Fmr Top 10 ineligible for ArtPrize 2012

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - There will be some familiar faces missing from ArtPrize 2012.

The world's largest art competition is Sept. 19 through Oct. 7 in downtown Grand Rapids. More than 1,500 artists have entered to display their entries at 162 venues across 3 square miles. Total prize money is $560,000, with $360,000 determined solely by public vote. Other prizes will be juried awards. The Top 10 winners will receive cash prizes, with the first-place winner taking home $200,000.

ArtPrize officials passed a new rule in 2011 stating Top 10 artists cannot return to the competition the following year, meaning all of the 2011 Top 10 will be sidelined until 2013.

Bill Secunda, an artist from Pennsylvania who constructed a giant praying mantis sculpture, "Mantis Dreaming," was in the Top 10 in 2011.

He said he wants to compete this year because it's a great business and networking opportunity.

"I'm just sorry I can't be there to compete," Secunda said. "I'll probably come up after the Top 10 announcement because I don't want to stay away."

Chris LaPorte will be back for this year's competition. His piece, a monumental work on paper called "Cavalry: American Officers, 1921," took home the grand prize in 2010.

LaPorte did not place in the Top 10 in 2011, making him eligible for this year's competition.

"It would seem as though that rule's in place to keep things fresh and new so we don't have the same 10 artists every single year," LaPorte said.

LaPorte will have another large-scale work on paper at the Grand Rapids Art Museum, inspired by a photograph of his grandfather's marching band.