GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A Grand Rapids artist drawing attention to the hunger epidemic has landed in the Final 20 for ArtPrize Nine.

Kyd Kane was born and raised in Grand Rapids, but this is her first time competing in ArtPrize.

Her time-based piece, titled “broke(n)hunger,” is among the Final 20 entries to earn the most public votes.

“There is over 42 million Americans in this country that are living in homes that are food insecure. Every single county in the country, no matter how rich, now matter how poor, they have people that are living in the situations that I talk about in the piece, ‘broke(n)hunger,'” she explained.

While hundreds of people filled downtown Grand Rapids Sunday to hear who made the cut for public votes, Kane watched from home.

>>PDF MAPS: ArtPrize Juried Awards Shortlist entries | ArtPrize Final 20

“I had such an emotional response at the juror pick, and I wanted to be home and calm just in case I didn’t make the top because I really set intentions to win and to be, to be in the top, so I didn’t want to cry in front of crowds if I did not make, did not make the top,” she explained.

Kane says the problem of hunger is something everyone can relate to, no matter where they live.

“We all know what it’s like to be hungry, we all know what it’s like to feel hunger pains… that’s a human condition,” she told 24 Hour News 8 Monday. “So I think I will be tugging on some heartstrings and just getting people to challenge themselves to think like, ‘Even if this isn’t affecting me, what can I do to change the circumstances of people around me?’”

Kane’s poetic performances happen at the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts almost every hour each day of ArtPrize.

In the video above, hear one of the top crowd-pleasing lines from the piece.

—-Online: Complete ArtPrize coverageArtPrize.org