 1,500 entries, two did.

Martijn van Wagtendonk's "Song of Lift" takes up most of the UICA's fourth floor. It was in the Top 25 in the public vote as of Monday afternoon and it was nominated for the 3D Art juried award.

It took ArtPrize-goer Kristin Hunter and her children to a different world.

"You see them? Isn't that neat?" Kristin Hunter said. "Isn't that beautiful?"

They understood why it's a judge's finalist.

"It seems to have a lot of merit from an artistic standpoint and a craftsmanship standpoint," said Brittany Hunter. "And also it's very easily accessible for little people, too."

In the Grand River, Richard Morse's "Stick-to-it-ive-ness" is liked by young and old. That piece also made the Top 25 in the public vote Monday evening and is a finalist for the Best Use of Urban Space juried award.

"For the public to see my work in a mass display is really touching," Morse said. "I didn't expect anything like that."

The public appreciation and art expert validation left Morse almost speechless.

"It's nice," he said.

==Watch above: Richard Morse on getting two big ArtPrize nods in one night.==

For four years there's been a bit of a clash, though some call it conversation: A disagreement over what art is and who should win.

But this year, it seems, there are two works that -- most would agree -- are pretty "neat."

Photos: ArtPrize 2012 at 'Outstanding Venues'