GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — There are some big changes coming to one of Grand Rapids’ biggest annual events. The mayor said that while ArtPrize 2.0 will be the same in many ways, new leadership is looking to “scale it up.”

Last month, ArtPrize announced that the independent organization that ran it was dissolving, and the event would be picked up by a cooperative led by Downtown Grand Rapids Inc., the city of Grand Rapids and Kendall College of Art and Design. The new version was announced as ArtPrize 2.0.

“I think of it as an evolution. We’re building on that incredible success and foundation and we’re looking at ways that we can scale it up,” said Mayor Rosalynn Bliss.

She said even though leadership is still in transition, the competition will continue to be a public and private partnership.

“That’s what our city is known for. We’re going to take the expertise … and we’re going to build on what’s been done in the past,” Bliss said.

She added that it is “incredibly important” for small businesses in downtown Grand Rapids.

“We’re getting feedback from the public, we are hearing a lot of feedback from the artists, from the venues, from the sponsors, we’re going to take all that in and we are going to look to next year to be another incredible event in our city,” Bliss said.

ArtPrize 2.0 is still planned for September, according to DGRI. Bliss said the cooperative would be announcing specific dates soon.