Photo courtesy of ArtPrize, Grand Rapids, Michigan. © ArtPrize 2026.
🇰🇷 한국어로 읽기 → [ArtPrize, 예술의 주인은 누구인가?]
There are countless art festivals around the world.
At renowned museums, we encounter works by renowned artists.
At biennales and international art fairs, we see works selected by experts and curators.
But ArtPrize, held in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is a little different.
Here, citizens are more than spectators.
They see the art, talk about it, and vote for it themselves.
Having participated in and observed this festival for more than a decade, I have come to believe that the true appeal of ArtPrize lies not only in spectacular works or large prizes.
It is Participation—the participation of ordinary citizens.
Source: ArtPrize Michigan Organization
The Entire City Becomes an Art Museum
During ArtPrize, the atmosphere of Grand Rapids changes completely.
Museums are not the only exhibition spaces.
Art can be found in hotels, restaurants, cafés, shops, parks, streets, and buildings throughout the city.
People do not have to enter a museum to see art; as they walk through the city, they naturally find themselves immersed in it.
From children to older adults, from art professionals to ordinary citizens, people experience the works together.
And they ask themselves:
“Which work speaks to me?”
The Public Gets a Vote
This is the biggest reason I find ArtPrize so special.
Citizens do more than simply look at the art.
They vote themselves.
It is not a system in which experts decide what is good and the public simply follows.
The choices of individual citizens can come together and even change an artist’s future.
Walking through ArtPrize, you often see people exchanging opinions in front of the works.
“Why do I like this work?”
“What is that work trying to say?”
It is the moment when art moves beyond the language of experts and becomes a conversation among citizens.
To me, this is ArtPrize’s greatest value.
Source: ArtPrize Michigan Organization
Source: ArtPrize Michigan Organization
Art + People + City
After observing ArtPrize for many years, I would describe the festival in three words.
ART × PEOPLE × CITY
Artists create the work,
citizens discover it,
and the city provides the space for that encounter.
In the process, new relationships and new stories are created.
Art brings people together, and people breathe new life into the city.
That is why ArtPrize is more than an art festival.
To me, it feels like a vast Social Experiment—an experiment in society through art.
More Than a Decade with ArtPrize
ArtPrize has a special meaning for me.
For more than a decade, I have participated in the festival and watched it unfold firsthand.
Every year, the artworks change and the people change.
But one thing remains unchanged.
People meet and talk through art.
So I find myself looking again at the photographs I have taken over the years.
I do not want to show only famous works.
I want to remember the people in the streets, citizens looking at art, and works encountered in unexpected places….
From Michigan to Gangnam
This experience led to another experience.
“A festival in Korea where citizens, too, become the protagonists of art.”
It was an original festival, not simply a copy of ArtPrize in the United States.
What matters, I believe, is the spirit behind it.
New opportunities for artists,
the opportunity for citizens to choose and participate,
and new cultural vitality for the city.
That is the value we discovered through ArtPrize.
ArtPrize began in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 2009.
But to me, ArtPrize’s most important legacy is not its numbers or prize money.
It gave art back to the people.
And it asks every citizen:
“Which work moved you?”
A healthy life is shaped by more than what we eat.
The people we meet, the culture we enjoy, and the communities we take part in also contribute to a healthy life. In that sense, seeing, feeling, and choosing art can also be a “healthy choice.” That is one of the reasons ArtPrize means so much to me.
ARTPrize Michigan 2026
Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
Preview Week
September 12–17, 2026
ArtPrize 2026
September 18–October 3, 2026
Admission
Free & Open to the Public
What to Experience
Art throughout downtown Grand Rapids
Public Voting · Exhibitions · Performances · Special Events
Public Voting
September 18 – October 2, 2026
Visitors can vote for their favorite works.
Official Website
artprize.org
Experience a city transformed by art — and become part of the vote.
